Offers to rent down by some six per cent. | Photo: Miquel À. Cañellas
Andrew EdePalma15/10/2026 08:49
María Martos, research director for property website Fotocasa, says the offer of long-term rentals in the Balearics has fallen by 5.9%. "Small-scale landlords are fleeing the market. This is a particularly significant drop, especially considering that typical market fluctuations rarely exceed a 1.5% increase or decrease. If this trend is confirmed over the coming days, we would be looking at a reduction in supply far greater than usual - a new red flag for a market already grappling with a severe shortage of available housing."
Martos believes that should this contraction take hold, "it would be a direct consequence of the housing-related decrees enacted by the Spanish Government and could further intensify competition among tenants and place even greater upward pressure on rental prices".
She adds that over the last five years, the available rental supply in the Balearics has shrunk by more than 50%. "This is the largest decline we have observed, and it reflects the severity of the supply crisis currently affecting the market, probably the most intense seen so far in the 21st century.
"When legislation is drafted without consulting one of the market’s essential stakeholders - the property owners - and when restrictions and obligations are introduced that limit their decision-making power, there is a risk of triggering the exact opposite of the intended outcome. The experience of cities like Berlin, Paris, and Stockholm shows that such measures have failed to solve the problem of access to housing."
A decrease of 5.9% is, coincidentally, in line with what the Balearic housing minister, José Luis Mateo, has quoted in respect of rented accommodation in Palma, a decrease he firmly attributed to the decrees. The president of the estate agents association, José Miguel Artieda, has said that the rental market has come to a virtual standstill.