Rural homes see 50% jump in online searches in Spain’s worst-hit coronavirus regions

Internet searches for rural houses in Spain have doubled in regions badly hit by coronavirus cases and restrictions.

A report from Spain’s leading online property portal Idealista said online inquiries into rural homes in Aragón jumped from 18.9% of total searches in January to 35.2% in November.

(Aragón was one of the only autonomous communities in Spain to see more than 1,000 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants during the second wave.)

Other badly-hit regions – Navarra and Madrid – saw increases from 18.1%-26.6% and 3.7%-6.2% respectively.

Across all of Spain, internet searches for rural homes jumped from 10.1% of total searches in January to 14.8% in November.

Idealista said the data does not reflect an ‘exodus’ to a countryside life.

Their report said remote working, low prices and a better life for the children could also behind the surge.

The portal classified rural homes as houses in any municipality below 5,000 population – prices in these areas are 52% cheaper than the national average.

This works out as 840e per metre squared, compared to the national average of 1,752e per metre squared.

Read more in Idealista’s report.

Written by BayRadio