2021 has closed with , this being the first year of decreases since 2014, which places the square meter at 10.27 euros.
But is this figure really an indicator that something has changed in the Spanish market? The truth is that the national average is nothing more than that, an average that can hardly reflect the diverse reality that exists in each municipality in Spain, since the housing market in our country is totally heterogeneous.
That is why we are going to lower the magnifying glass to the two great squares of this country, which, despite the fact that they do not represent the exact and current reality of many other municipalities, they are indeed a marker of trends, a thermometer that anticipates what will happen in other many markets in Spain in the coming months. In this way, Madrid and especially Barcelona have an advantage over the rest of the cities and leave the mark that other markets then follow.
In this context, the rise in prices that Barcelona has experienced at the end of 2021, with an average increase in rental housing prices of 8.2%, may lead us to think that in 2022 the national average will once again close in positive.
Although, it must be taken into account that this past year in particular a factor came into play that could undermine the role of Barcelona as a guide for the rest of the markets, since from
According to María Matos, Director of Studies and Spokesperson for Fotocasa, this would be a factor that would have impacted the increase in rent in Barcelona and that would have pushed her to distance herself from the trend in Madrid, where prices closed the year with a fall of 1.4%.
Evolution of Madrid against Barcelona
“Barcelona began to fall from June 2020 with -1.5%, and Madrid did so a month later in July 2020 with 0.2%. Actually, both cities have behaved in a very similar way for more than a year Showing very similar falls and at a very similar rate”, explains the expert.
The moderation of falls in both cities occurred at the same time. “After reaching maximum peaks, both began to show slightly more contained drops in July and August 2021. From then on, they moderated, until in October 2021, Barcelona, for the first time, “separated” from Madrid. Barcelona ended the truce with a rise of 4.8% in November and closes the year with an increase of 8.2%”, Matos points out.
We could say that, just as Barcelona began to show declines a little earlier than Madrid, it is normal for Madrid to last a little longer in these declines and both end with a very similar period of declines of between 17 or 18 months. continued declines.
“However, one thing is for it to stop falling and another for it to show an 8% rise so suddenly. There is a factor in Barcelona that may be accelerating the end of the declines and pushing prices up,” details the Director of Studies from Fotocasa.
The price limitation law according to the reference index applied by the Generalitat could be causing a contraction in supply in this city.
According to Matos, there are already owners who are withdrawing their homes from the rental market because they say they are not compensated for the rent set by the Catalan administration. “The uncertainty caused by the health crisis is dissipating more and more, and that makes rental demand rise again strongly in the most populated cities, to the normal levels we had in February 2020 (as indicated) “.
Matos: “Right now, the demand in Barcelona is strong and if the offer is lower, the price will go up”
Meanwhile, Madrid follows a natural rhythm, and probably in the coming months we will begin to see increases in the price, but not at the rate as marked as Barcelona.
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