Santa Coloma de Gramenet has ranked ahead of Barcelona for relative demand from people seeking to buy a home, according to an Idealista/data ranking reported by 20minutos. Barcelona placed tenth.
For prospective buyers in Santa Coloma, the result means they are searching in one of the area's most competitive local markets, rather than gaining a less sought-after alternative to the Catalan capital. Idealista puts the municipality's average asking price at about €175,000.
The ranking measures relative demand for homes for sale. It identifies Santa Coloma, on Barcelona's northern edge, as one of two municipalities on the outskirts of major cities where demand is particularly high, alongside Torrent.
Rental searches have also shifted towards the metropolitan area
Separate Idealista/data figures for the second quarter of 2026 found that Terrassa, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat and Sabadell had the greatest relative pressure from rental demand on available supply. Barcelona was tenth in that rental ranking.
Santa Coloma was not listed among the ten highest-demand rental municipalities in those second-quarter figures. However, Carles Ribes, chief executive and co-founder of estate agency The Barrio, said his firm had also recorded substantial activity there.
“We are seeing increased demand in medium-sized cities with good public-transport connections where there is still some price difference compared with Barcelona. Connectivity is crucial: Rodalies commuter rail, the metro or rapid access to main roads carry enormous weight in the decision.”Carles Ribes, The Barrio, quoted in Idealista's June 2026 report
Ribes attributed the wider movement towards metropolitan municipalities to the imbalance between rental supply and demand in Barcelona. He named Santa Coloma, Sant Adrià de Besòs, Cornellà de Llobregat, Sant Boi de Llobregat and El Prat de Llobregat among the places where The Barrio was seeing activity.
Buyers comparing homes in Santa Coloma can use the €175,000 average asking-price figure as a reference point, while allowing for differences between individual properties and neighbourhoods.
Primary sources: Barcelona City Council. Reported by Source Text Link, idealista.com, Fernando de Vega, 20minutos |, finantresnoticias.com, russpain.com, Carla Stavraky, Por Newsroom Infobae Seguir, Gorazd Čad, allconferencealert.net, Metrópoli Abierta - Urban Life.
