Fifth of rented houses in Barcelona on market for less than 24 hours  

Around 20% of the rented homes in Barcelona during the last quarter of 2024 were on the market for less than 24 hours, six percentage points more than the same period the previous year, according to a study published by the housing platform, Idealista. 

The percentage is even higher in the city of Girona, 100 kilometers north of Barcelona, with 29% - one percentage point more than the last quarter of 2023 and the second highest in Spain after Vitoria, one of the major cities in the Basque Country (32%).  

In Lleida, a city in northeastern Catalonia, this situation occurred in 21% of the cases, three points more than in the fourth quarter of 2023. However, in Tarragona, 110 kilometers south of Barcelona, the number of homes rented in less than 24 hours dropped from 20% to 15%, according to the housing platform.  

If we analyze it by regions, in the Barcelona province, 22% of homes were available for less than a day, compared to 17% in the same period of 2023.  

In Girona, this percentage increased by six points in one year, reaching 27% in the last quarter of 2024, while in Lleida, it rose by two points, reaching 19%. In the Tarragona province, it increased by four points, reaching 23%. 

Nationwide, this phenomenon remained stable at 17%, on percentage point higher than the fourth quarter of 2023. Vitoria and Girona have the highest percentages, at 32% and 29% respectively, followed by San Sebastián, Basque Country (28%), then Lugo, situated in Galicia and Burgos, in Castile and León, both at 26%, followed by Santa Cruz de Tenerife (24%), one of the Canary Islands.  

As for Barcelona, it is the city where these 'express rentals' have increased the most, from 14% to 20%, while in Madrid, this situation occurs in 13% of cases, three percentage points less.