Malaga capital experiences the second highest increase in rental prices in all of Spain in the last decade

Rare is the day when a new study from a real estate portal doesn't emerge, providing new data on the rising costs of housing, whether for sale or rent. While these reports are valuable, it is important to note that they are compiled based on listings of properties coming onto the market, i.e., using supply data, with the biases that this entails. Hence, the interest in the Housing Rental Price Index (IPVA): an experimental statistic that the INE started publishing in 2022 and has been updated today with the latest available data from 2023. The information used for its calculation comes from the Tax Agency, which collects declarations from taxpayers earning income from renting out homes for their regular use. This means that this price index is based on all rentals in effect in Spain (or, more precisely, all of Spain except the foral communities) and not just on new contracts; always, of course, that they are declared.

Based on these data, is Málaga as affected by the high cost of rentals as it seems? The answer is yes. Of all the provincial capitals in Spain, only one surpasses it in the level of price increase suffered over the last decade: Valencia. The rental price in Málaga capital has risen by just over 26% since 2015, the year the INE uses as a starting point for this report. This means that an apartment that cost 800 euros per month in 2015, in 2023 already exceeds 1,000 euros. During this period, the average national increase is not even 19%.

The 'top 5' provincial capitals with the highest rental increases over the last eight years are dominated by Mediterranean cities: after Valencia and Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Girona, and Castellón de la Plana follow: all registering increases in the index over 20%. Following in the ranking, and also above that threshold, are Guadalajara, Toledo, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Murcia, and Barcelona.

A 3.9% annual increase

Focusing the analysis solely on the last year with available data, which is 2023, Málaga is also the second provincial capital that suffered the highest increase after Valencia: 3.9%, compared to the national average rate of increase, which was 2.6%. This increase is higher than in the previous two years, which shows an acceleration in price increases.

The next cities with the highest rental increases are Girona (3.5%), Alicante (3.4%), Palma (3.4%), and Castellón (3.3%). It is noteworthy how these medium-sized coastal cities have replaced Madrid and Barcelona at the 'top' of the housing price increase rankings. This shift has occurred after years of very intense price increases in the two major capitals of the country and also as a result of the population growth that peripheral cities have been experiencing since the end of the pandemic.

Districts of Málaga

Within the capital of Málaga, the district leading the rental increases is 5 (Palma-Palmilla), with a 31% cumulative increase over the last eight years and a 5.2% increase in 2023 alone. It may be surprising that this area is the most expensive, but it has its explanation: starting from lower rents than the rest of the neighborhoods and being affected by the general trend of price increases that the entire city has suffered, its proportional rise has been greater than the rest.

Following are district 3 (Ciudad Jardín), with a 30.9% increase; district 9 (Campanillas), with a 28.2% increase; district 8 (Churriana), with a 26.9% increase, and district 10 (Puerto de la Torre), with a 26.2% increase. On the contrary, the district with the lowest increase in the last eight years is Teatinos-Universidad. It is the only one below 20% (19.2%).

Most expensive municipalities

There are municipalities in the province where the increase in rentals has been even more intense than in Málaga capital. This is the case of Alhaurín el Grande, Estepona, and Coín, with cumulative increases since 2015 of 31.9%, 27.4%, and 26.4% respectively. These percentages place them at the top of the ranking of the 750 Spanish municipalities with more than 10,000 inhabitants. In fact, Alhaurín is the third town in all of Spain (behind Ocaña and Riba-Roja de Turia) where the Housing Rental Price Index has increased the most over the last eight years. And looking at the increase over the last year, Coín suffers the fifth highest in the country: 4.7%.