Sales of entire buildings in Barcelona fall by 30% in 2025

Sales of entire blocks by private investors fell by 31% in Barcelona last year, to 149 transactions in total, the lowest figure in the last five years.

The local government says that this points to real estate speculation "going down" in the Catalan capital.

The Housing Commissioner, Joan Ramon Riera, assures that "speculative demand" is "disincentivized" by the regulation of long-term, seasonal, and 'coliving' rentals.

According to calculations by the Barcelona Metropolitan Housing Observatory, without the rent cap, rental prices would have increased between €160-€270 per month in the city.

The latest available data places the average rental price in the city at €1,161, a drop of 2.7% compared to before the price cap regulations came into force in the first quarter of 2024.

All purchases of entire buildings of more than 10 homes must be notified to the Barcelona City Council so that it can study the operation and exercise the right of first refusal, as stipulated by the 2007 Housing Law.

Data also shows that prices per square meter have registered a small increase, going from €16.7 to €17, up by 1.8%.

The data indicates that the apartments that are being rented are “smaller and on average have a lower price," according to the city housing observatory.

The figures from data made public by Incasòl also indicate that seasonal rentals have seen a “sudden and intense drop” to just 1,282 apartments registered in the last quarter of 2025. This represents a 53% drop compared to less than a year earlier.

Last December, the loophole excluding this type of accommodation from rent caps was closed by Catalan lawmakers.