BBVA Predicts House Building Boom In 2016

5 January 2016 – El Economista

BBVA predicts that there will be a “boost” in house construction over the “next few quarters”, in light of the favourable development, at the end of last year, of indicators such as cement consumption, employment in the sector and transactions involving land.

Those are the explanations provided by BBVA in its latest “Real Estate Flash Report for Spain”, which states that the 13.2% reduction in new build construction permits in October, following an otherwise positive 2015, “may well be temporary”.

On the other hand, the financial institution says that “the other variables reflect that construction activity is likely to continue to grow, although from very low levels”.

Firstly, the report argues that cement consumption recovered in October after decreasing in September; and that the number of employees registered for Social Security purposes in the construction sector also experienced “robust” growth during the months of October and November, putting an end to the lethargy of the previous four months.

In the same way, the financial institution says that business owners’ opinions regarding the future evolution of the residential sector improved in November as a result of an increase in order books.

Finally, the report points out that the land transaction data relating to the third quarter reflects a 72.3% YoY increase in terms of the surface area of land sold.

In parallel to the improvement in property developer activity, BBVA highlighted that demand for housing is continuing to grow thanks to the improvement in the economy. Moreover, it forecasts that, if the current trend in terms of house purchases remains stable, almost 400,000 homes will have been sold in 2015.

Original story: El Economista

Translation: Carmel Drake