JLL: Madrid is one of the World’s Most Attractive Real Estate Markets

6 March 2018 – Expansión

Madrid is one of the most attractive cities in the world for investing in the real estate sector and now competes with the global giants. That is according to a report by the real estate consultancy JLL, which places the Spanish capital on the second tier of the ranking. On the first tier, it places the planet’s seven major cities – London, New York, Paris, Singapore, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul – which are now being chased by the so-called “contenders”, which are those cities that have experienced the most rapid growth in terms of real estate investment over the last decade and which, nowadays “have better development and attraction power” for large investors. Besides Madrid, the cities that stand out in this ranking are Los Angeles, Shanghai, Beijing, Amsterdam, Chicago, Toronto, San Francisco, Washington DC and Sydney.

Meanwhile, Barcelona is placed in the group of cities that stand out for their degree of influence at the global level, a category that it shares with Brussels, Frankfurt, Genoa, Kyoto, Miami and Vienna. “They are cities that have the most stable real estate markets due to their strategic locations for taking transnational decisions, hosting cultural events and doing business”, says the report Cities of the World: Cartography of Success, prepared by the consultancy firm in collaboration with The Business of Cities.

To prepare this ranking, the report is based on a rating system that takes into account 44 variables. They include the size of the markets, the infrastructure in place, the presence of large companies, the capacity to attract talent, telecommunications and the commitment to specialisation and innovation.

Infrastructure

In the case of Madrid, JLL highlights several aspects that place the Spanish capital on a clear trajectory towards the real estate peak: “Robust infrastructure, global connectivity, a large number of international conferences and conventions and a solid reputation”.

Another one of the elements that makes Madrid one of the major global destinations for real estate investment “is the forecast growth in office rents”. Not in vain, the Spanish capital is the European city where office rental prices are forecast to grow by the most during the period 2018-2020 (+3.6%), followed, incidentally, by Barcelona (+3.1%) and ahead of Manchester, Helsinki and Lisbon, according to JLL.

It is worth remembering that Madrid and Barcelona are the clear leaders in terms of the growth in residential asset prices in Spain. Homes became 17.1% more expensive in the capital of Spain and 14.8% more so in the Catalan capital, which lost ground in the last few months of the year due to the secessionist challenge, according to Tinsa. In any case, homes are still 20.3% more expensive in Barcelona than Madrid.

The appeal of Barcelona

In addition, Madrid is ranked as the fourth favourite city for commercial brands looking to locate stores, after London, Paris and Milan. Barcelona also features in the top 10: it occupies seventh place.

(…) In this regard, JLL highlights several aspects that justify its added value, such as “its tourist, cultural and business appeal”. Moreover, it points out aspects such as the fact that Barcelona is the fourth-ranked city in Europe in terms of visitor numbers.

The consultancy firm also emphasises Barcelona’s growing reputation as a smart city, “in large part thanks to the influence that the development of the 22@ business area has had in Barcelona. It has been erected as a technological hub, where large companies and start-ups are committed to setting up shop” (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Juanma Lamet)

Translation: Carmel Drake