Transcript

Spain Pulled the Trigger. Rents Didn't Flinch. · STR Unpacked

Ben: Good morning and welcome to your short term mental bulletin on the 15th of July. So Spain spent the last two years squeezing tourist flats off the market. New data shows it worked, just not in the way anyone planned. So the INE figures show 341,000 tourist flats advertised on platforms in May. That's down 10.7% a year, the second biggest dropped ever recorded, and 62,000 below the all-time peak. Valencia alone nearly lost 12,000 listings. However, look closer. Since November, supply is actually up 3.4%. The Bank of Spain says many of those lost flats never return to the residential market and they moved into seasonal lets instead, which sit outside the tourist rules. And tourist flats are just 1.28% of Spain's housing stock, so rents hasn't budged. Now, the legal ground is moving again. The Supreme Court annulled the national registry in May, and today, Exceltor, Spain's biggest tourism lobby, warned that the ruling leaves a legal vacuum that could bring back thousands of delisted flats back online. So, supply is down, but the demand isn't. Compliant operators are holding the rate power in the tightest Spanish market in years. And with a new housing decree expected this month, the registry will be rebuilt. So keep your paperwork, keep it bulletproof. Thank you for watching, and I'll see you tomorrow.