The average price of rent in the regions of Girona it was 595.50 euros per month during 2022and 8.1% more that in 2021, when the average price for renting a house in the province of Girona was 550.71 euros, according to data published by the Catalan Soil Institute (Incasòl), which are based on the bonds that they are deposited in this entity that depends on the Generalitat.
This price is the highest recorded in Girona in the historical series of the Incasòlwhich collects the annual average since 2005, that year the rental price was 420.98 euros per month on average, 41.45% below that recorded in 2022. In the city of Girona, renting a house costs 698.05 euros per month on average, 11.8% more than a year ago.
By province, Girona is the second with the highest price. Barcelona is the most expensive with an average rent of 854 euros. In Tarragona, the price is 536.7 euros and in Lleida 452.7 euros. In Catalonia as a whole, the price to rent a home was 779.84 euros on average per month.
In the province of GironaGironès ranks as the region where rental housing is more expensive, 671.59 euros per month on average; followed by Baix Empordà (634.20 euros); Cerdanya (618.03 euros); Pla de l’Estany (598.04 euros); Jungle (555.55 euros); Alt Empordà (546.15 euros); Garrotxa (498.86 euros) and Ripollès (454.06 euros).
In total, in the Girona counties 14,734 housing rental contracts were signed in 2022, with Gironès as the region where more contracts were initialed, specifically 4,415. In Catalonia, 152,770 rental contracts were signed in 2022, 116,158 of which correspond to the province of Barcelona; 14,976, in Tarragona; and 6,902, in Lleida.
27.5% more, according to Idealista
According to the Idealista real estate portal, the price per square meter of rental housing in Girona stood at 13.4 euros on average in February. According to his data, lrenting an apartment in the province is up to 27.5% more expensive than a year ago, in February 2022. This figure is slightly below the historical maximum recorded by Idealista in the demarcation, specifically 1%. The highest price was last January, 13.5 euros per square meter.
According to the portal data, the city of Girona closed the month of February with the highest rental price ever recorded11.2 euros per square meter, 18.4% more compared to February 2022.
“Legislative uncertainty”
The Association of Real Estate Agents of Catalonia (API) consider that the rental market suffers from a general lack of supply and “legislative uncertainty”. In Barcelona city, the figures show a decrease in the signing of rental contracts of more than 15% in 2022 compared to 2021 (from 57,158 to 47,927) and an increase in the average rental price of 11.7% to at 1,026 euros per month on average. “The tension in the rental market in Barcelona is a symptom of the high demand for real estate. In a context of inflation and rising interest rates, rental demand will tighten even more”, predicts the spokesperson of the API of Catalonia, Carles Sala, who demands from the administrations more resources for public housing policies.
“The contrast between an offer that runs away from the rental market, an expanding demographic dynamic, a complex geography and a capital with international magnetism form a context that is straining the prices of the rental market day by day,” says Sala. «Housing policies should prioritize the promotion of rental property by boosting supply through the various instruments which, for years, other European countries have had and with direct aid to households that cannot afford market prices”, reflects the spokesperson of the APIs of Catalonia. “In addition, the legal insecurity due to the repeated extensions on evictions and the announcement of an income withholding regulation in the state housing law do not help”, he adds.
“The budgets of the State and also those of the Generalitat have derisory figures to face the challenge of procuring decent and suitable housing for the citizen”, criticize the real estate agents, who consider it “fundamental” that measures are promoted to stimulate the owners to rent their homes.