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Data from property portals reveals a significant drop in the availability of long-term rentals, accompanied by a surge in mid-term rentals, caused largely by government intervention in the Spanish housing market, which has had highly detrimental effects.
The Spanish property portal and market leader Idealista has published data showing the change in long-term and seasonal / mid-term rentals over the last five years. The data is based on rental listings advertised at the portal, and serve as a proxy for the state of the overall Spanish rental market.
The analysis categorises rental listings into two main types: traditional long-term rentals, aimed at people seeking a permanent residence, and seasonal / mid-term rentals, called alquileres de temporada in Spanish. These mid-term rentals, typically lasting between one and eleven months, cater to people in need of temporary housing in Spain for reasons such as work, study, or medical treatments. The analysis excludes short-term tourist or holiday rentals, which have durations of less than one month.
Key Findings:
- Dwindling long-term rentals: Over the past five years, the availability of long-term rentals in Spain has plummeted by 33%. This trend is particularly pronounced in major cities:
- Barcelona has witnessed the most drastic reduction, with a 75% decrease in available long-term rental properties.
- Other cities experiencing significant drops include Oviedo (-55%), San Sebastián (-54%), Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (-51%), Madrid (-46%), and Palma (-46%).
- Booming seasonal rentals: In contrast, the short-term rental market has flourished, with a staggering 232% increase in available properties over the same period.
- Cities leading this surge include Málaga (466% increase), Alicante (309%), Seville (279%), Valencia (276%), Barcelona (244%), Bilbao (217%), and Palma (208%).
- Barcelona dominates the seasonal rental market: Notably, Barcelona leads in the proportion of short-term rentals compared to the total market, accounting for 46%. Other cities with a significant short-term rental presence include San Sebastián (38%), Badajoz (30%), Tarragona (26%), Girona (25%), and Cádiz (19%).
Impact and Analysis:
Francisco Iñareta, spokesperson for Idealista, suggests that the decline in long-term rentals is fueled by “successive policies” that have disincentivized landlords from offering long-term leases. He states:
“All the measures approved in this five-year period have only managed to minimally reduce the supply of homes for permanent rental. This has put enormous pressure on prices, increased competition among families to get a home and, consequently, has practically excluded the youngest and most vulnerable from the market.”
The article further highlights the consequences of this trend:
- Intensified competition among families seeking long-term rentals.
- Rising rental prices, further exacerbated by limited supply.
- Exclusion of younger and vulnerable demographics from the housing market.
The following table shows the data provided by idealista for provincial capitals of Spain, with columns that can be sorted by clicking the column headers. The first two columns of figures show the five-year percentage change in long-term and season rental adverts (Q3 2019 to Q3 2024) and the next two columns show the one year change (Q3 2023 to Q3 2024). The last column shows the percentage of listings that are now seasonal rentals, so, for example, in Barcelona 46pc of all listings are seasonal rentals, and just 54% long-term rentals.
Spanish rental housing stock composition and change in provincial capitals
The percentage change in the supply of properties advertised for rent in provincial capital cities broken down into long-term and seasonal rentals both on a five-year and one year basis to Q3 2024. Source: Idealista.
As you can see from the table above, three of the four provincial capitals with the biggest share of seasonal rentals are in Catalonia, which is the only region to have introduce rent controls so far under the rubric of the Socialist Housing Law (2023). This provides further evidence that rent controls have unintended consequences that are a disaster for all involved.