Buying a property in Barcelona? There’s a 65% chance it will be an apartment
Two-thirds of Spanish citizens live in apartment blocks – so, naturally, apartments are the main type of property in Barcelona.
At the beginning of the 1970s, detached homes accounted for 57% of all Spanish properties. But by the end of the 1970s they fell to 36% of the national mix and today account for less than 35%.
In a major city like Barcelona, apartment living can be tight. There are more than 46,500 flats measuring between 30m2-45m2. That means 7% of houses in Barcelona are smaller than four parking spaces.
But not all the main types of houses in Barcelona are small.
You can scroll down to see the interactive map we’ve made of Barcelona’s 73 neighbourhoods according to average home size – in the neighbourhood of Les Tres Torres, for example, the average home measures 133.1m2.
Below we will look at the main types of houses in Barcelona according to average age, average size and key characteristics.
64.9% of Spanish citizens live in apartments – or ‘pisos’ – according to 2018 data from Eurostat
The average age of properties in Barcelona
The majority of properties in Barcelona were built between 1960 to 1980 – around 46% of the current 827,557 Barcelona houses went up in these two decades.
The construction of new build properties in Barcelona has declined substantially in the intervening decades. Just 15,348 new properties were built between 2011 to 2020 – just under 2% of the total.
Data from the Ajuntament de Barcelona (Town Hall) shows the period of 1901-1940 witnessed the third-most significant boom in construction with 119,835 houses built (15% of the total).
The Ciutat Vella – Barcelona’s oldest district – unsurprisingly is home to the oldest properties in Barcelona. The average age of properties here is 110 years ago according to 2022 data.
In the Ciutat Vella, 56% of houses were built before 1901.
L’Eixample is the next district with the oldest houses in Barcelona. The grid-like district was planned out by Ildefons Cerdà in the second half of the 19th century, and properties here are an average 74 years old.
The youngest district for Barcelona properties is the quiet and residential Les Corts – with an average age of 50 years old.
Santi Martí to the north of Barcelona, however, has seen the largest construction boom with 3,480 properties built since 2010 (21% of the 16,343 properties built across the city).
Sant Martí is home to the Poblenou industrial area of Barcelona, and has been the most popular area for newbuild homes in Barcelona since the creation of La Vila Olímpica for the 1992 Olympic Games.
The average size of Barcelona property
There are 379,328 properties in Barcelona measuring between 61-90m2.
This is the most common property size – making up 46% of all housing in Barcelona. The next main type of Barcelona property measures 31-60m2 and accounts for 27% of all Barcelona housing.
You’re much more likely to find an apartment in Barcelona measuring under 60m2 than you are a property measuring over 120m2. Only 8% of Barcelona properties measure above this size.
Just 4% of Barcelona properties measure over 150m2 – in Australia, the average home size is 190m2, while in the USA properties have an average size of 177m2, and in the UK an average size of 148m2.
Average size of Barcelona property by district
The main type of properties in Barcelona depends heavily on where you live.
Our interactive map below shows that properties in Barceloneta have an average size of 46.7m2. But in the quiet and upmarket neighbourhoods of Les Tres Torres and Pedralbes, the average house size is over 130m2.
Unsurprisingly, Pedralbes is the most expensive neighbourhood in Barcelona.
The Sarrià-Sant Gervasi is overall the most expensive district in Barcelona, and this shows in the average size of homes in the neighbourhoods of Sant Gervasi-Galvany (123m2), Sant Gervasi la Bonanova (114m2), Sarrià (96m2) and Vallvidrera, el Tibidabo i les Planes (81m2).
In fact, Sant Gervasi-Galvany is the region in Barcelona with most homes measuring over 250m2 – more than 25% of the properties in this neighbourhood.
In central Barcelona the neighbourhood of la Dreta de l’Eixample stands out for its homes having an average size of 113.4m2 – despite being in the Barcelona district (Eixample) with the most houses (139,515).
While Eixample has the most number of properties, the Vila de Gracia is actually the most densely populated region in Barcelona.
(Click here to open the interactive map below in Datawrapper.)
Characteristics of Barcelona properties
Of the 827,557 residential properties in Barcelona, 695,771 of these are primary residences.
The rest are second homes or holiday apartments.
The leading Spanish property portal Fotocasa updates a monthly overview of the key characteristics of Barcelona homes currently on the market.
Of the 16,686 Barcelona properties for sale on Fotocasa, the average property was a third-floor flat measuring 70m2 with three bedrooms.
The average price in €/m2 gives an overview of the scarcity of key characteristics:
- A property in Barcelona with a lift is on the market for an average €4,692/m2
- A property in Barcelona that comes fully furnished is on the market for an average €5,015/m2
- A property in Barcelona with a terrace or balcony is on the market for an average €5,064
- A property in Barcelona with on-site parking is on the market for €5,716/m2.
Average property prices in Barcelona also vary depending on the number of bedrooms:
- A house in Barcelona with just one bedroom is on the market for an average €5,039/m2
- A house in Barcelona with two bedrooms is on the market for an average €4,531/m2
- A house in Barcelona with three bedrooms is on the market for an average €3,928/m2
- A house in Barcelona with more than three bedrooms is on the market for an average €4,102/m2
The average price of a Barcelona property under 100m2 is €276,354 while the average price of a house in Barcelona over 100m2 is €751,993.
Read more about property prices in Barcelona by district in 2022.
The main types of property in Barcelona
If you’re looking to buy property in Barcelona, you will most commonly be finding apartments in your property searches.
If a garden or more space is a priority for you then look at our interactive map to identify key neighbourhoods where average property sizes are above 100m2:
- Pedralbes
- Les Tres Torres
- Sant Gervasi-Galvany
- Sant Gervasi la Bonanova
- La Dreta de l’Eixample
If you’re looking to live in central Barcelona with more space, you’ll need to look for penthouses and duplex apartments.
Click here if you’d like to read our full 12-step guide to buying a house in Barcelona.
Lasose Properties & Investments is a leading real estate agency offering exclusive listings of properties for sale in Barcelona. We are experts in individual and corporate Barcelona relocations and offer tailored advice if you’re looking to invest in Barcelona property.
