Rental yields in Barcelona’s most popular districts unveiled

Rental yields in Barcelona’s most popular districts currently range between 4% and 5%, according to fresh research by the Spanish property portal Fotocasa.

Barcelona’s Eixample remains the most popular district for rentals, followed by Martí, Ciutat Vella Old Town, and Gracia, based on rental searches on the portal.

Fotocasa used their database of sale and rental listings to calculate gross rental yields by district. But given that the figures are based on asking prices, the findings should be taken with “a pinch of salt”, according to Mark Stucklin at Spanish Property Insight.

Nevertheless, the data does offer an idea of what property investors can expect from rental yields when investing in Barcelona’s housing market.

A glance at Barcelona’s most popular districts reveals that gross yields are lowest in the Eixample (4.1%), and highest in Sant Martí (4.7%), with the Old town and Gracia, both at 4.6% in between.

Stucklin said: “Given the savage property bust Spain has lived through in the last eight years, you could be forgiven for expecting higher rental yields in a city like Barcelona. It’s a bit of a mystery why yields are not higher, but one reason is because local incomes make rental demand very price sensitive.” 

A major shortage of homes has placed upward pressure on property prices across Barcelona in recent months.

A recent report from CBRE said that a lack of land is holding back housebuilding, contributing to the supply-demand imbalance that is driving up prices in the Catalan capital.

Demand for property in Barcelona is currently being fuelled by a strengthening domestic economy, less stringent mortgage lending conditions and historically low mortgage borrowing rates.