37% of Spanish Rentals Now Exceed €1,500 Monthly

37% of Rentals in Spain Now Exceed €1,500 Per Month

Affordable rent in Spain has become a statistical rarity. 37% of advertised flats exceed €1,500 monthly and only 12% are below €700, according to an analysis by pisos.com published on October 20, 2025. Cheap housing isn't expensive: it's disappearing from the market. Not because no one wants it, but because there's less and less of it available.

Balearic Islands, Madrid, and Catalonia: Where Affordable Rent is Almost Non-Existent

In the Balearic Islands, 86% of rentals exceed €1,500, and there is no offer below €700. In the Community of Madrid, 62% also surpass this threshold, and again, there are no options below €700. Catalonia, with Barcelona leading, repeats the pattern: 68% of properties exceed €1,500. These three urban markets function as a funnel for medium rents.

The report attributes part of the pressure in the Balearics to the push of tourist rentals, which has displaced the local population from the residential market. 'Living in the archipelago is becoming an unattainable luxury for many,' the text summarizes. In Madrid, the pressure is concentrated in central, well-connected neighborhoods; in Catalonia, in the Barcelona metropolitan area.

The Iberian Interior Holds Out, But Doesn't Attract

Extremadura is the flip side: more than half of its homes are priced below €700, and only 2% exceed €1,500. Castilla-La Mancha offers 28% affordable flats and barely 2% in the high-end segment. Jaén, Zamora, Ciudad Real, or Teruel still have reasonable prices for the average salary.

The problem is different. Many of these provinces suffer from a lack of job opportunities and insufficient public services. Cheap rent exists where there is no work. The territorial gap, the report points out, is widening.

The Housing Law Turns One in Catalonia Amidst Highest Prices

One of the points with the most traction is the result of rent containment. In its first year in effect in Catalonia, rents rose by 3.8% and contracts fell by 10%. The price per square meter did not decrease at any point: it rose to €16.56/m².

'The price per square meter has not decreased at any point since the rent containment mechanism was applied,' states Carles Sala, former Secretary of Housing for the Generalitat and spokesperson for real estate agents. The explanation offered: if rent is capped but supply shrinks, the average surface area of what comes onto the market is reduced, and the price per square meter holds steady or increases. Some interpret this as proof that limiting prices without building more doesn't work; others attribute it to the rule being partially applied.

Fewer Flats on the Market: The Case of Paterna, Torrent, and Mislata

The figures from the Valencia metropolitan area illustrate the mechanism. In Paterna, there were 59 vacant homes; in Torrent, 83; and in Mislata, 25. The average price in Paterna reached €1,609 per month with barely two homes below €800. Demand pushed out of the capital faces minimal supply.

This opens up one of the fractures in the analysis. One school of thought holds that legal uncertainty—non-payment, squatting, delays in recovering property—pushes owners to withdraw flats from the rental market, thus increasing the cost of what remains. The most optimistic scenario denies this effect; the most pessimistic assumes it and warns that more regulation exacerbates it. In parallel, the CNMC fined idealista and six other companies €1.25 million for colluding on real estate commissions, a reminder that the invisible hand also coordinates by phone.

Demand Continues to Grow: 508,475 More People in One Year

The population statistics added 508,475 inhabitants in one year, about 1,393 people per day who need a roof over their heads. Part of the conversation points to this increase as a pressure factor on rent; others respond that the underlying problem is that not enough housing is being built or land is being freed up, and that blaming newcomers doesn't build a single apartment.

The market itself offers clues to the imbalance. Some argue that the most expensive listings are precisely those that rent out the least: they remain visible because they don't find tenants at the asking price. The picture from the portals might exaggerate the high end, though it doesn't invent it.

Who Can Afford €1,500 a Month?

The practice has become widespread: sublet rooms, flats shared by several registered individuals, de facto coliving. While payment is made, a good part of the market looks the other way. The result is demand that no longer competes for a flat, but for a bed.

And the uncomfortable question underlies it all: what happens when the rent asked is beyond the reach of salaries? The report points it out bluntly: the scarcity of affordable supply is generating social problems, especially among young people and working families.

What to Expect

Given these circumstances, it is reasonable to expect that the high-end segment will continue to grow in major urban markets and that the interior will hold out as a last refuge, provided employment doesn't pick up there. The administration has public housing and land release at its disposal; neither yields results in a quarter. If nothing changes, today's 37% could be the floor, not the ceiling, of the next report. Although it's wise not to bet heavily: each year in this series has disproven a different prediction.