No surprise, but still the data is surprising: finding an apartment in Barcelona is an odyssey. In just four years, since the pandemic, the supply of rental apartments has plummeted at a rate that is matched only by another chilling fact: the rise in price of the few rents that remain.
In numbers this translates into the fact that, since 2021,the rental supply has fallen by 84%, while prices have risen by 62%, according to a study by Idealista.
Barcelona, the city with the lowest rent in the state
These data make Barcelona the city with the biggest drop in the availability of permanent rental housing and one of the biggest price rises. In Spain as a whole, supply has fallen by 56%, while prices have risen by 30%. The capitals, apart from Barcelona, where supply has fallen the most are Seville and Palma (73% each), Madrid (71%) and La Palmas de Gran Canaria (70%).
However, there are also cities where the rental offer has increased. In Cuenca it has been 149%, in Ceuta 81% and in Segovia 49%. Near Barcelona, Huesca is the city where the rental offer has increased the most with 18%.
On the other hand, Barcelona is not the city where prices are rising the most. That dubious honor goes to Valencia with an increase of 74%. After her are Malaga (a rise of 55%), Segovia (54%), Palma (53%), Avila (45%) or Madrid (44%).
Lleida, the city with the lowest price increase in the country.
The phenomenon is not exclusive to Barcelona. In the rest of the Catalan capitals, the supply of apartments for rent has also fallen considerably. Girona, with numbers similar to the state average, has 60% fewer homes for rent than five years ago, while prices have risen by 32%.
For its part, Lleida has seen its supply decrease by 26%, with a price increase of 15% (the most moderate increase in the whole country) and Tarragona has registered a 47% drop in supply and a 35% increase in prices.