Spain’s supply of rental housing drops by 30%

 

According to data from Spain’s National Federation of Real Estate Associations (FAI in Spanish), the real estate supply of rental housing has decreased in Spain by a dizzying 30.6% since the entry into force of the new Law 12/2023, of May 24, by which right to housing, known as the Housing Law.

The available data reflects a considerable imbalance in the market, since the demand for long-term rentals during the May-October period has grown by 11%. At the same time, rental prices have risen an average of 9% in the last year.

On the other hand, 25% of real estate agencies indicate that landlords are tightening the requirements for potential tenants since the Housing Law came into force, and 20% affirm that they choose to raise the price of rent to mitigate the demand and the fear of suffering non-payments.

Furthermore, 15% of real estate agencies point out that owners transfer their home to the temporary rental market and 13% assure that they do so to the purchase and sale market.

Another effect that is perceived is a greater tendency of landlords to:

    • Self-management of renting your home to avoid hiring the services of an agency (9% of cases)
    • The withdrawal of the home from the market after the expiration of the current contract (6.3%)
    • The transfer of your home to the tourist rental market (6.2%)
Interest in renting increases more than purchase intention

Regarding how the new legislation has modified the behavior of tenants, 40.6% of the agencies claim that the demand for renting primary residences has increased, compared to 9.2% who claim that it has decreased, while 10 .1% affirm that interest in purchasing a home has increased, compared to 3.6% who indicate that it has decreased.

Likewise, 20.7% point out that the demand for renting rooms has increased, compared to 0.64% who claim that it has decreased.

“Predictably, the supply of properties for rent will continue to fall and there will be more demand, which will put even more pressure on rental prices”

José María Alfaro, President of FAI

Rental operations in real estate agencies decrease

The same study also indicates that rental management operations by real estate agencies have decreased by a considerable 28.8%.

Likewise, 49.8% of the agencies consulted indicate that they have seen their portfolio of rental properties shrink, 16.7% even say they have had to give up the rental business, 6.3% indicate that they have had to reduce staff and only 4.7% claim that the management of sales operations has increased.

 Data source: Europapress