Rent prices in Barcelona register new record: €1,123.56 per month during second quarter

Rent prices in Barcelona have registered a new record, with contracts averaging around €1,123.56 per month during the year's second quarter. This is €36 more than the first three months of 2023, according to figures released Monday morning by the Catalan land agency, Incasòl. 

The new figure marks an all-time high, with prices increasing non-stop since 2020. 

During April and June, 10,328 new rental contracts were signed, which represents 9.5% less than the same period one year ago (11,443), and 5.1% less than the first three months of 2023 (10,890).  

In Catalonia, the average rent increased year-on-year to €830.34 during the second quarter, a drop of €17.47 compared to the first three months of 2023. The number of contracts also decreased to 34,981, which is 6.36% less than one year ago (37,355). 

€1,000 threshold 

In Barcelona, this is the fourth consecutive quarter that average rent has been above the €1,000 threshold - it was exceeded for the first time between July and September 2022. 

Compared to the second quarter of 2022, when renting a flat in the Catalan capital cost €996.56, this year prices are 12.74% higher. The figures contrast, for example, with prices in 2014, when the average rent was €688, or in 2005, when it was €636. 

"No society can withstand these increases" 

Catalonia's Territory, Ester Capella, has once again asked the Spanish government to publish the reference index for rental prices, as laid out in the housing law. 

"It is an urgent need because without the rent cap, the market continues to behave wildly," Capella told media on Monday after the average rent prices in Catalonia for the first six months of the year were published. 

In ten years, the cost of renting has risen by 62.1% in the city of Barcelona and by 43.6% in the rest of Catalonia, the minister pointed out. 

"There is no society that can withstand these increases," Capella stressed. 

"No one in this country has seen their salary increase in the same proportion as the price of rents," she added. 

Capella highlighted the measures taken by the Catalan government to deal with the housing crisis, referring to the €144m in rental subsidies announced last week and to the plan to build around 10,000 public homes by 2026. 

Deadlines for increasing public housing will be announced soon, she said. Currently public housing accounts for 1.7% of homes in Catalonia, compared to the European average of 10%. 

Capella has once again asked the Spanish government to allocate part of the housing stock owned by Sareb – Spain's bad bank – to social rents for free.