Tag: ageing population

Analysts See Potential Goldmine in Residences for Senior Citizens

4 September 2019

The world is ageing at a rapid pace as life expectancy increases, and birth rates decline. According to data from the WHO, the world’s population of people over 60 years of age will nearly double between 2015 and 2020. That fact, which may lead to a demographic crisis in large parts of the world, can be a boon to nice real estate operators.

Demand for beds in residences for senior citizens is growing inexorably, while supply remains tight. The WHO believes that the optimal number of beds in geriatric residences should account for  5% of the total population of senior citizens. Neither Europe as a whole nor Spain are anywhere near that figure.

Market analysts forecast that the principal actors in the sector could see their net earnings increase by 20% on average by 2020, compared to this year. In the year to date, European and American companies in the sector have seen their shares appreciate by 13%.

Original Story: elEconomista.es – Letizia Aragüés Cortés

Photo: Getty

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Aguirre Newman: Tertiary RE Inv’t to Exceed €10bn in 2017

30 November 2017 – Expansión

After the odyssey experienced during the years of the crisis, with the drastic fall in the volume of investment, the tertiary real estate sector in Spain is now going through a stage of consolidation. As such, for the third year in a row, the volume of transactions involving non-residential assets is going to exceed the €10 billion threshold again in 2017.

According to the conclusions of a seminar organised by Aguirre Newman and KWM, which included presentations from some of the main players in the sector, this positive trend will continue for the next few years, despite certain risks in the environment, such as the political uncertainty, the inevitable rise in interest rates in Europe, the ageing population and the salaries that continue to stagnate.

At the meeting, which was attended by the main executives and directors of listed companies such as Merlin, Neinor, Aedas and Colonial, amongst others, as well as by property developers and investors such as Grupo Inmobiliario Roca, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Grupo Ibosa, ASG Iberia and Stoneweg. Together, they discussed the evolution of the sector and the challenges for 2018, amongst other topics.

“The tertiary investment market is going through a growth consolidation phase after the deep recession that we suffered between 2008 and 2013. According to our estimates, the volume of investment in tertiary assets will exceed €10 billion for the third year in a row in 2017”, explained Susana Rodríguez, Director General of the Consultancy division at Aguirre Newman.

According to data from the consultancy firm corresponding to the first three quarters of this year, hotel assets have been one of the stars of the real estate sector, with investment of €1.9 billion during the 9 months to September, up by 29% YoY. The high street segment also experienced significant growth, of 37%, with an investment volume of €605 million. Whilst, investment in the logistics segment amounted to €665 million, up by 26% YoY. By contrast, investment in offices during the first three quarters decreased by 23% to €1.9 billion and investment in shopping centres decreased by 3% to €3 billion.

Slow down

In terms of the threat of a rise in interest rates in Europe, the experts agree that there will be at least one or two years of stability and that when the time comes for the rate hike, it will be managed in a moderate way: “They do not consider that it will affect the valuation of assets, given that we are in a phase of growing rents”.

Another one of the challenges facing the sector is caused by the political uncertainty generated in Cataluña following 1 October. The speakers agreed that, for another year, the country risk is going to be one of the issues that concerns investors.

Rodríguez said that the figures in the Catalan market are “very positive” at the end of the third quarter. Specifically, the leasing of offices in Barcelona rose by 8% to 265,470 m2 and the average prime rent rose by 9% to €18.25/m2/month.

“It is undeniable that, since October, we have felt a slowdown in the volume of real estate operations. Both business people and investors alike are postponing decision-making whilst they wait to see how the political tensions and uncertainties that are affecting the market today are resolved”, she added.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Solvia: Spain Is Still A Country Of Homeowners

3 May 2017 – Solvia Magazine

Despite the growing demand for rental housing, Spain’s National Institute of Statistics reports that the majority of Spanish households live in properties that they own.

The latest data relating to the type of households in Spain, published by Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE), are revealing: despite the growing increase in demand for rental housing, above all in the large cities such as Madrid and Barcelona, the majority of Spain’s households, specifically 77.5%, live in properties that they own (based on data for 2016). And of that proportion, 48.7% did so in homes without any mortgage payments pending.

The study also highlights that the house ownership trend varies by nationality. Whilst 59.4% of households with at least one foreign member live in rental properties, only 11.8% of families comprising all Spaniards opted for that arrangement in 2016.

On the other hand, the average size of the 18,406,100 households censored in Spain in 2016 amounted to 2.50 people and the most frequently occurring household type was that occupied by a couple with children, which accounted for 33.8% of the total.

Nevertheless, the study warns that increasingly more people are living by themselves in Spain. In 2016, that figure amounted to 4,638,300 people, which represents 25.2% of the total number households. The reasons for this trend are the gradual ageing of the population, which leads to many older people living alone in their homes. The trend is also boosted by homes inhabited by so-called “singles”.

Original story: Solvia Magazine

Translation: Carmel Drake