Rotterdam-based HousingAnywhere in July released its Q2 2023
                                                                International Rent Index, a practical tool for
                                                            professionals and students looking for a place to live in
                                                            Europe. 
                                                        The index’s headline tries to put a positive spin on the
                                                            housing trend: “European Yearly Rent Increase Falls Below
                                                            Double Digits.” “Young professionals and students are still
                                                            facing major challenges in finding available, affordable and
                                                            accessible rental housing,” said Djordy Seelmann, CEO of
                                                            HousingAnywhere. 
                                                        Median rental prices for a 1BR were highest in Lisbon,
                                                            Portugal (€2,500); Amsterdam, Netherlands; and Utrecht,
                                                            Netherlands. The highest year-over-year increase was in
                                                            Budapest, Hungary (42.9%), a metro that looked to be a
                                                            relative bargain in this exercise one
                                                                year ago and honestly still is at €1,100. 
                                                        The 20th quarterly edition of the index analyzed 64,004
                                                            single rooms, studios and one-bedroom apartments across 23
                                                            cities in continental Europe that received interest from
                                                            potential tenants on the HousingAnywhere platform in the
                                                            past year. (That’s up from 57,104 properties analyzed one
                                                            year ago, which is presumably a good sign for
                                                            HousingAnywhere’s own fortunes.) “About 95.8% of the listed
                                                            properties were fully furnished and 58% included bills in
                                                            their rent,” says the organization, with listings mainly
                                                            geared toward mobile talent, i.e. young professionals and
                                                            students. 
                                                        
                                                        Here are the Top 10 by average 1BR rental price: 
                                                        
                                                        
                                                        
                                                        Four of the 10 most expensive are in HousingAnywhere’s home
                                                            country of the Netherlands. No. 1 Lisbon’s median rent has
                                                            risen by 29% from €1,940 last July. The rent in Paris,
                                                            though still high at €1,802, has actually dropped from its
                                                            Q2 2022 price of €1,908. The only other city in the Top 10
                                                            to show a year-over-year decrease in rent is Milan (down
                                                            from €1,833). 
                                                        This graph (interactive at HousingAnywhere’s site) shows each
                                                            city’s color-coded rent trend: 
                                                        
                                                        
                                                            
                                                                
                                                                     
                                                                    Graph courtesy of
                                                                                HousingAnywhere 
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                                                        Which of these 23 cities are attracting the most corporate
                                                            facility investments? The Conway Projects Database shows 251
                                                            qualifying projects (at least $1 million invested, 20 new
                                                            jobs or 20,000 new sq. ft. of space) across the 23 metro
                                                            areas since January 2020, with Spain and Portugal leading
                                                            the way: 
                                                        
                                                            
                                                                | City | 
                                                                No. of Projects | 
                                                             
                                                            
                                                                | Barcelona | 
                                                                48 | 
                                                             
                                                            
                                                                | Lisbon | 
                                                                41 | 
                                                             
                                                            
                                                                | Porto | 
                                                                19 | 
                                                             
                                                            
                                                                | Amsterdam | 
                                                                16 | 
                                                             
                                                            
                                                                | Madrid | 
                                                                16 | 
                                                             
                                                         
                                                        Among the projects landing in Barcelona: a $200 million
                                                            project from Schneider Electric, a Google office investment
                                                            of $50 million and a 1,000-job distribution center from
                                                            sporting goods equipment company Decathlon. The most
                                                            affordable of those top project attractors? Madrid, with a
                                                            monthly rent of €1,295. 
                                                        Turin, Italy, the most affordable city on HousingAnywhere’s
                                                            list, has welcomed six major projects in the past few years,
                                                            including a $200 million, 161-job expansion by automotive
                                                            company FPT Industrial SPA, a $400 million headquarters
                                                            investment from Luxoft and a 32-job R&D expansion from
                                                            Marelli Corp. 
                                                        The chart below shows year-over-year comparisons for all 23
                                                            markets. — Adam Bruns 
                                                        
                                                        
                                                            
                                                                
                                                                     
                                                                    Chart courtesy of
                                                                                HousingAnywhere 
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