Rental costs fell in 15 communities in August
The average price of rental housing in Spain decreased by 2.2% in August, to stand at €7.89 per square metre, per month. This year-on-year decrease is the first fall in rental costs recorded since March 2015. Back then, average rental prices began to increase and recorded 41 consecutive months of increases.
“This year-on-year fall in the average rental cost after almost four years of uninterrupted increases reinforces the opinion that prices are normalising in a good portion of the country, except in some large cities such as Madrid where they continue to grow at a rate close to double digits,” explains Beatriz Toribio, director of studies at Fotocasa.
On the other hand, the average price in the month of August returns us to the range seen in April 2011, when the average monthly rental price stood at €7.9 per square metre. Since reaching the maximum price in May 2007 (€10.12 per month, per square metre) the price of rental housing has accumulated a drop of -22%.
Negative Annual Variation in 15 Communities
As for the autonomous communities, in August, the average monthly rental costs dropped in 15 communities. The largest year-on-year fall was seen in Navarra (-21.6%). This was followed by the Basque Country (-16%), Aragón (-10.1%) and Castilla y León (-10%).
At the other end of the table, two communities saw positive annual variations in August. In Madrid, the price increased by 7.2%, and in Valencia it went up by 2%.
Looking at price ranking, unsurprisingly, Madrid is the most expensive community to rent a home, with an average monthly price of €12.49 p/m². It is followed by Catalonia (€11.67 p/m² p/month), the Balearic Islands (€9.18 p/m² per month), and the Basque Country (€9.08 p/m² per month).
The cheapest rental prices can be found in Extremadura (€4.52 p/m² per month) and Castilla-La Mancha (€4.85 p/m² per month).
In terms of the provinces, 10 of them recorded interannual increases in rental costs in August, according to data from property portal Fotocasa. The increases ranged from 8.3% in Valencia, to 0.2% in A Coruña. However, rental prices fell in 40 provinces with the decreases ranging from -33% in Álava, to -0.3% in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
