CBRE: New Build House Prices In Zaragoza Will Rise By 3% In 2017

28 March 2017 – El Periódico de Aragón

The price per square metre of new housing in Zaragoza grew by 1% last year and is expected to rise by 3% on average in 2017. Those were the comments expressed yesterday by the CEO of the real estate consultancy CBRE, Miguel Ángel Gómez, in the Aragonese capital, during his presentation of the latest report about the evolution of the housing market in Aragón.

A moderate reactivation in terms of development activity and a recovery in demand meant that the positive trend in prices that began in 2015 continued in 2016. In this way, the average price per square metre of a new build home in Zaragoza amounted to €1,976/m2 in 2016. By district, Centro and Universidad were the areas that saw the highest price rises last year, increasing to €3,800/m2 and €3,150/m2, respectively, as a result of the release onto the market of several iconic projects.

Those price rises went hand in hand with a recovery in the rate of house sales, which rose by 14.7% in Aragón last year with respect to 2015. According to the latest data from Spain’s National Institute of Statistics, 10,700 operations were recorded in total.

One of the indicators that reflects the improvement in the behaviour of the new build residential market was the rate of sales. Whilst in 2015, it took 18 months to sell an entire development, now, 75% of new developments are being sold off-plan within the first six months.

Fewer homes are available

CBRE’s report identifies a downwards trend in the supply of available new build homes in the city, as a result of an increase in demand and only moderate development activity. In this regard, Parque Venecia, Miralbueno and Arrabal-Barrio de Jesús are the districts that have the greatest availability of new homes. Meanwhile, La Muela, Cuarte de Huerva and Puebla de Alfindén are the towns that have the most stock.

By contrast, there is a shortage of residential land in the central area, which led to the launch of several renovation projects in 2016. Nevertheless, CBRE thinks that those homes will not cover demand. On the other hand, the consultancy firm forecasts an increase in the number of transactions involving land in the area around Miguel Servet, Avenida Cataluña, Miralbueno, Rosales del Canal, Valdespartera and Arcosur this year. The price per square metre of land in Aragón amounted to around €600/m2 during 2016 and whereby exceeding the national average (€400/m2).

Original story: El Periódico de Aragón (by Alicia Gracia)

Translation: Carmel Drake