High rental yield can make a city look attractive.
But yield alone does not tell investors how strong the underlying rental market actually is.
A property may offer an impressive theoretical return while tenant demand remains relatively weak.
At the same time, another city may have a lower yield but a much stronger rental market.
That is why rental demand deserves to be analyzed separately.
Using BestYieldFinder data from October 2026, we compared selected cities across Poland, Portugal, Italy, Spain and France based on their Rental Demand score.
And one country stands out immediately.
Polish cities dominate the top of the ranking.
Rental demand is not the same as rental yield
Demand measures the strength of the rental market, while yield measures rental income relative to the purchase price. A city can score highly on one and much lower on the other.
What does Rental Demand mean?
BestYieldFinder includes Rental Demand as one of the components of its city-level Market Score.
The score runs from 0 to 100.
A higher score indicates stronger rental-market demand according to the BestYieldFinder market model.
For investors, this gives another perspective beyond:
- property prices
- monthly rents
- gross rental yields
- price growth
- rent growth
Instead of asking only:
“How much yield can this property generate?”
investors can also ask:
“How strong is the rental market behind that yield?”
This is not a ranking of every city in Europe
The comparison covers selected European markets currently tracked and compared by BestYieldFinder. It should be read as a comparison within this dataset rather than an exhaustive ranking of every European rental market.
Cities with the strongest rental demand
Among the cities we compared, the highest Rental Demand scores are:
| Rank | City | Country | Rental Demand | Gross Yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poznań | Poland | 86 | 5.60% |
| 2 | Wrocław | Poland | 85 | 5.58% |
| 3 | Warsaw | Poland | 80 | 5.93% |
| 4 | Kraków | Poland | 79 | 4.93% |
| 5 | Łódź | Poland | 78 | 6.18% |
| 6 | Sintra | Portugal | 76 | 5.14% |
| 7 | Gdańsk | Poland | 75 | 5.23% |
| 8 | Rome | Italy | 72 | 6.91% |
| 9 | Porto | Portugal | 69 | 4.25% |
| 10 | Valencia | Spain | 68 | 6.24% |
| 11 | Bologna | Italy | 68 | 5.56% |
| 12 | Madrid | Spain | 67 | 5.57% |
Source: BestYieldFinder city market data, October 2026.
The first thing that stands out is the concentration of Polish markets near the top.
Six of the twelve highest-scoring cities in this comparison are in Poland.
Poland dominates the rental-demand ranking
Poland produces the clearest pattern in the dataset.
Poznań — Rental Demand 86
Poznań records the highest Rental Demand score among the cities compared:
86 / 100
Its current apartment market also shows:
- Median asking price: 634,000 zł
- Median monthly rent: 2,600 zł
- Gross rental yield: 5.60%
This is an important combination.
Poznań does not have the highest gross yield in Europe, but its rental demand score is exceptionally strong.
That can matter for investors focused on finding tenants consistently rather than maximizing headline yield alone.
Wrocław — Rental Demand 85
Wrocław follows almost immediately:
85 / 100
Current market figures:
- Median asking price: 699,000 zł
- Median monthly rent: 2,900 zł
- Gross yield: 5.58%
Again, the yield is moderate rather than extreme.
The stronger signal is rental demand.
Warsaw — Rental Demand 80
Warsaw combines:
- Rental Demand: 80
- Median asking price: 879,000 zł
- Median rent: 3,900 zł
- Gross yield: 5.93%
Warsaw requires substantially more capital than Łódź or Poznań.
But its demand score remains very strong.
This shows why a premium city should not automatically be dismissed simply because acquisition prices are higher.
Kraków — Rental Demand 79
Kraków is particularly interesting because it illustrates the difference between demand and yield.
Rental Demand:
79
Gross yield:
4.93%
That is one of the lowest yields among the leading demand markets.
Strong demand does not guarantee high yield
Kraków has one of the strongest Rental Demand scores in the comparison, yet its gross rental yield is below 5%. High demand can support rental stability without automatically producing a high income-to-price ratio.
Łódź — Rental Demand 78
Łódź offers a different combination:
- Rental Demand: 78
- Median asking price: 461,990 zł
- Median rent: 2,200 zł
- Gross yield: 6.18%
Among the leading Polish markets, Łódź combines relatively affordable entry prices with both strong demand and a higher yield.
This makes it particularly interesting when looking for a balance between rental-market strength and rental economics.
Gdańsk — Rental Demand 75
Gdańsk also remains high in the ranking:
75 / 100
Its current gross yield is approximately 5.23%.
Together, these markets suggest that Poland’s rental story is broader than one dominant city.
Poland’s strength is distributed across several cities
Poznań, Wrocław, Warsaw, Kraków, Łódź and Gdańsk all score 75 or higher for Rental Demand, suggesting that strong rental-market activity is not concentrated in the capital alone.
Portugal: Sintra outperforms Lisbon and Porto on demand
Portugal provides another interesting comparison.
Sintra records:
Rental Demand: 76
That places it above both major Portuguese cities in this comparison.
Sintra
- Rental Demand: 76
- Median asking price: €320,000
- Median monthly rent: €1,350
- Gross yield: 5.14%
Porto
- Rental Demand: 69
- Median asking price: €401,900
- Median monthly rent: €1,200
- Gross yield: 4.25%
Lisbon
- Rental Demand: 65
- Median asking price: €599,900
- Median monthly rent: €1,800
- Gross yield: 4.09%
Sintra therefore combines a higher Rental Demand score with a higher gross yield than both Lisbon and Porto.
Do not assume the biggest city has the strongest rental demand
Secondary or metropolitan markets can sometimes outperform major city centres on both demand and investment economics.
Italy: Rome leads the major markets we compared
Within Italy, Rome stands out.
Its Rental Demand score is:
72 / 100
Current market figures include:
- Median asking price: €310,000
- Median monthly rent: €1,500
- Gross yield: 6.91%
This creates a relatively strong combination of demand and yield.
Bologna follows with a Rental Demand score of 68, while Milan scores 64.
But the most interesting Italian comparison appears when we look at high-yield cities.
High yield can exist without high rental demand
Consider Catania.
Current gross rental yield:
9.03%
That is considerably higher than Rome, Milan or Bologna.
But its Rental Demand score is only:
48
Palermo shows a similar pattern:
- Gross yield: 8.40%
- Rental Demand: 49
Compare that with Rome:
- Gross yield: 6.91%
- Rental Demand: 72
This is exactly why investors should not rank cities using yield alone.
A high yield can hide a weaker demand signal
High theoretical rental income relative to the purchase price does not automatically mean tenants are easier to find or the rental market is stronger.
A higher yield may partly reflect lower property prices rather than stronger rental demand.
Spain: Valencia slightly leads the major markets
Among the Spanish cities compared, Valencia records one of the strongest demand scores:
68 / 100
Current figures:
- Median asking price: €325,000
- Median monthly rent: €1,600
- Gross yield: 6.24%
Madrid is close behind at:
67
while Málaga scores:
66
and Barcelona:
63
Barcelona creates another useful contrast.
Its current gross yield is approximately 7.32%, higher than Valencia, Madrid and Málaga.
Yet its Rental Demand score is lower than all three.
Yield and demand can rank the same cities very differently
Barcelona looks stronger when ranked by gross yield, while Valencia and Madrid move ahead when the comparison focuses on Rental Demand.
France: demand scores are more moderate
The French cities in this comparison generally produce lower Rental Demand scores than the strongest Polish, Portuguese, Italian and Spanish markets.
Toulouse
Rental Demand: 60
Marseille
Rental Demand: 60
Paris
Rental Demand: 58
Lyon
Lyon:
Rental Demand: 56
Lille
Rental Demand: 51
This does not mean these cities lack tenants.
It means their BestYieldFinder Rental Demand scores are currently lower than those of the strongest cities in the markets compared.
Demand scores are comparative signals
A score of 58 does not mean that 58% of rental properties are occupied or that 42% have no demand. It is a market score and should not be interpreted as an occupancy rate.
Rental demand vs gross yield
Perhaps the most useful finding from this comparison is that Rental Demand and gross yield can move very differently.
Consider several examples:
| City | Rental Demand | Gross Yield |
|---|---|---|
| Poznań | 86 | 5.60% |
| Wrocław | 85 | 5.58% |
| Kraków | 79 | 4.93% |
| Rome | 72 | 6.91% |
| Barcelona | 63 | 7.32% |
| Catania | 48 | 9.03% |
Source: BestYieldFinder city market data, October 2026.
Catania has the highest yield in this group.
But Poznań has a dramatically stronger Rental Demand score.
Kraków has one of the strongest demand scores but one of the lowest yields.
Barcelona sits somewhere between the two.
There is no simple rule saying:
Higher demand = higher yield
or:
Higher yield = higher demand
They measure different parts of the investment case.
Why strong rental demand matters
For a long-term rental investor, demand can affect several practical aspects of the investment.
Potential advantages of stronger demand may include:
- a larger potential tenant pool
- less dependence on unusually low rents to attract tenants
- potentially lower vacancy exposure
- greater flexibility when replacing tenants
- stronger support for rental income
But rental demand should still be analyzed alongside:
- purchase price
- achievable rent
- apartment type
- district
- property condition
- local supply
- regulation
- operating expenses
Demand strengthens an investment case — it does not complete it
A high-demand city can still be a poor investment if the property is overpriced or the achievable rent is too low relative to the acquisition cost.
The best opportunities may combine demand and yield
Instead of searching for the highest possible score on one metric, investors can look for markets where several indicators work together.
A simplified framework could be:
Strong demand + strong yield
Potentially attractive rental fundamentals.
Examples may include markets such as Rome or Łódź, where demand remains relatively high while gross yields are also above many competing cities.
Strong demand + lower yield
Potentially more stable rental conditions but weaker income relative to the purchase price.
Kraków is a good example.
Lower demand + high yield
Attractive headline returns, but potentially more demand-related risk.
Catania illustrates this pattern.
Lower demand + lower yield
A market that may require stronger reasons to justify the investment.
Look for balance rather than one winning metric
Rental Demand can help investors understand the strength of the tenant market, while gross yield shows how efficiently the purchase price converts into rental income.
Go below city level
City-level demand is useful for identifying markets.
But individual districts can behave differently.
A high-demand city can still contain neighborhoods with:
- weak tenant demand
- excessive rental supply
- poor transport connections
- mismatched apartment types
Similarly, a city with an average overall demand score may contain particularly strong local rental markets.
This is why the research process should move through:
Country → City → District → Apartment Type → Property
Investors can start by comparing markets in the BestYieldFinder Location Explorer, then use the Yield Finder to explore more specific combinations.
Compare demand with actual properties
Once an attractive market has been identified, the next step is to test the opportunity against real listings.
Use BestYieldFinder Properties to compare:
- asking prices
- apartment sizes
- property types
- estimated rental yields
- locations
Then use the ROI Calculator to check whether the economics still work after considering the wider investment case.
Market demand is only the first layer
A strong city-level demand score should help narrow the search. The final decision still depends on the specific property and the rent it can realistically achieve.
Final thoughts
Rental demand adds an important dimension to property investment analysis.
The strongest demand markets are not necessarily the markets with the highest yields.
In the October 2026 BestYieldFinder data, Polish cities stand out:
Poznań → Wrocław → Warsaw → Kraków → Łódź
But the wider comparison reveals something even more useful.
Cities such as Catania can offer extremely high gross yields with much weaker Rental Demand scores.
Cities such as Kraków show the opposite pattern.
And markets such as Rome and Łódź sit somewhere in the middle, combining relatively strong demand with attractive rental yields.
The goal is not maximum demand or maximum yield
The strongest rental investment may be the market where tenant demand, purchase price, achievable rent, yield and risk create the best overall balance.
For investors, that means asking two different questions:
“How profitable could this property be?”
and:
“How strong is the rental market supporting that income?”
Both matter.