Tag: Eurostat

Large Companies Also Focus On The Rental Housing Market

26 September 2016 – El Mundo

The rental market is becoming one of the symbols of the new real estate cycle. It has gone from being an almost residual market to becoming one of the stars of the residential sector. Gone are the prejudices that used to weigh down on this regime – it seems like the best is yet to come: all indications are that the sector has a promising future ahead thanks to its potential for professionalization.

Currently, the rental market accounts for around 25% of the residential stock. The latest official data comes from 2014, when, according to Eurostat, 21.2% of Spaniards lived in rental accommodation. According to the experts, that percentage that has been increasing ever since and it is much higher in the major cities. Spain has not had this many tenants since the 1960s.

Despite the significant increase in rental accommodation, Spain is a long way below countries such as Germany (where 47.5% of homes are rented), Austria (42.8%), Denmark (36.7%), the UK (35.2%) and France (34.9%). On average, 29.9% of homes in Europe are rented. This European reality indicates that the rental market in Spain still has potential for growth.

Experts agree that one of the maxims of the new real estate cycle will be a more balanced relationship between ownership and rental. They agree that to reach this goal, the sector, which is currently mainly in the hands of individual landlords, will have to be professionalized. This professionalization has been underway for years and is now starting to consolidate itself on a large scale.

Testa Residencial

A recent example is the maturity of the professional leasing market is Testa Residencial, the new subsidiary of Merlin Properties, created following the merger of the residential portfolios previously owned by the Socimi and Metrovacesa. This joint venture, which is still in its gestation period and which is expected to adopt the Socimi structure, was born with 4,706 homes, all operated under leases. Merlin’s major commitment to residential leasing is even more important if we take into account the fact that it has become the largest real estate group in Spain and the eighth largest in Europe.

In addition, Testa Residencial’s extensive supply will grow even more thanks to upcoming injections of properties (in exchange for shares) from Banco Santander, BBVA and Banco Popular, three shareholders inherited from Metrovacesa. (…). As such, the firm will end up managing a portfolio of 10,000 units, allowing it to complete with the main real estate companies in this market.

Testa Residential is launching itself into a sector in which two large companies have competed until now: Azora and Larcovi. The first, founded in 2003, has more than 12,000 rental homes under management in different funds and companies (for example, Azora and Hispania) and is the largest private entity in this market. (…).

Concha Osácar, the founding partner at Azora, takes it as read that the rental market will continue to grow for several reasons: the increase in geographical mobility for employment purposes, the limited access to credit to make (house) purchases, the elimination of tax incentives to acquire a home, the change in mentality (“especially amongst young people”) and growing demand from families looking for better homes.

Alongside Azora, Larcovi represents the tip of the iceberg of the professionalization of the sector. It manages more than 9,000 units (…).

“To satisfy the growing demand, the supply will have to be increased. We estimate that Spain will need between 1 million and 1.2 million additional rental homes to bring it into line with its European counterparts”, says Osácar. (…).

Original story: El Mundo (by Jorge Salido Cobo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Eurostat: House Prices Rose By 6.3% In Q1 2016

13 July 2016 – El Mundo

House prices in Spain rose by 6.3% YoY in Q1 2016, which represents the highest increase since Q3 2007, before the burst of the Spanish real estate bubble, according to the most recent data from the EU’s statistics office, Eurostat.

During the fourth quarter of 2015, house prices in Spain rose by 4.3% YoY, i.e. by two tenths less than the YoY increase of 4.5% recorded in Q3 2015.

In this way, the Spanish real estate market has recorded eight consecutive quarters of YoY rises in terms of house prices, after six consecutive years of price decreases.

Compared to the previous quarter, house prices in Spain rose by 1.4%, after remaining stable during the final quarter of 2015, which represents the highest QoQ increase in real estate prices since the second quarter of last year, when they increased by 4.1%.

Across the Eurozone as a whole, house prices rose by 3% YoY during the first quarter of 2016, in other words, by four tenths more than the YoY increase recorded in Q4 2015 and their highest increase since Q1 2008. In quarterly terms, house prices in the Eurozone rose by 0.4% between January and March, after increasing by 0.1% during the previous quarter.

Across the European Union as a whole, prices rose by 4% YoY, compared with an increase of 3.6% during the fourth quarter, whilst the quarterly increase in house prices across the twenty eight countries amounted to 0.7%, i.e. three tenths more than in the previous three months.

Of the countries for which data was available, the highest YoY house price increases were recorded in Hungary (15.2%), Austria (13.4%) and Sweden (12.5%), whilst price decreases were observed in Italy and Cyprus (-1.2% in both cases).

Compared with the previous quarter, the highest increase in house prices was recorded in Hungary (5.2%), followed by Austria (4.2%) and Romania (3.3%), whilst the most significant price decreases were registered in Cyprus (-3.4%) and Malta (-2.8%).

Original story: El Mundo

Translation: Carmel Drake

Servihabitat: House Prices Will Rise By 3.8% In 2016

2 June 2016 – Expansión

The increase in demand, the reactivation of investment activity and the improvement in access to mortgage financing are some of the factors behind the marked improvement in the residential market.

In its report entitled “The Residential Market in Spain”, Servihabitat, which is jointly owned by TPG and CaixaBank, says that “the positive trend experienced in house prices/values in Spain during 2015 will be consolidated this year”. The largest price rises are forecast in the Balearic Islands (+6.8%), the Community of Valencia (+4.6%), Cataluña (+4.4%) and the Community of Madrid (+4%).

The average price rise across Spain is expected to amount to 3.8%, which is 2.4 points below the figure (6.2%) forecast by Servihabitat in November. This lowering of expectations may be due to the fact that prices actually accelerated at the end of last year. In addition, “there is a certain amount of volatility because the realities of the sector are very different by area”, said Julián Cabanillas, CEO at Servihabitat.

The report predicts “that this year, the rate of growth will continue” in terms of the sale and purchase of residential properties, driven “by pressure from increased demand”. Specifically, in 2016, the number of operations is expected to grow by almost 10% YoY, which means that more than 440,000 homes will be sold in total.

The autonomous regions where sales activity is expected to increase by the most this year include: Asturias, Cataluña, País Vasco, the Community of Madrid, La Rioja and the Community of Valencia, as well as in the Canary and Balearic Islands, all of which have a forecast YoY variation of more than 10%. The only region where sales are expected to decrease is Extremadura (-0.6%). (…).

The report also forecasts YoY growth of 12.5% in terms of the number new homes that will be completed this year, to reach 50,800 units.

The volume of new build stock will continue to decrease by approximately 25%, from 492,000 homes last year to 367,500 by the end of 2016, according to the study. (…).

Boom in the rental sector

The study points out that, according to Eurostat, the rental market in Spain has grown significantly in recent years. “More than 21% of Spaniards live in a rented home, a figure that brings Spain ever closer to other European countries with more tradition in this regard. In addition, the forecast until the end of the year shows that the number of rental operations will remain stable or increase with respect to the number of sale and purchase operations, at the same time as rental prices are forecast to stabilise”

On the other hand, the company highlights that more than 17% of purchases in Spain were made by foreigners in 2015, who acquired more than 69,000 homes in total, for both residential and holiday use. “The concentration in just eight provinces is noteworthy: Alicante, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the Balearic Islands, Málaga, Girona, Las Palmas, Murcia and Almería”, adds the report.

Original story: Expansión (by Juanma Lamet)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Eurostat: Spanish House Prices Rose By 4.5% YoY In Q3 2015

21 January 2016 – Cinco Días

The evolution of house prices across the European Union varied significantly between countries during the third quarter of 2015, just as it did between different regions in Spain. In this way, the data published yesterday by Eurostat, the EU’s Office for Statistics, shows that house prices rose by 2.3% on average in the Eurozone and by 3.1% across the EU as a whole, compared with the same period in 2014. If the evolution of house prices is measured with respect to the second quarter of 2015, then they rose by 1.0% on average in the Eurozone and by 1.3% across the EU as a whole.

Spain stands out in the ranking by country, with an average increase of 4.5% between July and September compared with the same period last year. As such, house prices here rose by almost twice the average recorded in countries that share the euro currency. Moreover, that figure represents the greatest increase since the last quarter of 2007. The increase amounted to 0.7% with respect to the previous three months. The highest YoY increases amongst State members during Q3 2015 were recorded in Switzerland (13.7%), Austria (9.3%), Ireland (8.9%) and Denmark (7.2%).

By contrast, the countries that recorded the most significant price decreases were Letonia, with a YoY decline of 7.6%, Croatia (-3.0%), Italy (-2.3%) and France (-1.2%).

Economic recovery

A comparison of the evolution of real estate prices and GDP in the Eurozone, as well as in the rest of the EU, shows that in global terms, houses are currently being sold at higher prices in those countries in which the economic recovery is well underway and where employment is also on the rise.

Moreover, the improvement in access to credit in general terms across the whole of Europe is driving up property sales, such as in the case of Spain, and so the logical result is that prices are also rising. (…).

Other noteworthy statistics include the fact that house prices rose by 5.6% YoY in both the UK and Germany in Q3 2015. (…). Meanwhile, in France and Italy, house prices depreciated by 1.2% and 2.3% YoY in the same period (…).

Original story: Cinco Días (by Raquel Díaz Guijarro)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Eurostat: Construction Growth Decelerates In Dec 2014

20 February 2015 – El Mundo

Output in the construction sector in Spain grew by just 1.6% (in December 2014), a positive percentage but a far cry from the increases recorded in October (+13.9%) and November (15.9%).

Romania (15%), Sweden (+9.4%) and Poland (+4.8%) were the countries that recorded the greatest increases.

Construction output in Spain has slowed down once again. After several months of double-digit growth, activity in the sector grew by just 1.6% in December 2014 with respect to the same period in 2013, according to data from the EU statistical office, Eurostat.

Although the latest percentage is positive, it is a far cry from the +15.9% and +13.9% recorded by the sector in November and October, respectively. The situation in Spain stands out in the context of the decreases across the Eurozone as a whole (-3.5%) and in the European Union (-0.5%).

In inter-monthly terms (between December and November), construction output in Spain declined by 1.5%, whereas it fell by 0.8% in the monetary union region.

In terms of the countries for which data as at December 2014 is available, the greatest inter-monthly increases were recorded in Romania (+7.2%), Italy (+2.3%) and Poland (+1%), whereas the most significant decreases were experienced in Hungary (-6.5%), the Czech Republic (-3.3%) and Germany (-2.9%).

Compared with December 2013 (inter-annual figures), the greatest reductions were recorded in Slovakia (-9.8%), the Czech Republic (-7.8%), France (-7.5%), Italy (-5.2%) and Germany (-4.7%). The opposite end of the table was headed up by Romania (+15%), Sweden (+9.4%), Poland (+4.8%), UK (+4.7%) and Slovenia (+4.6%).

Finally, for 2014 as a whole, construction output increased by 2% in the Eurozone with respect to 2013, whilst in the European Union it rose by 3%.

Original story: El Mundo

Translation: Carmel Drake

Spain Picks Up Construction in Europe

21/11/2014 – El Mundo

Definitely, Spain has become the main engine of the European construction. Once again in September, Spanish building production (both residential and civil) ranked the first rated from year-on-year growth seen in the Old Continent. Precisely, it went up by 9.1%, as Eurostat claims. Though, the percentage is lower than the 22% rise in August.

The second position after Spain is taken by the Czech Republic (up 8.2%) and third by Hungary (+7.3%). On the other side, construction activity ceased most in Italy (down 10.6%), Portugal (-5.2%), France (-3.4%) and the Netherlands (-3.1%).

Considering the Eurozone and the European Union (EU) as a whole, building production also fell, by 1.7% and 0.4% respectively.

Studying closely the data on monthly change (September over August), it turns out the activity in the Eurozone declines by 1.8%, while in the EU it rises by 0.9%.

By countries, basing on the data available, the biggest month-on-month decrease was seen in Slovenia (down 8.6%), Italy (-5.4%), Sweden (-3.2%) and France (-2.3%). On the contrary, the construction sectors advanced most in Romania (up 7.9%), the Czech Republic (+2.7%) and Bulgaria (+2.4%).

 

Original article: El Mundo

Translation: AURA REE

Eurostat Says Real Estate Prices in Spain Rose 0.8% in Q2 2014

10/10/2014 – El Economista

In the second quarter of the year, homes in Spain appreciated by 0.8% year-on-year, underperforming in reference to countries like Estonia (a 14.5% upsurge), Ireland (up 12.5%) and the United Kingdom (up 10.2%), reports Eurostat.

In other eurozone countries property values remained stable, while in the European Union as a whole they rose 1.7% from April to June 2014.

Compared with the first quarter of 2014, the prices increased 0.9% in the eurozone and 1.4% in the EU.

Most acute falls were witnessed in Slovenia (9.8%), Italy (4.5%) and Romania (3.8%), whereas housing values really shot up in Ireland (6.8%), Lithuania (4.1%), Denmark and the UK (both 3.9%).

In case of Spain, prices went up 1.7% quarter-on-quarter. In the first quarter this year, they declined 0.3%.

The indicators depict price development of all purchased residential property (detached, apartments, etc.), taking into account both new and existing units, Eurostat clarifies.

 

Original article: El Economista (after: EFE)

Translation: AURA REE