Rents in Catalonia rose less than the state average during the first year of the cap
The regulation came into force on March 16, 2024, the year in which rents rose by 3.1%
BarcelonaRents in Catalonia rose by 3.1% in 2024 –the first with the cap in force– compared to the previous year. Although the measure began to be applied on March 16, prices in Catalonia increased less than in the State as a whole, where they rose by an average of 3.5%.
These are figures published this Monday by the National Statistics Institute (INE), which has launched a new index to monitor the evolution of housing prices. The statistical body analyzes figures at the state level, by communities, and by municipalities with more than 10,000 inhabitants. It offers an index that takes the year 2015 as a base – to which it assigns a value of 100, which it updates each year based on growth – and the increase recorded each year compared to the previous one.
The Valencian Country was the territory where prices rose the most, with an increase of 5%, followed by the Balearic Islands (4%), Andalusia (3.8%), the Canary Islands (3.7%), and Castilla-La Mancha (3.6%). The only territories with increases lower than Catalonia –where prices rose the same as in La Rioja, at 3.1%– were Asturias (2.7%), Ceuta (1.5%), and Melilla (1.3%).
In contrast, Catalonia is one of the communities where prices have grown the most compared to the reference year of the series, 2015. If we assign the price of rents in that year a value of 100, in 2024 rents in the Principality were already at 123.561. In the entire State, the average was 122.920. The increases were only higher in the Valencian Country (129.196), the Balearic Islands (128.808), and the Canary Islands (124.014). In Madrid, prices were around 122.246.
Barcelona, ahead of Madrid
By cities, the trend is very similar. In Valencia and Palma, the increase in rental prices compared to nine years ago exceeded the average –136.409 and 131.265 respectively, compared to 100 in 2015–, as did the year-on-year variation, 5.9% and 4.2% respectively.
As at the regional level, in Barcelona rents became more expensive than in Madrid since 2015, although, if we observe the price increase during 2024, in the Catalan capital it was slightly lower (3.3%) than in the State capital (3.6%).
Catalonia was the first territory in the State to regulate rents. The cap is applied by municipalities and its entry into force is conditioned on that population being considered a stressed area. In March 2024, it included 140 municipalities under this label, and in October of that same year, 131 more. From 2025, 33 municipalities in the Basque Country, Navarre, and Galicia were also considered stressed areas.
