Home rents in Spain have dropped by 33% in the last seven years, according to data tracked by fotocasa.es, the property portal.

Communities with big drops in average rents included Aragon (-42%), Valencia (-38%) and Cantabria (-38%). In Cataluna rents are down 31% from a peak of €996 a month for an 80sqm home, the firm reports.

The smallest drop was recorded in Castilla y Leon, where the average rent fell ‘just’ 16%, fotocasa said.

Overall, the national average rent for an 80sqm apartment was €810 a month in May 2007; now it is €541 a month, the firm says.

The data may not be surprising to anyone who follows Spain’s property market as the surplus of homes has been well documented. But the fall in rents as well as property prices will have drastically increased rental yields, assuming you can find a tenant.

As of July, the area with the highest rental rates was Basque Country, where rents average €780 per month, (17% below peak levels). The cheapest area was Extremadura, where the average rent for an 80 square-meter home is just €360 a month.