Rental prices in Catalonia increased by 3.1% in 2024, according to the housing rental price index published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). This marks the third highest rise since 2015, the base year for the indicator, and the most significant increase since 2019, when prices went up by 3.6%.
Despite this, the INE's experimental statistics show that prices in Catalonia grew more moderately than in Spain as a whole, where they rose by 3.5%. Catalonia was, in fact, the third community with the lowest index growth last year.
New Contracts See Sharper Rise
New rental contracts experienced a substantial jump in price, increasing by 7.5% year-on-year. Existing contracts, however, grew below the overall average, at 2.6%, consistent with the previous two years. Before 2024, rental prices in Catalonia had seen two consecutive years of 2.6% annual increases in 2022 and 2023. The 2024 rise of 3.1% surpassed these figures, placing the Catalan index at 123.5 points.
Since 2015, the reference year with a value of 100, the price indicator for Catalonia has increased by 23.5%.
Regional Variations in Rent Hikes
Analysing by province, Tarragona recorded the largest year-on-year increase in the housing rental price index in 2024, with a 3.4% rise. This is the highest in the entire series for that province. Lleida followed with a 3.2% increase, also its highest on record. Girona and Barcelona both saw prices grow by 3.1% annually. For Girona, this was its most marked annual increase, while Barcelona had a higher rise of 3.8% in 2019.
Municipal Price Trends
The INE's statistics also cover municipalities with over 10,000 inhabitants, showing an average index increase of 2.9% in 2024. Beyond these increases, the municipalities with the highest rental price index are Terrassa, Vilafranca del Penedès, Rubí, Girona, and Les Franqueses del Vallès. All five registered over 128 points.
Conversely, the most affordable municipalities for rental housing, according to the INE index, include Castelló d'Empúries (110) and Roses (114.8) in Alt Empordà, Ripoll (114.8) in Ripollès, and Pallejà (115.7) in Baix Llobregat.
