Madrid: most expensive for renting in Spain
During the first quarter of 2020, the cost of renting a home in Spain has increased by 6.5%, a trend that is expected to continue despite the situation with corona virus.
The increase is the largest recorded in a first quarter in over 14 years of data, according to the fotocasa real estate index.
The average monthly rental cost nationally has increased 9.9% over the last 12 months, putting the average cost at €10.82 per square metre, per month. However, this is still a long way from the average in some communities with Barcelona and Madrid having average prices 40% and 35% higher, respectively.
In general, the price of rental property continues to register quarterly and annual increases in price, although they are more moderate increases than were registered just a year ago, when increases were often in double digits. It is likely that the situation we are currently experiencing with the coronavirus will not cause prices to drop and the upward trend in rental costs will continue in the coming months. The increases will be smoother than those registered in 2018 and 2019 but the rental boom will continue throughout 2020.
Autonomous Communities
88% of the autonomous communities presented positive quarterly figures in March 2020, the same figure as in March 2019. Navarra, with an increase of 16.7%, saw the most significant price increase in this period. Following this were the communities of Murcia (8.5%), Extremadura (8.1%), Catalonia (6.9%), Valencia (6.8%), the Balearic Islands (6.5%), Castilla and León (6%), Andalusia (4.4%), Castilla-La Mancha (4.4%), Cantabria (3.6%), Galicia (2.8%), the Canary Islands (2.7%), Madrid (2.3%), Aragon (0.5%) and the Basque Country (0.3%). Meanwhile, La Rioja (-1.7%) and Asturias (-0.3%), are the only communities that recorded price falls in March.
Ranking the communities by price gives us Madrid in first place, one of only two that exceed the barrier of 15.00 euros per square metre per month, specifically, 15.20 euros. Following Madrid are the communities of Catalonia (€15.11 p/m² per month), the Basque Country (€13.10 p/m² per month), the Balearic Islands (€12.98 p/m² per month), the Canary Islands (€10.00 p/m²) per month), Navarra (€9.83 p/m² per month), Andalusia (€8.70 p/m² per month), Cantabria (€8.59 p/m² per month), Valencian Community (€8.58 p/m² per month), Aragon (€8.22 p/m² per month), Asturias (€7.27 p/m² per month), Castilla y León (€7.02 p/m² per month), Galicia (€6.94 p/m² per month), Region of Murcia (€6.77 p/m² per month), La Rioja (€6.43 p/m² per month), Castilla-La Mancha (€5.70 p/m² per month) and Extremadura (€5.32 p/m² per month).
Price by Province
In the first quarter of 2020 the cost of renting a home increased in 87% of the 47 provinces of Spain, while in the same period of 2019 there were increases in 77%.
In March, five provinces saw rental property prices increase above 10%, while of the six that saw decreases, only one exceeded -1%.
The ten provinces with the highest quarterly increase in Spain are: Navarra (16.7%), Huelva (16.5%), Lugo (14.6%), Ávila (12.5%), Albacete (10.4% ), Guadalajara (9.6%), Badajoz (9.5%), Zamora (8.7%), Murcia (8.5%) and Cádiz (7.8%). On the other hand, the provinces with decrease are: La Rioja (-1.7%), Bizkaia (-0.9%), A Coruña (-0.7%), Segovia (-0.7%), Toledo (-0.3%) and Asturias (-0.3%).
In terms of rental property prices by province, Barcelona and Madrid have both exceeded €15.00 p/m² per month. Barcelona stands at €16.27 p/m² per month and Madrid at €15.20 p/m² per month. These provinces are followed by Gipuzkoa with €14.93 p/m² per month, the Balearic Islands with €12.98 p/m² per month, Bizkaia with €12.51 p/m² per month, Malaga with €10.33 p/m² per month, Álava with €10.15 p/m² per month and Las Palmas with €10.12 p/m² per month. The two cheapest provinces are Cáceres with €4.78 p/m² per month and Jaén with €5.08 p/m² per month.
