Tag: average sales period

Servihabitat: Spain’s Housing Market Continues on its Positive Trajectory

24 July 2018 – Eje Prime

The housing market in Spain is going to continue with positive figures across all areas in 2018. That is according to a report from Servihabitat, which indicates that prices are going to continue to rise this year, up by 5.4%; operations are going to soar, with a leap of 24%; and new build starts are going to rise by 16.6% (all figures compared to last year).

According to the report, these increases respond to a residential market that “is progressing with clear signs of consolidation”, which is explained by factors such as an improvement in consumer confidence, the containment of unemployment and the positive evolution of companies’ turnover.

These elements “are encouraging the start of housing projects and configuring an expansive cycle”. With a special focus on the largest populations in Spain, such as Madrid, Barcelona, Málaga, Valencia and Sevilla, in the case of homes for regular use, and on regions such as Galicia, La Rioja, the Community of Valencia and the Canary Islands, the number of new home starts will rise by 16.6% this year to 93,895 units.

Meanwhile, the number of finished homes will rise by 15.5% during the course of this year, according to Servihabitat’s forecasts, with a total of 63,744 homes delivered. Despite that, the pull of demand will reduce the new build stock by 4% to 454,939 homes, with a greater reserve in the communities of Cataluña, the Community of Valencia and Andalucía (the three account for 49% of the total stock).

The second major increase will be seen in the number of transactions, in other words, the sale of homes signed at the notaries’ offices. According to the report, the year will close with a total of 669,739 transactions subscribed, up by 24.3% compared to 2017.

Macroeconomic conditions, together with opening up of the financial sector to the granting of mortgages and demand for property investment (thanks to the returns that the rental market is offering) are the three main drivers of demand, which have reduced the average sales period for a normal home to 6.6 months.

Finally, the evolution of supply and demand will lead to a rise in house prices once again this year, up by 5.4%, compared with an increase of 6.2% with respect to the previous year.

Prices are expected to grow by the most in the Community of Madrid, with a forecast increase of 11.5%; followed by Cataluña, 9.6%; the Balearic Islands, 8%; and País Vasco, with an expected increase of 5.2%. By contrast, prices are forecast to rise by less than 1% in the autonomous regions of Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha in 2018.

The report also reflects the opinions of the real estate agents who form part of Servihabitat’s own network of branches and its collaborating agents. In particular, 64.2% of that sample believes that the price of regular homes (primary residences) will remain stable in 2018, compared with 33.2% who think that they will rise and just 2.6% who consider that prices will fall. In the case of holiday homes, the dispersion is somewhat greater: 34% forecast that prices will rise this year; 62.6% think they will remain stable and 3.4% believe that they will fall.

Original story: Eje Prime (by C. de Angelis)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Neinor Buys Plot For 96 Homes In Valencia From Meridia Capital

15 November 2017 – El Economista

Neinor Homes is continuing to strengthen its presence in Valencia. The property developer has purchased a plot of land from Meridia Capital in the Quatre Carreres area of the city, for the construction of a residential development that will comprise 96 homes and several commercial premises.

The real estate consultancy BNP Paribas Real Estate has acted as the advisor to the operation. The asset, which has a surface area of 3,418 m2 and a buildable surface area of 15,027 m2, is located on Carrer de Antoni Ferrandis, in an established urban environment, just a stone’s throw from the ‘Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias’, the ‘Ciudad de la Justicia’ and the El Saler shopping centre. Moreover, it is well connected by road, is served by several bus routes and, in the future, will have a stop on line 2 of the tram.

Rafael Paz Martínez, Head of Capital Markets at BNP Paribas Real Estate in Valencia, explains that “this operation highlights the renewed appetite that investors have for Valencia as one of the most interesting markets given the shortage of developable land, after several years when property development activity has been paralysed, and the supply of new developments has been very limited”.

Over the last 12 months, there has been a clear reactivation of property developer activity and several new residential projects have been started in the city. For this reason, Neinor is backing the market with a vengeance. The strong performance of demand is translating into a good rate of sales for the majority of projects and currently, the average sales period for developments stands at 13 months. Similarly, slight increases in house prices are started to be noticed and, therefore, so too in the price of residential land, explain sources at BNP Paribas Real Estate.

Original story: El Economista 

Translation: Carmel Drake

How Long Does It Take To Sell A House In Spain?

21 June 2016 – Cinco Días

The improvement in the economy, the credit recovery and the belief that discounted house prices have come to an end are all driving up house sales. In fact, several studies agree that it now takes just 10 months to sell a home, on average, when in 2013 it took more than a year. What’s more, in April, homes in good locations with reasonable prices in Madrid and Barcelona were sold within 30 days.

The three major indicators of the real estate market: price, sales and construction have been reflecting an improvement in the sector for months now, and in some cases for years. But another way of taking the pulse of this activity is to look at how long it takes to sell homes, on average. For the time being, the only figures available are provided by private companies operating in the market, such as the appraisal company Tinsa, and the real estate portals Idealista and Fotocasa.

Care should be taken because the results depend on the methodology used in each study, and given that we do not know what happened in terms of average sales periods before 2010, the reality is that all of the cases indicate the same trend: it takes less time to sell a home now than it did a year ago.

The appraisal company Tinsa has been preparing its study for just four quarters (its figures for Q2 2016 are due to be published within the next few days). It obtains its data by cross-checking the volume of supply and demand for homes in all of the provincial capitals and in the country’s five major cities: Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla y Zaragoza. Two conclusions stand out from its finding.

The first is that, on average, during the first quarter of this year, it took 10.5 months on average to sell a home in Spain, slightly less time than during the previous quarter (10.6 months). Although, we should keep in mind that the start of the year tends to be the quietest time for house sales, which could also affect the average sales period.

The second aspect…is the disparity in average sales periods by region. Whilst in some parts of the country, average sales periods are pretty stagnant and have barely experienced any changes in four quarters, either up or down; in other areas, there has been a clear upwards or downwards trend (homes are being sold more quickly or it is taking longer to complete sales, respectively).

In the ranking by province, for example, Madrid stands out because it now takes just seven months to sell a home there; meanwhile, in Cantabria, the autonomous region with the longest average sales period, it takes 19 months to sell a home, almost triple the period reported in Madrid. Other regions at the top end of the ranking include: the two Canary Island provinces, Badajoz and Zaragoza. Whilst, at the other end of the scale, as well as Cantabria, we have Ávila, Álava, Segovia and Ciudad Real, amongst others. The large cities that complete the appraisal company’s study all have a common denominator: they are the areas where average sales periods are decreasing the most quickly.

Meanwhile, Fotocasa’s figures are prepared based on a survey of owners with homes up for sale. Its latest figures relate to 2015 as a whole. Its findings show that it takes 10.6 months to sell a home on average…well below the maximum peak of 13.2 months reached in 2013. In addition, it breaks down the supply by tranches and concludes that last year, just 15% of the homes that were bought had been on the market for more than 24 months.

Finally, recent analysis performed by Idealista shows that in April, 20% of the homes sold in Madrid and 15% of those sold in Barcelona found a buyer within less than a month. (…).

Original story: Cinco Días (by Raquel Díaz Guijarro)

Translation: Carmel Drake