The price of rent in Barcelona adds five quarters on the rise and exceeds 17 euros/m²
The price in Barcelona falls with the rent cap but the price per square meter rises because the flats are smaller
BarcelonaThe average price per square meter for residential rent in Barcelona has been rising for five consecutive quarters and already exceeds 17 euros per square meter per month, the highest figure in the historical series. This is according to data published this weekend by the Government based on the deposits of rental guarantees for new residential rental contracts lodged with the Institut Català del Sòl (Incasòl) in the fourth quarter of 2025, as reported by Efe.
The average price of new residential rental contracts in the last three months of last year stood at 1,160.99 euros per month, 3.9% more than in the same period of 2024, which was 1,117.39 euros per month. In the last year, the average price per square meter of new residential rental contracts has increased by 7.36%, rising from 15.88 euros in the fourth quarter of 2024 to 17.04 euros in the same quarter of 2025.
This contrast between the increase in the average price of contracts in the last year (+3.9%) and the price per square meter of rent (+7.36%) can be explained, beyond normal variations in market composition, by the variation in the surface area of the apartments. A year ago, the average surface area of new rental contracts was 73 square meters; this figure has decreased a year later to 71 m2, far from the 75 m2 of average surface area of new rental contracts in the first quarter of 2024, the last before the rent cap came into effect.
The price is contained by the rent cap
These two variables, the average price of new residential rental contracts and the average price per square meter of rent, show more contained figures when comparing the data from the fourth quarter of 2025 with the contracts registered before the rent cap came into force. In March 2024, the limitation of residential rental prices came into effect in the stressed residential market areas declared by Catalonia, which already affect 271 municipalities, including Barcelona. Since then, the average price of new residential rental contracts in Barcelona has fallen by 2.72%: from 1,193.41 euros in the first quarter of 2024 to 1,160.99 euros in the last three months of 2025.
In contrast, the average price per square meter of residential rent has risen by 1.85% since the rent limit: from 16.73 euros per month to 17.04 euros. The objective of the rent price limitation was to avoid abusive increases in times of high demand or scarcity, which has been met in Barcelona because these types of increases have not occurred in either the average price of new contracts or the average price per square meter.
However, if the total price falls but the square meter price rises, which is what is happening, it means that the tenant is paying more for a smaller space, which explains the feeling that accessing affordable rent in Barcelona is more difficult despite the price limitation.