Room rental ads quadruple those for conventional rentals in Barcelona.

During Barcelona’s peak rental season, right after the summer, those searching for an apartment will face a historically low supply. The number of homes available for long-term rent has dropped sharply, displaced by other rental formats. On Idealista, one of Spain’s main real estate portals, room listings far outnumber full apartments—by a factor of four—while temporary rental listings are three times higher. As a result, it is no surprise that an average of 95 people compete for each apartment listing in the city, where currently there are only about 1,500 long-term rental listings available.

The situation has worsened since the approval of the law limiting rental prices in “stressed” areas, just over a year ago. To sidestep the caps and the legal uncertainty felt by landlords, “there has been a transfer of properties into other rental modalities,” explains Llorenç Viñas, president of the Col·legi d’Administradors de Finques de Barcelona i Lleida. Many landlords have chosen to sell their homes; others opt for temporary rentals, which are still unregulated. Some rent out rooms directly, a practice that is often more profitable in the short term and frequently managed by specialized companies.

Viñas points out that property management firms are no longer receiving new apartments for long-term rental because “there is no housing movement.” Practically speaking, the long-term rental portfolio has vanished. Given the shortage, only those with greater financial solvency manage to access a home, while the Barcelona Chamber of Urban Property confirms that its rental pool is at historic lows.

The supply of long-term rentals has shrunk so much that, in most cases, real estate agencies place apartments with solvent tenants from their waiting lists before the properties even reach the general public. Those searching without such contacts end up in an increasingly scarce market, with direct consequences for prices. This week, Idealista published a total of 5,565 properties; only 1,501 were available for long-term contracts, and just 139 were priced under €1,200—less than 10% of the total.

Alarming data

The more than 4,000 remaining properties are temporary rentals, generally furnished and renovated, intended for month-to-month contracts, which carry even higher prices. These temporary rentals triple the supply of long-term leases, but the picture is even starker for the room rental segment: there are nearly 6,600 active listings, many offering more than one room in the same apartment. This figure is over four times higher than the supply of traditional long-term rentals.

This market ranges from the classic shared student apartments to specialized coliving companies that charge higher prices. Increasingly, however, private individuals are forced to rent out rooms due to the high cost of housing. In fact, of all the room listings on Idealista, more than 4,000 are aimed at workers, compared to those targeted at students.

On Habitaclia, although there is no filter by contract type, a review of its more than 6,300 listings shows that the majority are “monthly” or “temporary” rentals. Fotocasa reflects a similar trend, confirming the severe shortage of long-term residential rentals in Barcelona.