The shortage of supply against the high demand for housing is behind the relentless increase in prices. The floors to lease disappear quickly from real estate portals. According to a study published on Tuesday by idealist, one in seven homes rented through this platform in the first quarter of 2025 endured less than 24 hours announced. This ‘express’ rental phenomenon is not new. In fact, it remains at levels similar to those of a year ago, although its incidence is disparate in the different parts of the country and shows the difficulties in accessing a home.
In the whole of Spain, 14% of the floors leased through idealist between January and March did not last a day announced. It is a slightly less than 16% of offers that were successfully removed in less than 24 hours in the first quarter of last year. In this way, competitiveness between the potential tenants to get an available house remains in the same similar ones, although in the last year the average rental price has increased by 10.3% to reach 14 euros per square meter, according to the latest data of March of the real estate portal. The average rent for a 75 square meter floor thus around 1,050 euros per month.
Among the big cities, which are the ones that concentrate the most demand, Valencia was the most ‘express’ rents were detected. 24% of the homes announced in the capital of Turia They leased in less than a day. The situation is very similar in Palma and San Sebastián, where 23% and 20% of the ads endured less than 24 active hours. These three cities are among the five most expensive in Spain to rent a home. In Valencia, the average price of the square meter is around 15 euros, after having grown by 13.2% since March 2024. In Palma and San Sebastián, 17 euros per square meter are exceeded, so that renting a 75 -meter floor cost more than 1,275 euros.
Higher are prices in Barcelona and Madrid, where the square meter arrives respectively to 23.5 and 21.2 euros, which translates into 1,763 and 1,590 euros per month for an average home. In the city, 18% of the floors leased in the first quarter of 2025 got tenant in less than 24 hourswhile in Madrid it was 14%, a proportion similar to the national average and that of Seville. In both cases the phenomenon of ‘express’ rentals remains stable compared to the situation a year ago, when 17% and 16% of the floors leased respectively in less than a day.
However, the highest incidence of housing announced and rented on the same day is given out of large markets, according to idealist data. Specifically, Girona and Lleida are the cities where this phenomenon is most widespread at the moment. In the most northern Catalan capital, 47% of the properties leased in less than 24 hours, while in the city of Segre they were 36%. Both localities stand out among the places where the phenomenon of ‘express’ rentals has grown most in the last year, since in early 2024 the proportion was respectively 17% and 21%.
In the interior Spain, other provincial capitals where the proportion of rented floors on the same day in which they went on the market are also bulky were Ávila, Burgos, Zamora, Guadalajara and Teruel, with approximately one in four houses leased in less than 24 hours. Among these five provincial capitals, Guadalajara is the one with the highest prices, although it does not reach 10 euros per square meter. Lease a 75 square meter floor around 735 euros. For its part, according to idealist data, Zamora is the cheapest provincial capital in Spain, with an average price of 7.3 euros per meter square, three times less than in Madrid or Barcelona.
The only cities in which the phenomenon of ‘express’ rentals stood below 10% In the first quarter of 2025 were Cáceres, Badajoz, Segovia, Logroño and Santander. In the Extremadura capitals the average rental price does not reach 8 euros per square meter, although 8.3% has grown in Cáceres and 3.6% in Badajoz compared to March 2024. In the Rioja capital, that threshold is slightly exceeded, while Santander and Segovia arrive respectively reach 11.3 and 11.9 euros, pressured by the growing tourist attraction of the Cantabrian coast and the proximity to Madrid.
