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28 April 2017 – El Mundo
The average price of rental housing in Spain rose by 9.5% YoY and by 5.9% QoQ during the first quarter of 2017, according to the Real Estate Index compiled by the online portal Fotocasa. In this way, the average rental home cost per square metre amounted to €7.93/m2 as at March 2017.
This quarterly increase in rental home prices was in line with the trend observed in 2016. In the absence of official statistics, the index from Fotocasa corroborates the anecdotal evidence being seen on the street.
“Rental prices are rising significantly because demand is much higher than supply, above all, in those areas with the largest volumes of economic, tourist and demographic activity. Month after month, in regions such as Cataluña, Madrid and the Balearic Islands, we are seeing how the distance between the peak prices recorded in 2007 and 2008 is decreasing, and in some cities in those areas, the price per square metre has now reached the pre-crisis maximum, such as in the case of Barcelona”, explained Beatriz Toribio, Head of Research at Fotocasa.
In fact, the increase recorded during the first quarter of 2017 is the most markedsince Q1 2007, according to the Real Estate Index, when prices rose by 4.9%. Since then, the quarterly rental price has done nothing but decrease, with some exceptions in one-off quarters in 2011 and 2014. In 2015, the quarterly rental price began to recover, with increases of 2.8% and 1.5% in the first and second quarters, respectively, trends that continued in 2016, with the exception of Q3 2016, when prices fell by 2%.
At the inter-annual level, rental prices rose by 9.5%, the most marked increase in the history of the Real Estate Index, which has been compiled since January 2006. Moreover, during Q1 2017, rental prices rose in 14 autonomous regions at the quarterly level and in every region at the annual level. (…).
Evolution by autonomous region and province
Since reaching their maximum price in May 2007 (of €10.12/m2), rental home prices have recorded a cumulative decrease of -21.7%. In this regard, only three autonomous regions have recorded cumulative decreases of more than 30% since they peaked five years ago. In this way, Aragón is the autonomous region where rental prices have fallen by the most (-38.7%), followed by Castilla-La Mancha (-34.1%) and Cantabria (-31.3%).
During the first quarter of 2017, rental price increases were recorded in 14 autonomous regions, with the rises ranging from 5.4% in Cataluña to 0.4% in Castilla y León. Regarding the evolution by province, rental price increases were recorded in 36 provinces with respect to December 2016, with the rises ranging from 8.6% in Guadalajara to 0.2% in Alicante. By contrast, rental prices decreased in 14 provinces with the reductions ranging from -0.2% in Toledo to -3.6% in Ávila. (…).
By municipality, the town with the highest rental price was Barcelona, at €15.15/m2/month, followed by Eivissa (€14.60/m2/month), Sant Cugat del Vallès (€13.41/m2/month), Sitges (€12.85 /m2/month) and Castelldefels (€12.85/m2/month).
Original story: El Mundo
Translation: Carmel Drake
