Prices have skyrocketed in most large cities and in 19 municipalities rent exceeds 1,000 euros per month.
The price of rent in Catalonia keeps rising, and Barcelona is the epicenter of the storm. In December 2022, renting a flat in Catalonia was worth, on average, 814 euros, and in Barcelona, ​​1,077 euros, three euros less than the minimum wage.
According to the data published by the Institut Català del Sòl (Incasòl), which are based on the bonds deposited in this entity that depends on the Generalitat, the average price evolved from 965.38 euros in the first quarter, to 996.5 euros in the second, 1,066 euros in the third and these 1,077 euros in the fourth and last.
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Increases of almost 12% in Barcelona and Girona
In most big cities, rent has skyrocketed. In Barcelona and Girona, almost 12%; Badalona and Reus, 10%, and Hospitalet, MatarĂł, and Lleida, between 6 and 8%.
A total of 19 municipalities exceeded a thousand euros in rent per month at the end of 2022, with particularly high prices in Cabrils (1,583.9 euros), Sant Vicenç de Montalt (1,541 euros), Cà noves and Samalús (1,305 euros), Sant Just Desvern (1,217 euros), Sant Andreu de Llavaneres (1,201 euros) and Premià de Dalt (1,189 euros) or Matadepera (1,151 euros).
By demarcation, Barcelona is the most expensive with an average rent of 892 euros in the last quarter; followed by Girona, with 620; Tarragona, with 561.7; and Lleida, with 474.
All in all, in a market where the demand seems to never end, the supply of flats is limited.
A good proof of this is the number of rental contracts, many fewer than in 2021 or before the pandemic. But not because of lack of interest, quite the opposite: there is a lot of demand, but little supply.
The real estate market has definitely forgotten about covid when rental prices even went down due to the confinements, the uncertainty… and in Barcelona, ​​the non-arrival of tourists, which put many tourist apartments on the market for residential rental. Now, many of these flats have returned to the holiday sector, and this affects supply.