Azora: Spain Needs to Build 2 Million Rental Homes in 15 Years

12 January 2019 – El Economista

The rental market is gaining more and more followers in Spain and is now the way of life chosen by 20% of the population. That means that the market has doubled in size over the last 15 years, according to data from Eurostat. Nevertheless, its growth is running into many obstacles along the way, given that the increase in demand has not been accompanied by a rise in supply at the same rate, which has led to the saturation of certain markets, such as Madrid and Barcelona, where several neighbourhoods have experienced price increases of up to 18%, making them even more expensive now than they were during the boom period.

Faced with that situation, the major players in the market and the real estate experts assure that the construction of homes dedicated to rental and the policies to incentivise owners to place their homes on the rental market are two of the most important ways to provide agility to a mechanism that is oxidised right now.

“Rental is a sector with enormous social importance, on which more than 10 million tenants and more than 4 million small Spanish savers and institutional investors depend, who use the rental market as a way of supplementing their income and pensions”, explains Azora in a comprehensive report about the rental market.

In its study, the manager says that the rental housing deficit amounts to another 2 million homes, which will have to be built over the next 15 years to satisfy the increasingly growing demand. “Ensuring legal certainty and a contractual equilibrium is basic for attracting around €300 billion in private and institutional savings necessary to finance this new stock of homes. It is an investment equivalent to 30% of GDP over 15 years or 2% of GDP every year”, says the report.

For Azora, which is one of the largest managers of rental housing in Spain, the construction of these homes is fundamental if we are to avoid “structural imbalances between supply and demand, and it is vital to guarantee access to housing through the rental formula for millions of Spanish families, especially the youngest in society and most vulnerable families”. In this way, according to the Ministry of Development and Eurostat, rental has become the solution for accessing housing for 75% of young people in Spain aged under 29 (compared with 40% in 2007) and for 40% of families with a household income of less than 60% of the national average.

The major challenges

According to comments made by Azora in its report, the three most important challenges facing the sector are, on the one hand, “establishing a public social housing policy to resolve the situation of highly vulnerable people and those at risk of social exclusion”.

In Spain, social housing accounts for just 1.5% of the total, compared with the EU average of 15% (…).

Another challenge is “the creation of a rental stock at affordable prices, below market rates, for families with the lowest incomes and young people” (…).

Finally, the need to increase supply by at least another 30% over the next 15 years. “The problem today and in the future in the private housing market is not the increase in prices (which are still 15.5% below their 2007 peaks, according to data from the Ministry of Development), but rather the complete lack of available stock for rental compared with the sharp growth in demand”, says Azora (…).

Original story: El Economista (by Alba Brualla)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Eurostat: Spain’s Construction Sector Grew by 6.1% in September

19 November 2018 – Eje Prime

The construction sector in Spain is growing. In September, activity in the sector rose by 6.1%, which represents the second largest increase of the year so far, according to provisional data published today by the European statistics agency Eurostat.

The largest increase in 2018 was recorded in March, when construction activity soared by 20.4%. In monthly terms, construction output in Spain also continued to rise in September, with an increase of 1.6%.

That figure is above the number registered for the Eurozone as a whole, where the sector grew by 2% in September compared with the previous month. In YoY terms, the increase was 4.6% and, like in Spain, it constituted the second highest rise of the year, after January (6.6%).

Meanwhile, in the European Union as a whole, construction activity grew in month-on-month terms in September by 1.7%, compared with a fall of half a percentage point recorded in August. With respect to the same period a year earlier, the sector grew by 4.2%.

The largest increases were recorded in Hungary, where construction soared by 25.8%; Slovenia, with a rise of 25.7%; and Poland, with growth of 20.2%. By contrast, the largest decreases were recorded in Bulgaria (-4%), Sweden (-1.5%) and Romania (-1%).

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Investors Increase their Commitment to Rental Housing

3 May 2018 – Expansión

The boom in the residential market, the changing habits in society, the difficulties involved in accessing housing and the increase in mobility have all led to a rebound in the residential rental market in Spain. According to the latest data from Eurostat, more than 22% of Spanish households live in rented properties, although that figure is still well behind the average for the European Union (34%).

In addition, the State Housing Plan, which seeks to encourage rental amongst the younger generation, and the greater professionalisation of the sector, is going to serve to further boost the rental market in Spain.

The change in trend, as well as the increase in residential rental yields, has compelled investors to analyse this business as an alternative to other real estate assets such as offices, shopping centres and hotels.

To lead this market, certain players have redoubled their commitment to rental housing, such as the case of Testa Residencial – the Socimi in which Santander, BBVA, Acciona and Merlin hold stakes – which owns almost 9,300 residential rental properties, with a gross value of €2.275 billion and annual rental income of €72.2 million.

Stock market debuts

That Socimi is preparing its leap onto the market, which will be carried out through an offer of its existing shares (OPV) and an issue of new shares (OPS) aimed exclusively at qualified investors.

One of the first players to back this business was Blackstone, which purchased 18 residential developments, containing 1,860 homes in total, in the Madrilenian neighbourhoods of Carabanchel, Centro, Villa de Vallecas and Villaverde from the Municipal Housing and Land Company of Madrid (EMVS) in July 2013. In 2015, the fund debuted its Socimi Fidere on the MAB (Alternative Investment Market) with 2,688 social housing properties, including those acquired from the EMVS two years earlier. Currently, Fidere owns around 6,400 homes for rent.

The fund also debuted Albirana on the MAB in March 2017 with a portfolio of 5,000 rental homes proceeding from Catalunya Banc loans. Another star of the real estate sector that has detected an opportunity in the rental sector to offload its assets is the Company for the Management of Assets proceeding from the Restructuring of the Banking System (Sareb) with Témpore Properties. That Socimi debuted on the MAB in April with a portfolio of 1,553 residential units, which have a gross value of €175 million.

Another player is Vivenio Residencial, the investment vehicle created by the Dutch pension fund APG together with Renta Corporación. Vivenio has invested around €200 million in the purchase of properties and now owns more than 1,000 rental homes. The Socimi plans to debut on the stock market in 2019.

According to data from Armabex, in 2017, five new Socimis debuted on the stock market with residential assets in their portfolio. In total, at the end of last year, 16 Socimis held rental homes in their portfolios, including, in addition to Fidere and Albirana, Vitruvio, VBare, Colón Vivienda and Domo.

In addition to the listed Socimis, other players in the sector include the real estate managers. One of the largest by volume of assets under management is Anticipa Real Estate, owned by Blackstone. Anticipa currently manages 12,000 homes proceeding from banks acquired by the fund during the crisis. Anticipa manages Albirana’s homes, amongst others.

Another star in the rental home manager sector in Spain is Azzam Vivienda – a subsidiary of Azora – which has more than 11,000 homes under management distributed across 140 buildings.

Azora, which will make its debut on the Madrid stock market on 11 May, plans to raise up to €500 million from its stock market debut to co-invest with its partners in various assets, including in the residential sector.

New players

The company founded by Concha Osácar and Fernando Gumuzio in 2003, was managing €1.5 billion in residential assets at the end of last year, which represented 33.4% of its total portfolio. It plans to increase its footprint in the sector to have between €1.3 billion and €1.6 billion under management by 2022 in homes, accommodation for the elderly and assets relating to healthcare.

Despite the increasing prominence of the rental sector, the business is still very fragmented and one of the challenges for the sector is to gain scale in order to compete. Juan Manuel Acosta, CEO of Greystar in Spain, said in an interview with Expansión in February that the US real estate investment firm is looking for opportunities to become one of the largest operators in the residential rental market in Spain.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Spain No Longer Features in EU’s Top 10 Home Ownership Ranking

23 March 2018 – El País

77.8% of citizens resident in Spain own their own homes. In this way, the country was placed in 13th position in the ranking of European Union (EU) countries in terms of this parameter in 2016, one place below its position the previous year – after being overtaken by the Czech Republic – according to data from the European statistics institute Eurostat, and well outside of the Top 10. Compared to the European average (69.2%), the Spanish figures are still high, although each year, the percentage of homeowners is decreasing slightly to the benefit of the rental market. Ownership fever dominates in Eastern Europe, in particular, where the percentage exceeds 90% in many countries.

In 2007, the first year for which Eurostat compiled data for Spain, the country was ranked in 9th place in terms of the number of citizens owning their own home, with a percentage of 80.6%. Thus, between then and 2016, the rate has been decreasing slightly at the same time as the rates in other countries have been increasing, relegating Spain to lower positions in the ranking.

“In Spain, home ownership is decreasing slightly each year due to the economic conditions and the difficulty in accessing a mortgage”, explains José García Montalvo, Professor at the Universidad Pompeu Fabra, who points out that nowadays you need to have a permanent (employment) contract to be granted a mortgage, whereas, in 2007, you could have been a temporary worker. García Montalvo also argues that society has changed and young people – who are finding it harder to access real estate loans due to their employment conditions – regard the purchase of a home as a “problem” (…).

The professor says that the price of rental homes is rising due to greater demand, and he does not think that the decrease in home ownership is a phenomenon that is going to reverse despite the rent increases. In 2017, the price of rental homes in Spain recorded its third annual rise. The average price grew by 8.9% in 2017, the highest ever increase in the historical series of the real estate portal Fotocasa’s index, which has been compiling data since January 2006.

Eastern European countries lead the home-ownership statistics

In 2016, Romania was the country where the highest percentage of citizens owned their own home, with 96%. It was followed by Lithuania, with 90.3%; Croatia and Macedonia, with 90%; Slovakia (89.5%); Hungary with 86.3%; Poland, with 83.4%; Bulgaria (82.3%); Estonia and Malta, with 81.4%; Latvia with 80.9% and the Czech Republic with 78.2%. “The countries where citizens are most committed to buying their own home are primarily those in Eastern Europe. This is partly a result of the fact that many of those regions were communist countries and that when the market was opened up, it was shared out and everyone got involved”, says García Montalvo.

By contrast, the data from Eurostat shows that the citizens of countries with more consolidated economies back the rental market to a greater extent over the acquisition of home. Thus, Germany leads this category with 51.7% of its citizens owning their own home, followed by Austria, with 55%; and Denmark with 62%. Nevertheless, none of these countries fall below 50%, although the percentages are decreasing every year, opting for a rental model. The EU average stands at 69.2%, more than 8 percentage points below the figure in Spain.

“Rental is favoured in countries where labour mobility is higher such as in Germany and Austria. In Spain, it would be great if that was the case to boost labour mobility because ownership ties people down a lot (…).

Original story: El País (by Nahiara S. Alonso)

Translation: Carmel Drake

EU Concern Over Rapid House Price Rises in Spain

21 March 2018 – Eje Prime

Spain is now one of the countries in the European Union (EU) where house prices are growing the fastest. The Spanish residential market ended 2017 with an average growth in prices of 7.2%, exceeding the YoY variation rates in most of the continent’s major economic powers such as Germany, France and the United Kingdom, according to data from Eurostat.

This data, together with the bubble that the country suffered during the final years of the last decade and the beginning of this one, have raised concerns beyond Spain’s borders. There, according to reports by Cinco Días, observers see that the pattern of the previous bullish phase is being repeated.

During the third quarter of the year, for example, house prices across the EU markets as a whole increased by 4.1% in nominal terms. Out of all the countries in the Union, five stood out for their double-digit growth, namely: the Czech Republic (12.3%), Ireland (12.0%), Hungary (10.2%), the Netherlands (10.2%) and Portugal (10.4%).

Established economies such as the German, French and British saw their house prices rise by around 3%. Specifically, the price of housing in France grew by 3.1% last year; in the United Kingdom, the increase amounted to 2.8%; and in Germany, 1.8%. Meanwhile, Italy continued to see price decreases in its residential sector, with a reduction of 2% YoY last year. By city, London, Amsterdam, Madrid and Dublin are going to be the metropolises where prices grow by the most in 2018, with double-digit rises forecast, according to a study by Dbrs.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Eurostat: Rental Prices Rose by 2% in Spain in 2017

8 February 2018 – Eje Prime

Rental prices are resuming momentum in the Spanish market. After years of gentle rises followed by three consecutive years of decreases, rental prices closed 2017 with an increase of 2%, almost double the rate seen in France and Italy, according to data from the European statistics agency, Eurostat. For the first time since 2008, the rise in Spain is higher than the average recorded for the European Union as a whole.

Although owning your own home is still the preferred model for the majority of the population in Spain, the rental segment has been gaining strength in leaps and bounds, especially since the crisis.

According to the latest available data, also compiled by Eurostar, in 2016, 22.2% of Spaniards lived in rental properties, compared to 77.8% that lived in their own homes. Specifically, 13.8% of the population was paying rent at market price, whilst 8.4% had a reduced or free rent.

In 2006, just 19.8% of Spaniards lived in rental properties, well below the European average, which amounted to 27.2% at the time. Nowadays, the average for the EU stands at 30.9%.

Despite the rise in rentals, prices have evolved very unevenly in recent years. In 2008, at the height of the economic crisis, residential rents soared by 4.1% in Spain, above the average for the EU, which amounted to 3.7%.

In the following years, rental prices continued to rise, except for a slight dip in 2009, although below the EU average. Nevertheless, after four years on a bullish streak, rental prices started to fall in 2014 and have been declining since then, with reductions of 0.2% in 2014, 0.6% in 2015 and 0.3% in 2016.

In 2017, for the first time in almost a decade, Spain was once again one of the fifteen countries where rental prices rose by more than the EU average, which stood at 1.7%.

The country that recorded the highest increase in rental prices was Turkey, where rents soared by 11.1% last year. It was followed, albeit at a distance, by Estonia, Lithuania, Serbia and Latvia. The first mature market to appear on the list is the United Kingdom, where house inflation reached 2.7%.

Prices also rose at a similar rate to Spain in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Belgium, Austria, Sweden and Norway. By contrast, other mature markets such as Germany, the USA (which Eurostat also analyses), Italy and France registered more moderate rises of 1.7%, 1.7%, 1.3% and 1.2%, respectively. The only country in Europe where rental prices decreased in 2017 was Island.

This data corresponds to the House Price Index, compiled by the European statistics agency Eurostat. In Spain, several sources are published each year about the evolution of rental house prices, primarily by real estate websites and agencies, although the Ministry of Development recently announced the launch of a new official quarterly statistic.

Original story: Eje Prime (by I. P. Gestal)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Eurostat: 78.2% Of Spaniards Own Their Homes

21 March 2017 – El Mundo

78.2% of Spaniards own a home, a figure that puts Spain amongst the countries with the highest percentage of home ownership in the whole European Union, according to data from Eurostat corresponding to February 2017, compiled by the Institute of Economic Studies (IES).

The percentage of Spaniards that own a home is almost nine points higher than the EU average, which stands at 69.5%.

Nevertheless, some countries in the EU have an even higher ownership rate than Spain – all of them are recent accession countries.

Romania leads the ranking with 96.4% of people owning homes. It is followed by Croatia (90.5%), Lithuania (89.4%), Slovakia (89.3%), Hungary (86.3%), Poland (83.7%), Bulgaria (82.3%), Estonia (81.5%), Malta (80.8%) and Latvia (80.2%).

Countries that fall below the average include the Netherlands (67.8%), France (64.1%) and the UK (63.5). Those countries with the lowest home ownership rates include Germany (51.9%), Austria (55.7%) and Denmark (62.7%).

Original story: El Mundo

Translation: Carmel Drake

Housing Crash Turns Spain’s Young Into Generation Rent

30 November 2016 – Bloomberg

Having witnessed the meltdown in the country’s property market at the height of the European financial crisis, more young Spaniards are turning their backs on their parents’ dream of owning a home. The emerging trend is leading Merlin Properties Socimi SA to bet it can overtake Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Blackstone Group LP in the rental market. Spain’s biggest real estate investment trust is planning to almost double the units it has for rent by the end of the year, Chief Executive Officer Ismael Clemente said in an interview.

“Young Spaniards today don’t have a culture of ownership — they no longer see renting as a bad thing,’’ he said.

The real estate crash and resultant bank bailout spurred many millennials to question the received wisdom that a Spaniard’s house is not just a home but also a haven for savings. The crisis sent unemployment soaring, stripping away the economic certainties of a safe job and income and the relentless rise in property prices that had underpinned the country’s passion for home ownership.

“The concept of owning a home in Spain was almost religious, but that’s changed for an entire generation of young people who have seen people losing their homes, prices dropping and losing access to credit,” said Fernando Encinar, co-founder and head of research at Idealista SA, which operates an online platform to buy and rent homes. “That has made renting a more attractive option, especially in big cities such as Madrid and Barcelona.”

Credit Explosion

Spain’s adoption of the euro in 2002 drove down long-term interest rates to power a surge in mortgage lending that jumped more than fourfold from 2000 to its 2010 apex. The top of its property boom saw Spain building more houses than Germany, France and the U.K. combined, and house prices soared in tandem with the credit explosion. After rising 71 percent between 2003 and 2008, when home prices peaked, they then plunged 31 percent before starting a slow recovery in late 2014.

The number of homes listed for rent has risen from 9 percent of the total number of available homes in big cities in 2000 to as much as 25 percent in 2015, according to Idealista. The proportion of Spaniards renting a home has risen to 22 percent from 19 percent in 2007, according to data from Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics office.

That compares with a European Union average of 30 percent. Even so, home ownership continues to dominate with 78 percent of Spaniards describing themselves as owners. That’s slightly down from 81 percent in 2007 but above the EU average of about 70 percent.

No-Brainer

For Guillermo Garcia, a 26-year-old restaurant entrepreneur, the decision to rent instead of buying a three-bedroom apartment in central Madrid was a no-brainer.

“Owning a house is not a sign of success,” he said. “I don’t have to live like my parents did. I don’t want to sign away my life like that.”

For Merlin, the rising popularity of rentals represents a business opportunity.

“Until now, there has been no professional landlord in Spain and the quality of the rental sector has been very poor,” Clemente said in the interview.

As part of Merlin’s business combination with Metrovacesa SA announced in June, the two will also merge their portfolios of rental apartments. Merlin and the former shareholders of Metrovacesa will combine the properties and add more apartments to create a landlord with 10,000 rented homes, dwarfing the 6,000 units owned by Blackstone in Madrid and the close to 5,000 homes owned by Goldman Sachs.

Clemente, who wants to list or sell its residential unit — Testa Residencial — within three years, sees the switch to renting as part of a wider generational change that’s also underway in his own home.

“My children don’t have a culture of ownership,” he said. “They rent their mobile handsets from Telefonica, they listen to music on Spotify and they simply no longer see renting as a bad thing.’’

Original story: Bloomberg (by Maria Tadeo and Sharon R Smyth)

Edited by: Carmel Drake

Risk Of A Bubble In The Rental Home Market?

4 November 2016 – El Mundo

The rental sector stopped being the bad guy the movie about the residential market a long time ago. Following the burst of the real estate bubble in 2008,  this option for accessing a home (so vilified in previous decades and so closely linked to numerous prejudices in a country where the ownership culture was deeply entrenched) quickly became an attractive an option. Its popularity has been so great that rental housing now accounts for more than 20% of the residential stock and that figure is on the rise. So much so, there are now concerns in the sector about the risk of a bubble.

The EU office for statistics, Eurostat, states that the percentage of the Spanish population living in rental homes now amounts to 21.8% and Spain’s National Institute for Statistics (INE), in its Continuous Household Survey for 2015, said that the figure amounts to 22.7% – the percentage is even higher in major cities such as Madrid and Barcelona -. If we look at this with some perspective, we see that the number of tenants has soared since 2007, when they accounted for just 6% or 7% of all dwellings.

Although perhaps most importantly, beyond the numbers, is the change in attitude towards renting. Nowadays, the hackneyed expression that renting is throwing money down the drain is no longer heard, and Spain is becoming more European in this sense. Currently, the national percentage of renters in Spain is higher than in Norway (17.2%) and is getting close to the levels seen in Portugal (25.1%), Greece (26%), Italy (26.9%), Belgium (28.6%) and Sweden (30.7%). Nevertheless, it is still a long way below the level in Switzerland, where more than half of inhabitants rent their homes (55.5%) and Germany (47.5%) (…).

Meanwhile, Servihabitat has published the first indicator that points to a boom. According to a study by the servicer’s investigation and market analysis platform, the average rental price is expected rise by more than 10% in 2016. Moreover, in the provinces of Málaga, Barcelona, Gerona and Alicante and in the uniprovincial communities of the Balearic Islands and Madrid, rental price increases are expected to exceed the average.

One of the most qualified people to talk about this situation in the rental segment is the firm Alquiler Seguro, which was established in 2007 and which nowadays brokers and manages tens of thousands of rental contracts all over Spain. The President of the company, Gustavo Rossi, acknowledges that the risk of a bubble does exist, above all, in the major cities and in the most touristy areas. “In those enclaves, the supply is insufficient for the demand that exists and, therefore, we see bull markets, with rental prices on the rise. If demand continues to grow and supply continues to stagnate, then we may see a price bubble”, he warned. Nevertheless, he points out that this possible bubble “would not be anything like the one seen with owned properties, when the construction sector stopped focusing on housing needs and took decisions based purely on speculation targets.

Antidotes to avoid the boom

To avoid the threat of a boom, Rossi advocates reactivating the supply, both from individuals as well as from property developers and investors. “The first step would be to put closed housing on the market and regulate the high flow of tourist homes”, he suggests. Similarly, he argues that “we should advance more in the professionalization of the sector to allow owners to lose their fear of renting. He also supports the need for Local Governments to commit to the rental sector “by creating specific courts to rapidly resolve conflicts and boost tax benefits for both owners and tenants, preferably via the income tax framework, and at the same time bring those rents that are submerged in the black market up to the surface”.

The forecasts for rental price increases are starting to cause problems, especially for renters. Currently, good tenants (those who pay on time), so sought after in recent years, are no longer the treasures they once were because the demand for quality is increasing. Some landlords, aware that rental prices are rising, are becoming increasingly less flexible and harsh with their current tenants, for example, when it comes to signing tacit contract renewals or granting ad hoc requests. (…).

In terms of prices, Servihabitat estimates that the average rental cost in Spain amounts to €540 for a home measuring 80m2 to 90m2, with significant variations depending on the autonomous region. In this way, the most expensive average rents are charged in the Balearic Islands (€980/month), the Community of Madrid (€940), Ceuta (€880) and País Vasco (€840), whereas the cheapest rents are paid in Galicia (€280), Extremadura (€370) and Castilla-La Mancha (€380). The servicer also identifies the trend in rental prices, which it describes as increasing in every autonomous region with the exception of Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha, Navarra, Asturias and Ceuta and Melilla, where prices are stable. (…).

Original story: El Mundo

Translation: Carmel Drake

Armabex: The Avalanche Of Socimis Continues

17 October 2016 – El Economista

There are 29 listed Socimis on the Spanish stock market, of which 24 are listed on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB). And there are lots more on their way. All of them are subject to the following basic conditions: they must have a minimum share capital of €5 million, distribute 80% of their profits as dividends and hold each rental property in their portfolios for at least three years. But, other than that, they are all completely different.

Socimis, which is the acronym for collective listed real estate investment companies, have come to replace the former real estate companies, which are now just shadows of their former selves (firms such as Quabit and Inmobiliaria Colonial) in a country where investing in property is the typical thing to do. “For every one million euros invested or saved in financial assets, another €25 million is invested in property in Spain”, according to Antonio Fernández, Chairman at Armabex.

Arrival of foreign capital

A few years ago, the Socimis found the perfect breeding ground for construction in Spain. Following the real estate boom, which did away with much of the sector and the subsequent burst of the price bubble, overseas investors decided that it was time to return to Spain. From there, the large Socimis were born in our market, such as Merlin Properties, Hispania, Lar España and Axiare, which all have significant overseas shareholders.

Fernández called these companies the Alpha Socimis – they are used by overseas investors to enter the Spanish real estate market because “by buying shares in them, they are, in turn, acquiring major buildings in the country’s largest cities”. By contrast, the Beta Socimis are those that focus on the development of their assets and, therefore, they make investments (capex).

According to the latest data from Eurostat, house prices in Spain rose by 3.8% YoY during the second quarter of 2016, i.e. by almost one percentage point more than the 2.9% increase registered across the Eurozone as a whole. As such, the increase in house prices has now been higher in Spain than across the EU (on average) for seven months in a row.

The different types of Socimis

(…).

– On the one hand, we have the large Socimis in the market. If an investor is looking for real estate vehicles, such as Merlin Properties, he should know that he is mainly investing in high quality homes and premises that will generate regular rental income. In addition, they are monitored by at least ten brokerage houses, such as in the case of Lar España. According to Bloomberg, these two companies, along with Axiare and Merlin, i.e. the four large players in the Spanish market, all have “buy” recommendations.

– On the other hand, we have the mainly family-run Socimis, where “there may be just a single person taking the decisions”, said Fernández, “and that involves risk”, even more so when they are dealing with single assets that could be sold at any time. Five Socimis have been constituted on that basis, with just one property. (…). A fair few others own between three and five properties only.

– There are also Socimis that own land. “It is worth noting that their returns are higher because they involve greater risk”. According to the expert, these firms rent land and invest in it, which means that, in many cases, the company does not generate any profits and therefore it does not distribute dividends to its shareholders. (…).

– And there are also Socimis that more closely resemble funds of funds, in other words, Socimis that invest in other Socimis, but that do not possess their own assets. Corpfin Capital holds four Socimis under its structure; and Optimum Re Spain Socimi manages several real estate funds.

Original story: El Economista (by Laura de la Quintana)

Translation: Carmel Drake