Tag: civil engineering

Employment In The Real Estate Sector Rose By 6.4% In October

3 November 2017 – Eje Prime

The real estate sector is continuing its role as a driver of the growth of employment in Spain. According to data from the Social Security office, in October, real estate activity registered a total of 130,850 affiliated workers, 63 more than in September. That figure represents a YoY increase of 6.4%, with 7,921 more professionals now active in the sector.

Including October, real estate activity has now recorded four consecutive months above the threshold of 130,000 jobs. This hopeful figure for growth contrasts with the just over 118,000 workers that were registered in the segment less than two years ago, in January 2016. Last year, during one month, March, the figure actually fell below that threshold, to an annual minimum of 117,986.

Nevertheless, the sector has been recovering its strength, month after month, and the real estate business made its debut in 2017 with 124,053 affiliated workers registered for Social Security purposes. Since January, the MoM growth rate has stood at around 1%, with around 1,000 new jobs being created each month, until the summer, when the rate of increase stagnated.

The strong performance in terms of employment in the real estate sector goes hand in hand with the recovery of the job market in general right across the country. In October, the Social Security office registered 17 million affiliated workers, which represents an improvement of 3.9% on the total employment figures recorded in the same month in 2016. The growth rate of employment in the real estate sector (6.4%) clearly shows that it is moving at a faster pace than the economy in general.

If we add employment in real estate activity with employment in the construction sector (the construction of buildings, specialist construction work and civil engineering), then the sector recorded an average of 1.27 million affiliated workers in October, up by 6.7% compared to the same month last year.

Unemployment rose by 56,884 people in October

The number of registered unemployed people at the Public Employment Services’ offices rose by 56,884 in October compared to the previous month. Nevertheless, the increase was well below the average rise in the unemployment figure in October over the last eight years, which amounts to 90,000 people.

In YoY terms, unemployment in Spain fell by 7.9% in the tenth month of the year, bringing the total number of unemployed people to 3.46 million. By economic sector, registered unemployment decreased above all in the construction sector, whilst it increased in the agriculture, industry and services sectors.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

CESCE: The Construction Sector Will Grow By 3% In 2015

18 August 2015 – Expansión

The construction sector will grow by 3% in 2015 and building work will begin on 45,000 new homes, according to the Sector Report prepared by CESCE, the company responsible for the Integrated Management of Commercial Risk and Credit Services.

This increase represents a turnaround for the construction sector with respect to the previous seven years, which have seen nothing but decreases.

In this sense, CESCE’s analysis predicts that the highest growth will be seen in the renovation and maintenance segment (3.9%), followed by non-residential construction (3.2%), residential construction (2.8%), and finally, by civil engineering, with a rise of 1.8%.

The company states that the production value of the construction sector amounted to €97,972 million in 2014, and that this figure is expected to increase to €100,900 million in 2015.

In total, 58,776 construction permits were granted in 2014, an increase of 0.06% with respect to 2013 – although minute, that rise was significant, as it was the first time the number of permits had increased after seven years of consecutive decreases. Nevertheless, the figure is still a long way below the peaks recorded in 2006, when 911,000 permits were granted in a single year.

According to CESCE, the adjustment in prices has resulted in a prolongation of the good times in the wholesale real estate market, but the improvement has been slow to impact retail sales and even slower to affect the construction market itself.

In 2014, the sale of homes increased by 21.6% YoY, to 365,593 units, with rises reported in all of the autonomous regions, in particular in Ceuta and Melilla, Madrid and Navarra, which recorded annual increases of 44%, 31% and 31%, respectively.

In 2014, the construction of 46,795 new homes was completed, a decrease of 93% since 2007, when 641,419 properties were finished. The figure in 2014 was 28% lower than in 2013, and represented the minimum of the historical series, which was created in 2000.

Nevertheless, the rental market in Spain has been strengthened by the economic crisis, since it has gone from being practically residual to accounting for 20% of Spain’s households (compared with 80% of homes that are occupied by their owners).

This percentage is still a long way below the average rate of rented homes in the rest of Europe (38%) and Germany (60%), although analysis of the data indicates that there has been a structural change in Spain both in terms of the market, as well as in terms of society’s mindset.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake