Barcelona’s Prime Office Rents Now Exceed Their 2007 Levels

20 March 2018 – Eje Prime

The rental prices of prime offices in Barcelona are returning to their pre-crisis levels. Specifically, to their 2007 figures. That is the conclusion drawn by Cat Real Estate, the real estate consultancy firm, which confirms that in the most expensive areas of the office market in the Catalan capital, demand has risen again and assets have gotten more expensive.

Specifically, the Catalan company recently closed an operation involving the sale of a 450 m2 office on Paseo de Gracia for €6,500/m2. That transaction shows that in Barcelona, “we have returned to 2007 prices in terms of the value of office purchases in the main commercial areas”, says Nacho Castella, CEO of the consultancy firm.

The buyer of that asset on Paseo de Gracia was an international fund. In this regard, Cat Real Estate explains that “the improvement in consumption has reactivated interest in domestic operations above all from international players keen to take positions on the high street once again”

“Barcelona continues to be an important location for overseas investors”, says Castella. Cat Real Estate forecasts that the real estate market will continue to rise in 2018. During the first quarter of the year, the consultancy has already brokered forty operations involving a volume of real estate assets under management of €480 million.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake