Housing crisis
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The supply of long-term rentals is timidly starting to pick up in Malaga after having reached stalemate in recent years. The real estate portal Idealista has detected a 21% increase in the number of properties available in the Costa del Sol capital between the first quarter of 2024 and 2025 (it does not provide absolute figures).
This increase contrasts with the general trend nationwide of a slight fall (down 3%). Of the country's bigger provincial capitals, Malaga is the one that registers the greatest increase in such stock. Valencia, for example, remains at 8%, Alicante at 6% and Madrid at 4%.
Despite this, the market is still a long way from achieving equilibrium with a huge deficiency in terms of supply. To illustrate the point, right now, the rental stock shown by Idealista to be available in Malaga city barely reaches 1,000 flats.
The seemingly unstoppable rise in seasonal, short-term rentals has slowed down in the face of an upturn in long-term rentals. In the last year, the supply of short-stay properties has fallen by 3% in the city.
However, it still represents almost a third of the total rentals advertised on Idealista: of the 1,464 advertisements relating to Malaga city that are currently published on this platform, 476 are for seasonal rentals.
According to Francisco Iñareta, spokesperson for Idealista: "While the volume of permanent rental housing supply continues to fall by 3% at a national level, the city of Malaga is showing an opposing trend, as the stock registered during the first quarter of this year is 21% higher than in the same period of 2024. Although it is still too early to confirm a change in trend, it seems that the perceived security of owners that they will not suffer price controls seems to have encouraged them to put their properties on the market, given that prices are currently very high and the very high demand and the large number of applicants that each listing receives ensures that they select only those with a minimum risk profile. At the same time, in those cities where price controls have been or will be introduced, the volume of properties on the market continues to fall alarmingly, as in the case with Gerona, with a 42% drop in one year, and Barcelona with a 27% drop."
The real estate agency Rentacasa is also noticing this shift in trend. "In recent months, more owners are being encouraged to put their properties up for conventional rental," says Inmaculada Vegas, a partner at the agency, who confirms that some of these properties are on the rebound from trying out tourist rentals.
"There are owners who realise after a while that the holiday rental set-up is not worth it because all the taxes and expenses involved outweigh the benefits. There are also people who have been operating their apartment rentals unlicensed and no longer want to risk it any more," she says.
Vegas believes that the pressure from the different ruling authorities on holiday rentals is also having an effect. "News such as yesterday's announcement that the [Spanish] government has forced Airbnb to remove over 65,000 ads for non-compliance with the law, and the tax inspections, too."
SUR published a month ago the news that the Junta de Andalucía has already taken off the market 750 holiday homes from a list of 1,249 that Malaga city hall has denounced for not complying with the conditions required to carry out this activity.
A clear example is the flats in Martiricos towers that have been transferred from holiday lets to long-term rentals as a result of the cancellation of licences.
Then, on Tuesday this week, Malaga council gave its definitive approval to the moratorium on new tourist licences in 43 districts of Malaga city that are already considered saturated, with the mayor stating that he is willing to move towards a "total moratorium."
Despite this, there are owners who continue to view conventional rentals with great apprehension, fearful of non-paying tenants or even squatters.
"Fear is free and only the bad tales are told," says Vegas. "The reality is that we have never had to do any evictions. It's a question of choosing the right tenants and, right now, the landlord can certainly pick and choose."
So, what about prices? The latest data suggest that this timid surge in supply has not served to stop rent prices from escalating in Malaga city, a location where demand continues to far outstrip supply. That said, there is some moderation in this increase.
After two years of double-digit price increases, in the first quarter of 2025 the residential square metre for rent in the city rose by 9.8% year-on-year, according to the latest Gesvalt report.
Inmaculada Vegas confirms that prices "are stabilising somewhat" in the rental market. In her opinion, this is simply because they have reached "unaffordable levels" for the vast majority of the population.
"Rooms are being rented at 500 euros [a month], which three years ago was the price of a whole flat," she says.
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