Rent is on the up

AVERAGE rental prices in Spain are 1.6 per cent higher than this time last year at €7.01 per square metre per month, Fotocasa property website has reported.
The latest figures released by the site revealed that prices were 0.5 per cent higher in May than in April as they gradually creep upwards.
Since reaching their maximum levels in May 2007 (€10.12 per square metre per month), rental prices had fallen by more than 14 per cent in all areas of Spain, yet May saw increases everywhere except in Cataluña and Pais Vasco.
The highest increase was registered in the Balearic Islands at 4.2 per cent, followed by Castilla y Leon with 2 per cent, Murcia with 1.7 per cent, Galicia with 1.4 per cent and Cantabria with 1.2 per cent.
Pais Vasco is the region with the highest average rental price at €10.08 per square metre per month, followed by Madrid at €9.38 and Cataluña at €9.21.
At the other end of the scale, the cheapest average rental prices were found in Extremadura (€4.51 per square metre per month) and Castilla La Mancha (€4.65).