The bubble of rent in Barcelona is unquestionable evidence. The Catalan capital is already the most expensive in Spain in terms of rental prices. And at least seven of the city's districts are at the top of prices after the increases registered in 2016. Only three other districts of Madrid are among the 10 most expensive in Spain.
"It's about the offer prices registered in the real estate websites, they may be above those that are recorded in the rental contracts, but they give a very real image of what the market trend is," said Toribio, For whom there is no doubt that "Barcelona experiences an extraordinary boom in the rental market," which is largely due to the pressure of tourist rent in the city. "That is a phenomenon that is also recorded in Madrid, but it has nothing to do with the intensity it has in Barcelona," said the analyst. The truth is that it is the tourist pressure that causes those seven districts of the city to register the maximum prices of rent in Spain.
Ciutat Vella tops the list of most expensive district to rent a house and the most expensive of all Spain. Its average price was in December at 17.37 euros per square meter per month, after increasing by 9%. The prices are more expensive than those of the Salamanca district of Madrid. It follows, as second most expensive the district of Sarrià Sant-Gervasi, with an average price of 16.01 euros. And thirdly L'Eixample, with 15.89 euros. At the other end, Nou Barris is the cheapest neighborhood with a value of 11.07 euros per square meter, followed by Sant Andreu (11.47 euros). But in both cases, prices are well above the Spanish average, which was 7.49 euros per square meter.
The increase in rental prices in the city of Barcelona was 13.7% in 2016. That increase, however, is below the province average, which was 16.2% - the second highest In Spain, after the Balearics - which is explained, according to Toribio, because the increases of the first Catalan city have been taking place for several consecutive years and the price pressure begins to move towards other cities in the area of Barcelona. In any case the averages of Barcelona - city and province - are well above the Spanish ones. The total increase recorded in 2016 was 6.7%. Catalunya (14.6%) was the second community, after the Balearic Islands (18.5%) and only four autonomies, with La Rioja at the top (-3.2%) recorded declines last year.