More and more people are looking for rental housing in municipalities close to Barcelona and Madrid. For yet another quarter, the highest relative demand for rental apartments compared to their supply is found in the metropolitan areas of the country’s two largest real estate markets.
Satellite Towns Outpace Major Cities in Rental Demand
According to a study by idealista, in the first quarter of the year, the most sought-after locations were Terrassa, Leganés, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Getafe, Alcorcón, and Badalona. These were followed by other Madrid-based towns such as Móstoles and Alcalá de Henares, Reus (Tarragona), and Guadalajara, which is the only provincial capital among the top 10 in the ranking.
Vitoria (11th), Sabadell and Mataró (both in Barcelona), Pamplona, and Torrejón de Ardoz and Alcobendas (both in Madrid) follow. The ‘top 20’ is completed by several provincial capitals: Barcelona, Lleida, Zaragoza, and Tarragona.
Therefore, 14 of the 20 cities with the highest rental demand at the beginning of the year are located in the periphery of Barcelona and Madrid, while the rest are capitals of their respective provinces.
The case of Madrid is the most striking: up to eight municipalities surpass the capital in the rental demand ranking – in addition to those already mentioned, San Sebastián de los Reyes (22nd, 13 places above Madrid city -35th-) is also included. In the case of Barcelona, five localities are ahead of the capital. It is worth noting that the average price of available rental homes in Madrid and Barcelona is above 1,700 euros per month, well above the surrounding towns (which are mostly offered for about 1,100 euros per month).
Peripheral Areas Emerge as Rental Hotspots Across Spain
Madrid, Barcelona, and Tarragona are not the only provinces where metropolitan area localities have higher relative demand for rental housing in this first quarter than the capital. This situation also occurs in Valencia, where Torrent (23rd) and Paterna (46th) stand out, both ahead of Valencia city (49th); and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, which is in 33rd place in the ranking, seven behind San Cristóbal de la Laguna (26th). Meanwhile, Telde (29th) in Las Palmas stands out, ahead of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (47th).
Another example is Alicante, where the main references are Alcoy (31st), followed by Elche (40th) and San Juan de Alicante (50th), well above the provincial capital (64th). Dos Hermanas (56th) also surpasses Seville (57th), while in Badajoz, the most prominent municipality is Mérida (132nd), which is 16 places ahead of its capital.
Similarly, Gijón is the first Asturian locality in the classification (73rd), far ahead of Oviedo (92nd); while Roquetas de Mar (59th) surpasses Almería capital (69th).
In Cádiz, the two municipalities with the highest relative demand for rental housing compared to their supply are Algeciras (36th) and Jerez de la Frontera (53rd), well ahead of Cádiz capital (81st). And in Pontevedra, Vigo (66th) stands out, compared to Pontevedra capital’s 130th place.
Capitals Still Dominate Rental Demand in Some Provinces
In the rest of the provinces, the capital is the locality with the highest rental demand pressure. In addition to Guadalajara, Vitoria, Pamplona, Lleida, and Zaragoza, Palma de Mallorca (21st), Toledo (24th), Girona (25th), Valladolid (28th), Castellón de la Plana (30th), San Sebastián (39th), Bilbao (41st), Logroño (43rd), and Burgos (44th) stand out at the top of the ranking.
Although they are already outside the top 50 positions, the trend also applies to A Coruña (51st), Málaga (52nd), Palencia (55th), Murcia (67th), Ávila (68th), León (76th), Santander (80th), Ciudad Real (86th), Albacete (87th), or Cuenca (95th).
The capitals with the least relative demand for rental housing compared to their supply are Lugo (103rd), Córdoba (121st), Granada (124th), Ourense (127th), Jaén (136th), Segovia (139th), Salamanca (150th), and Cáceres (158th).
Of the municipalities in the ranking, only three are behind the Extremaduran capital: Sotogrande (Cádiz), La Moraleja (Madrid), and Benahavís (Málaga), where available rental homes on idealista have a monthly rent exceeding 3,000 euros.
Source: idealista.com
