Barcelona and Vienna lead the way on European rental growth

The cities of Barcelona and Vienna saw significant rental growth in 2019, contrasting with sluggish activity in expensive cities like London and Amsterdam.

The cost of renting an apartment in Barcelona increased by 9.6% to €1,249.

Meanwhile Vienna saw a massive 14.6% increase in the price of studios to €804 per month.

The research came from the International Rent Index from housing exchange platform Housing Anywhere.

Djordy Seelmann, chief executive of HousingAnywhere, said. “It will be interesting to see if a ceiling will be reached in 2020 for the most expensive European cities, and which lower-priced cities will catch up to the more expensive ones.

“The housing shortage certainly remains as pressing as it has been in past years.”

London, which is the most expensive European city for renting, saw the cost of one bedroom apartments increase by 1% to €1,747 and the price for studios increase slightly by 0.3% to €1,142.

The second most expensive European city, Amsterdam, saw an increase for one bedroom apartments with 0.5% to €1,683.