Acquiring a property is 4.3% cheaper compared to February 2019
Author: Mónica G. Moreno

Source: El Economista

In February 2019, a year before the outbreak of the health pandemic, buying a home in Spain cost an average of €1,694/m². Four years later, the price of homes for sale has increased by 15.7%, reaching €1,960/m² at the end of February 2023, according to a report published by Idealista. Rent has also become more expensive over the past four years, specifically by 11.4%, rising from €10.5/m² to €11.7/m². Among the major markets, Barcelona is the only one showing different behavior from the national trend, as although rent has risen by double digits, the sale price of homes has fallen compared to February 2019.

In the city of Barcelona, home prices have decreased by 4.3% over the last four years, dropping from €4,240/m² to €4,059/m². Even so, the Catalan capital remains the second most expensive city in the country to purchase a property. The rental market, on the other hand, shows a different trend, with rent prices at €19.4/m² per month as of the end of February this year. Thus, rents are 19.8% higher than four years ago. This situation makes tenants in the Catalan capital pay the highest price in the country for renting a property, followed by Madrid and San Sebastián.

In the rest of the country
Besides Barcelona, only four other cities have avoided the increase in sales prices. These are Palencia (-9.5%), Jaén (-6.9%), Zamora (-4.3%), and Lugo (-2.4%), while Ciudad Real has seen no changes. On the other side of the spectrum, in 23 capitals, the selling price of housing has increased by double digits. Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the capital where the price of housing for sale has increased the most in the last four years, by 29.3%. In February 2019, homes were priced at €1,349/m², while in the same month of 2023, the price stands at €1,745/m².

Following are the increases in Cuenca (24.6%), Palma (23.2%), San Sebastián (22.6%), Huesca (22.5%), Málaga (20.4%), or Valencia (20.1%). Also above the national average were price increases in Alicante (19.6%), Vitoria (18.3%), Badajoz (18%), Pontevedra (18%), A Coruña (17%), Cádiz (16.3%), and Granada (15.9%). Meanwhile, among the other major markets, prices have grown by 9.9% in Bilbao, 9.4% in Zaragoza, 7.2% in Seville, and 6.8% in Madrid.

Meanwhile, in 43 capitals, rents have increased above the national average in the last four years. In Valencia, rent prices have risen by 37.9% compared to February 2019, according to Idealista data, increasing from €8.3/m² per month to €11.5/m² per month.

In Barcelona, rent prices have risen 24.1 percentage points more compared to sales

Cities with increases above 30% also include Alicante (35.7%), Huesca (35.4%), Castellón de la Plana (31.6%), and Teruel (30.4%). Above the national average are another 38 capitals, including Girona (28.9%), Almería (28.9%), Soria (26.9%), Cádiz (26.7%), Murcia (26%), Ourense (25.7%), Jaén (25.5%), and Lleida (25.1%). Córdoba is the only capital where prices have remained stable during this time.

Among the major markets, besides Valencia and Barcelona, Bilbao (13.6%), Zaragoza (14.1%), Palma (15.4%), and Málaga (24.1%) have also seen double-digit increases in rents over the past four years. In Madrid, rental prices have increased the least, with a rise of 5.6%, followed by Seville (7.7%).

Sales vs. rent
Despite national housing sales prices having grown more than rental prices in the past four years, focusing on the capitals, rents have risen more in 43 of them. Jaén leads with 32.4 percentage points more growth in rent than in sales. It is followed by Castellón de la Plana (25.4 points more), Ourense (24.6 points), Teruel (24.6 points), Zamora, and Barcelona (24.1 percentage points in both cases).

Although in most cities rental prices have risen more than sales prices, in a total of nine capitals, the opposite behavior has occurred. In Santa Cruz de Tenerife, sales prices have grown 11 percentage points more than rent, while in Pontevedra, it has been 9.4 percentage points. They are followed by San Sebastián (8.7 points), Palma (7.8 points), Córdoba (3.3 points), Badajoz (2.2 points), Valladolid (1.5 points), Madrid (1.2 points), and Cuenca (0.6 points)