After years of sustained growth, both in prices and the number of available homes, the rental market in Gipuzkoa is beginning to show a different scenario. Recent data indicate that the housing stock has stabilized, the number of new contracts is decreasing, and rents are barely falling. The consequence is a market that moves less and less without this translating into a real reduction in prices. That is, the problem is no longer just how much it costs to rent, but the increasing difficulty of accessing housing in a market with low turnover.
The free rental housing stock has grown strongly in recent years, increasing from just over 20,000 homes in Gipuzkoa in 2019 to more than 30,000 currently. However, this growth appears to have stalled. Figures have barely moved in the last year. This stagnation in supply coincides with a notable decline in activity.
The evolution of contracts formalized in 2025 clearly reflects this change of pace. After a first quarter with 1,569 new deposits and a slight drop in the second (1,420, 9.5% less), the market plummeted in the third quarter, with only 551 contracts: 61.2% less than in the second quarter of the year. This trend is not new, but it is intensifying. Across the territory, the number of contracts had already fallen in 2024 to 6,743, below the usual average of recent years (around 7,800-7,900) and at levels similar to those of 2016. The evolution in 2025 points to a further decline, with 3,540 contracts accumulated in the first nine months of the year and a downward dynamic.
In this scenario, the evolution of prices in recent years also confirms that Gipuzkoa not only remains the most expensive territory but continues to widen the gap with the rest. Since before the pandemic, the average rent for new contracts has risen from 713 euros in 2019 to over 920 today, an increase of 29.2%. The increase is generalized in Euskadi, but somewhat more contained in the other two historical territories: in Bizkaia it is around 27.9% (from 689 to 882 euros) and in Araba it stands at 27.7% (from 621 to 793 euros).
The worst part is that the gap is widening. Gipuzkoa already started with higher prices and, far from converging, has opened an even larger gap: if in 2019 new contracts were 3.3% more expensive than in Bizkaia, today that gap reaches 4.5%. Compared to Araba, the distance goes from 14.7% to 16.1%, consolidating a clearly more strained market.
The comparison between current and new contracts allows for a clearer observation of the internal market pressure. Across Euskadi, new rental rents are about 10% higher than those of existing contracts (869.7 euros compared to 791.8). This difference reaches 10.6% in Araba and 11.9% in Bizkaia. In Gipuzkoa, the gap is 11.6% (921.6 euros compared to 825.6), in line with the highest levels, but on a clearly superior price base. It is not only that the new market is above the existing one, but that it is in the most expensive territory.
In summary, those entering the market today do so under significantly more demanding conditions than those already in it. This anticipates further increases as contracts are renewed and consolidates a scenario of sustained tension. This market behavior also occurs in a context of regulatory changes. The declaration of stressed areas —such as Donostia and other surrounding municipalities— introduces limits on rent increases, especially for new contracts, while the uncertainty generated after the rejection in Congress of the extraordinary extension adds caution and tension to both landlords and tenants.
There are signals in both directions: some point to price increases and others to possible containment. In fact, the reality today is that free market housing rents continue to rise in Gipuzkoa. But they do seem to have taken a breather in Donostia, where almost a third of all rentals in the territory are concentrated (31.4%). This is not the first time prices have fallen compared to the previous quarter in the capital. It has happened on other occasions since 2024, and although these are temporary drops that later rebound, this time the fall is 2.6% compared to the previous quarter.
It is true that the figures are still dizzying, that Donostia remains the capital with the most expensive monthly payments, that even in the cheapest areas it is difficult to find housing below 800 euros, and that new contracts average around 1,160 euros. But, on the other hand, the year-on-year increase is only 1.8%, below the CPI (2.9%). The cheapest rents in Donostia are in Martutene (average 804 euros), but with few rented homes (108). In Añorga, with only 59 rental apartments, the rent is also among the most affordable (856.8 euros). But that is precisely the problem: there is not much margin, because the lowest prices coincide in very specific areas with limited supply. The most reasonable alternative is in areas like Altza, Buenavista, and Herrera, which together have 844 rental homes with an average rent of 817.8 euros. These are, in practice, the cheapest rents in the city.
