CBRE: New Homes Under Construction on the Costa del Sol Will Be Sold for c. €6,000/m2

18 February 2019 – Diario Sur

Six thousand euros or one million pesetas (…). That is what the buyers of the new single-family homes in Nueva Andalucía, in Marbella, can expect to pay per square metre. The real estate consultancy CB Richard Ellis has compiled a report about the characteristics of the new build developments that are being constructed on the Costa del Sol. And, the changing trend is reaching such an extreme that the analysts involved are talking about “a new building paradigm” in the residential market on the Costa del Sol, in this cycle of reactivation of the sector. The general conclusion is simple: better quality homes are being built, with more considered designs and common services, but also with much higher prices.

The document points out that in the past, the large number of transactions were sold for speculative purposes and, therefore, fundamental questions such as finishes, orientation, views and distribution were often neglected in the developments that were put on the market (…).

But times have changed. In this new cycle, property developers are taking care of their products and focusing their attention on clients with medium/high purchasing power and primarily those from overseas. It is not so much a question of location, be it in one specific municipality or another, but rather the quality of the product. (…). Now, most of the developers are backing more contemporaneous designs, with straight lines and large windows, with some of the best finishes in the market.

Change in model

“The reality is that during the last cycle, homes were built for the average market, but following the crisis years, almost everything is now being constructed to serve a niche in the market, of average-high purchasing power, which was previously unmet demand”, explains Andrés Moreno, Director of the Valuations Department at CBRE in Andalucía (…). “Now, much more care is being taken. Everything is designed with the final purchaser in mind (…)”.

The report highlights that the Costa del Sol is consolidating its position as an exclusive and luxurious destination. And that trend means that the newest flats are far from affordable for the general public (…).

In areas around Torremolinos, there are developments with sales prices of more than €4,000/m2, when the average for the area does not exceed €2,500/m2 for second-hand properties. In the Fuengirola/El Higuerón area, new build homes are being marketed for more than €4,000/m2. Prices amount to close to €3,000/m2 in La Cala de Mijas and rise to €6,000/m2 in Nueva Andalucía and Behahavís. The average budget of these clients ranges between €500,000 and €1 million.

Original story: Diario Sur (by Ignacio Lillo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Avintia & Gesurbe Boost Locare: €55M & 3 New Projects in Madrid

13 December 2018 – Eje Prime

Locare is searching for its place in the Spanish rental market. The real estate investment manager, in which Grupo Avintia and Gesurbe hold stakes, has launched the development of its first 405 homes in different locations across the Community of Madrid. The combined investment for the projects will exceed €55 million, according to comments made by Andrés Horcajada, founder and CEO of Locare, speaking to Eje Prime.

Specifically, the company is building 171 homes in Torrelodones (which will be finished during the second quarter of 2019), 110 in Villalba and 124 in Móstoles. The last two developments will enter into operation during 2020, following an average construction period of between 12 and 18 months. Together, the plots span a constructed surface area of 37,000 m2.

“We want to end 2019 with 1,100 homes under development, not only in the Community of Madrid, but also in other parts of the country”, explained the executive. Pamplona, Ibiza and Zaragoza are the cities that Locare currently has it its sights for its next projects, with the aim of investing €65 million.

The company, created in 2016, undertakes all of the phases of the real estate cycle, from raising capital to operating assets. Locare also takes care of searching for plots for social housing units, a requirement shared by all of the plots that the manager acquires.

“We do not buy properties that are already constructed, given that for us build to rent is fundamental”, explained Horcajada. The director added that this business model allows “investors to take advantage of the first phases of the real estate cycle and for the resulting product to be designed specifically for the rental market”.

Tectum is Locare’s ally 

Locare has teamed up with the capital manager Tectum Real Estate to attract investors to finance its projects. “Tectum allows us to group together Spanish family offices primarily and it is the company through which we relate directly with them and we deal with their demands”, explained the CEO of the company.

Besides Tectum, the company led by Horcajada also collaborates with the construction firm Avintia as an industrial partner, although the director explains that they do not have an exclusive contract with them when it comes to carrying out construction projects.

On the other hand, Locare has launched new technology into the world with another strategic collaborator, the proptech Mitula. “Through this platform, we are undertaking data analysis, both of the demand as well as of the supply of each one of the locations in which we are launching”, explained the executive.

In terms of the company’s long-term plans, Horcajada confirmed that the debut on the stock market “is not a plan that features amongst the desires of investors”. Similarly, the director explains that Locare will focus especially on the Spanish residential rental market, for which it predicts a promising future. “Housing is going to be increasingly configured for use (rental) and not for ownership, like in other European companies”, concludes the executive.

Locare is a real estate investment manager dedicated to residential rental. Although both Grupo Avintia and Gesurbe have been linked to this market niche for more than eight years, Locare was created as an independent platform in 2016.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Berta Seijo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Plans are Reactivated for Málaga’s 2,847-Home Urbanisation

8 Noviembre 2018 – Diario Sur

The 170 owners of the Rojas-Santa Tecla sector are working on the preparation of a project comprising 2,847 homes and a golf course.

After years weighed down by judicial lawsuits, which resulted in sentences that forced the review of the steps taken until then to approve it, the project to build the largest urbanisation in Málaga over the coming years is being reactivated. The board comprising its 170 owners, including individuals, as well as Unicaja, the real estate firm Altamira, the Ministry for the Environment and the Ministry of Defence, has published plans for the reparcelation of the sector known as Rojas-Santa Tecla, a complex of plots located to the north of the Benítez camp and to the west of the Carretera de Churriana, which measures 1,488,269 m2.

The plans include the construction of 2,847 homes on the site, which will be lined with new roads, which will run across the land surrounded by the population nuclei of Monsálvez, El Olivar and El Cortijo de Maza. The homes will be grouped around a golf course, which will have a surface area of 450,000 m2, spread over six sectors and will offer at least 18 holes.

According to the urban plan approved by the municipal plenary in March last year, this action will also have two plots for commercial use – one on the border with Torremolinos, on the other side of the motorway, and another to the north of the plots comprising the Benítez camp – which span 30,115 m2; a golf club on land measuring 3,000 m2; sports facilities on a surface area spanning 22,784 m2; social areas (24,207 m2); and school facilities (45,690 m2). Similarly, 330,353 m2 will be reserved for green space and 244,172 m2 for roads. The sector is crossed by a stream and by a cattle track that is free from buildings, although 29 homes currently exist on it, whose future will have to be analysed as a result of the development of this urbanisation, which will maintain the houses located around El Camino del Pilar.

€60 million

Proof of the size of this project is that the urbanisation work alone is expected to cost around €60 million, including the external charges that its developers will have to bear, the construction of the roads and the creation of the golf course. Nevertheless, several procedures will need to be completed before the construction work can begin, given that now is when the approval of the sectoristion plan is going to be launched, advised by the law firm Ius Urbis on the legal side and by the architectural studio HCP on the technical side. Approval from the Urban Planning Management department also remains pending, although it is currently being drafted.

Nevertheless, the large number of owners in the sector makes the execution of the project very challenging, and so its effective development will depend on what a property developer with sufficient economic capacity to undertake a project of this magnitude does with most of the urban planning rights.

Original story: Diario Sur (by Jesús Hinojosa)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Ministry of Development: Housing Permits Rose by 12% in August

2 November 2018 – Eje Prime

The residential sector is driving the new build segment in Spain. In August, a total of 1,620 permits were granted to build homes across the country, 7.8% more than during the same month in 2017. Of those, 1,389 were allocated to assets for residential use, which saw an increase of 12%, according to the latest data published by the Ministry of Development.

In August, the bulk of the new build permits granted for residential use were made for the construction of 1,387 family homes, specifically: 938 detached single-family units, 205 terraced single-family units and 244 flats in apartment blocks.

So far this year, a total of 17,151 permits have been processed for the construction of residential use assets, up by 10.2% compared to the first eight months of 2017, when those types of permits amounted to 15,562.

Meanwhile, during the eighth month of 2017, 231 permits were granted for the construction of non-residential use buildings, down by 1.5% compared to the same period last year. In that caption, there were three new permits for the construction of offices, another 21 for the development of industrial spaces and 83 more for assets dedicated to commercial services and warehouses.

Licences and budgets also recover

In terms of the concession of licences, last Wednesday, the Ministry of Development published figures corresponding to May. According to the body, 4,449 new permits for residential buildings dedicated to family homes were registered during the fifth month of the year (1,606 single-family units and 2,843 multi-family units), down by 0.8% compared to the same period in 2017.

Similarly, the number of licences processed for rehabilitation works doubled in May in YoY terms, to reach 825 concessions. The budget dedicated to the execution of labour also rose during the fifth month of the year, up from €493,095 in 2017 to €4989,264 in 2018.

Original story: Eje Prime (by B. Seijo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Town Hall of Málaga Authorises Four Buildings for Tourist Apartments

16 October 2018 – Diario Sur

The boom in projects to build new tourist apartments in the Málagan capital continues apace. That is reflected in the list of activities that received building permits from the Municipal Urban Planning Department during the months of July, August and September, which will be submitted to the governing board of that Town Hall body tomorrow. The projects include four properties for tourist apartments, of which two involve the adaptation of existing buildings, and the other two the construction of new properties on separate plots, located in the Trinidad neighbourhood.

One of the authorised projects involves the construction of a building for 49 tourist apartments, 26 parking spaces and a swimming pool on the plot located at numbers 7, 8 and 9 Avenida de Fátima, located right next to the parish of the same name. It is being promoted by the company Pinar Concept. Similarly, around 200 m from that site, also in the Trinidad area, the Town Hall has granted a construction licence for another tourist apartment building, to be promoted by Inmoplan Promociones, which will be constructed on the plot at numbers 5 and 6, Plaza de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, next to c/Don Juan de Austria.

The other two approved initiatives involve the conversion into tourist apartments of two residential-use buildings located at number 52 Calle Mariano de Cavia, in the Pedregalejo area, on the one hand, and at number 2 Calle Barroso, next to Calle Córdoba, on the other. As this newspaper already reported (refer to SUR18/9/2018), behind this latest activity in the Soho area is the chain Hotusa, which is planning to develop a project involving 42 tourist apartments through the company Tandem Apartments.

Student halls

On the other hand, on another plot of land in Trinidad, located at numbers 8 and 10 Calle Carril, the Urban Planning Department has approved the construction of a hall of residence for students promoted by the company specialising in internships for overseas students, Euromind Projects.

In addition, the Urban Planning Department plans to approve tomorrow the start of the procedure to declare the expiration of the permit that was granted in 2008 for the construction of an industrial, office and parking lot building at number 303 Avenida de Velázquez, next to the headquarters of Canal Sur. That project was started but only the structure was completed. In a letter to Aena in July, it was stated that in 2009, the obligations of the airport were modified and so currently its height represents “an obstacle” for manoeuvres for the approach and take off of planes from the runway.

Original story: Diario Sur (by Jesús Hinojosa)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Tinsa: House Prices Rose by 15.6% YoY in Madrid in Q3

9 October 2018 – ABC

Whilst most Spanish provincial capitals have reached what the experts define as “a turning point” with the stabilisation of house prices, Madrid is still the most dynamic city in the whole country. It is leading the house price rises once again with increases of 15.6% in Q3 with respect to the third quarter of last year. That rise in value reflects the tensions that demand for homes in the Spanish capital is exerting on certain areas. The scarce supply of new build homes is not helping to balance a panorama where the pressure on house prices is now moving towards the peripheral neighbourhoods. Some areas are recording price increases of more than 20%, well above those seen even in the traditionally most sought-after districts. All of the districts, without exception, have seen an increase in their price per square metre. Of the 21, only three saw price rises in the single-digits – Usera, Chamartín and Villa de Vallecas-. In this context, the average price in the Spanish capital now amounts to €2,876/m2.

That is according to the latest local market report on finished housing – new and second hand – published by the appraisal company Tinsa at the end of the third quarter. In it, Madrid ranks as the third most expensive provincial capital to buy a home after Barcelona (€3,383/m2) and San Sebastián (€3,151/m2), both with more discrete YoY growth rates. Despite the warning that the consecutive increases generate, a priori, the capital is still a long way from the maximums that it reached in the third quarter of 2007 (27.6% lower), which marked the start of the crisis. The real estate situation has changed little since the middle of the year, although the trends that some experts, such as Pedro Soria, Commercial Director at Tinsa, were indicating in June have been confirmed: high prices in the city centre are pushing buyers to focus outside of the M-30.

The furore to purchase properties is still defined by a striking fact: it only takes 2.6 months to sell a property in Madrid at the moment. That period is still the lowest in Spain, even though it increased by one tenth with respect to the second quarter. Even with property developer activity below what the sector considers healthy for the real estate sector, demand for second-hand products is extremely high. And it is not exactly a favourable scenario for buyers. One piece of evidence that a major problem is starting to emerge in terms of access to housing in the capital is in the financial effort that families are having to make to live in Madrid. This has exceeded what is considered to be the “sustainable” limit. Those that have purchased a home in the last quarter are having to spend 26.1% of their gross household income (before taxes and other deductions) to service the first year of their mortgages. The national average stands at 17.2%. The experts consider that the red line, which has always recommended spending no more than one quarter of a household’s income on the mortgage, is now being passed. In districts such as Arganzuela, which has become one of the most attractive areas of the capital, household’s financial efforts now amount to 27.6% and the figure reaches 41.5% in the case of Salamanca neighbourhood. Once again, house prices in that area are the most expensive in Spain, at €4,762/m2. Chamberi is ranked in third place, after the Barcelona neighbourhood of Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, with €4,521/m2 (…).

The most expensive municipalities

The municipalities that generate the most interest include Pozuelo de Alarcón, which registers the highest price of €3,017/m2, followed by Alcobendas, at €2,847/m2 and Majadahonda, at €2,537/m2. By contrast, the municipalities of Arroyomolinos and Aranjuez registered the lowest prices: €1,337/m2 and €1,446/m2, respectively, of those analysed by the appraisal company (…).

Original story: ABC (by Adrián Delgado)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sevilla: The Slow Re-awakening of the Real Estate Sector in the Andalucían Capital

2 August 2018 – Eje Prime

Sevilla, the third largest Spanish city by population, is seeing the first signs of recovery in its residential market (…).

The capital of Andalucía, which is home to almost 690,000 inhabitants, has seen its population decrease on a gradual basis since 2012 when it exceeded 702,000 inhabitants. The slow but progressive decline of the population is probably one of the reasons why house prices have not risen there and why new builds account for an all but residual percentage of the market.

Nevertheless, some of the data does indicate that Sevilla is jumping on the bandwagon in terms of the improvements in the real estate market that are being seen across Spain: a sharp increase in prices in 2017, an on-going rise in sales and, finally, investment in the city by groups of the calibre of Habitat and Ayco.

The city of NO8DO, Sevilla’s traditional motto, saw its population peak at 710,000 inhabitants in 2003, before falling below the 700,000 threshold in 2007. That figure rose above 700,000 again in 2009 before reaching a decade high of 704,000 in 2010, but it has fallen continuously since then to the current figures.

Real estate dynamism

Despite that, the dynamism in terms of house purchases has been considerable in recent years. In 2013, operations in the sector were still registering strong decreases, with a fall that year of 24.4% to just 4,715 house sales. However, the rises have been unwavering since then: up by 12.1% in 2014; 11.3% in 2015; 15.1% in 2016 and 14.1% in 2017, with a total of 7,732 sales.

According to data from the Ministry of Development, during the first quarter of this year, 2,234 house sales were recorded in the city, of which more than 95% corresponded to second-hand homes. With just 98 sales, new homes accounted for just 4.4% of the residential activity during the first quarter.

Nevertheless, and despite this growing activity in terms of sales, residential prices in Sevilla remain stagnant. In recent years, average appraisal prices per square metre in the fourth quarter of each year have decreased steadily, with the exception of 2014 only, when they rose by a measly 0.3% (…).

Currently, house prices amount to €1,468.70/m2 on average (€1,754,40/m2 for new builds and €1,464/m2 for homes aged five years or more). That value is 26.3% lower than the prices in Sevilla in 2012 and 35.9% lower than the peaks of 2007, before the outbreak of the crisis, when the average house price amounted to €2,316.10/m2.

Governed by the socialist Juan Espadas since June 2015, the weight of social housing in the city is greater than that of many other Spanish cities, at least based on data for the first quarter of 2018. In this sense, 177 of the purchases recorded in the city between January and March involved social housing properties, which accounted for 7.9% of the total.

New projects

Habitat is one of the companies that has invested in the Sevillan market this year. In July, the property developer announced a €30 million investment in a new development in the Andalucían capital comprising 199 homes. The acquired land is located in Mairena del Aljarafe, one of the fastest growing areas in the local residential market (…).

Another active player in the city is Ayco, which has acquired a batch of buildable plots this year in the municipality of Camas (Sevilla). In total, that company has purchased land spanning 18,000 m2, where it plans to build around 200 homes.

Another emerging business for the city is the office market, which closed 2017 with 919,173 m2 of space leased, up by 4% YoY, and approaching the records of 2013, according to a report by the Sevilla-based consultancy Inerzia (…).

In the commercial sphere, the Torre Sevilla project is the most important in the city at the moment. Six years after inheriting this macro-project, CaixaBank has let 100% of the office space and the shopping centre is on the verge of opening its doors.

Aenor, Deloitte, Everis, Orange and the Chamber of Commerce are some of the entities present in the 18-storey office block, which account for just half of the skyscraper. The rest of the tower is occupied by a hotel managed by Eurostars, belonging to the Hotusa Group.

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

Translation: Carmel Drake

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

Málaga Redeems Itself: the Capital Pushes the Costa del Sol towards Record House Sales

8 June 2018 – Eje Prime

Málaga is in the real estate news but this time not only because of its coastal towns. The boom in the Malagan capital looks set to push the Costa del Sol to maximum highs this year in the residential market. According to the report Vision 2018. The Real Estate Market in Málaga, compiled by the consultancy firm Savills Aguirre Newman, more homes will be sold this year than in 2007 (19,464), just before the start of the crisis, which affected the sector for almost a decade.

The director of the consultancy firm in Málaga, José Félix Pérez-Peña, explained that the city of Málaga has become one of the main focuses of attention for the real estate sector at the domestic level, and it is also positioning itself as an investment location for overseas clients. “This is something that never used to happen, the residential engine used to always focus, almost 90%, on the Costa del Sol”.

Nowadays, property developers and funds are investing in the capital, acquiring land in light of the existing demand. In this regard, large real estate groups, such as in the case of Gilmar, have also opened regional offices in the city, as revealed by Eje Prime.

Similarly, the report from Savills Aguirre Newman highlights that, within Andalucía, Málaga has positioned itself as the main powerhouse, ahead even of the capital, Sevilla. In this regard, the consultancy firm underlines that 5,236 new homes were started in the city on the Costa del Sol in 2017 compared with 2,980 in Sevilla. In terms of deliveries, Málaga outperformed Sevilla once again with the handover of 2,580 finished units compared with 1,511 in Sevilla.

23.8% larger residential supply in 2017

Another one of the key aspects in the growth of Málaga Capital is its residential supply. Last year, new builds grew by 23.8%, increasing the number of planned homes by 3,859 in the case of apartment blocks and 370 in the case of detached family homes.

In terms of the city’s neighbourhoods, Puerto de la Torre accounted for the highest proportion of stock, with 55% of the total. In total, across the province, 17,738 homes were sold last year.

In terms of prices, the centre of Málaga is where the price per square metre for homes in apartment blocks is most expensive, reaching €3,073/m2, whilst Málaga Este is becoming a reference in the market for detached family homes with average prices of €2,568/m2.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

ST: Madrid & Barcelona Sell 93% of their New Housing Stock in Just 2 Years

18 May 2018 – El País

In the cities of Madrid and Barcelona, the two main real estate markets in Spain, there are just 4,114 homes in new developments available for sale (9,920 in both provinces), the bulk of which have been put on the market within the last two years. Moreover, there are no longer many finished homes on offer, like during the years of the crisis, but rather mostly developments under construction or units that have not even been started yet, which are being offered off-plan and whose prices have risen by so much since 2016 that the supply of homes for less than €150,000 is currently insignificant.

Given the shortage of construction projects, the supply of new homes may be exhausted within eight months in the case of the Madrid region (nine in the capital) and within just under 14 months in the Catalan province (12 months in the municipal area), something that is going to accelerate the price rises seen in recent months, according to ST (Sociedad de Tasación), which has compiled a census on the developments that are currently up for sale.

Over the last two years, both real estate markets have done an about turn and not only due to the increase in prices. In the Community of Madrid, 93.7% of the stock of new homes has been exhausted since 2016, according to Sociedad de Tasación. The appraisal company registers a current supply of 6,319 homes, which represents an increase of 15.8% with respect to 2016. This calculation includes 346 homes that were already up for sale in 2016 and which have not been sold, plus 5,973 new units.

The rate of absorption in Madrid capital has been more marked, where more than 97% of the homes put up for sale over the last two years have been sold, in such a way that now there are 3,067 homes on the market (3,007 of which are new units), 42.1% with respect to 2016. 98% of this supply comprises properties that have been put on the market over the last two years.

In this new real estate cycle, the supply of finished properties has lost weight over the total, with such homes now accounting for just 7.5% of the total stock in the Community of Madrid, compared with 58.1% in 2014. 60.5% of the supply registered now corresponds to homes that have not been started yet and 32% to homes under construction. Specifically, the current supply of finished homes has decreased by 75.8% with respect to the census in 2016 and the volume of properties under construction has grown by 54%, whilst the supply of homes not yet started has risen by 75.1% (…).

In the province of Barcelona, 89.6% of the stock has been absorbed in just two years. In addition to the 289 homes that are still on the market from 2016, 3,312 new units have been identified, bringing the total current supply to 3,601 homes, 28.9% more than in 2016. And in the Catalan capital, 93.4% of the supply that has come onto the market over the last two years has been sold and today the current supply amounts to 1,047 homes. 93.2% comprise homes that have been put up for sale within the last two years.

Here too there has also been an increase in the weight of homes under construction (50.9%), at the expense of the supply of finished homes, which account for 12.4% of the total stock in the metropolitan area, compared with the 29.9% that they represented in 2016. Specifically, the current supply of finished homes has decreased by 53.6% with respect to the 2016 census, and the supply of homes under construction has grown by 65.7%, whilst the volume of homes not yet started has increased by 54.8% (…).

Larger and more expensive homes

Another feature of the new real estate cycle is that the homes for sale are larger and also more expensive than they were two years ago. In the Madrid region, homes with surface areas of between 100 m2 and 150 m2 are gaining weight, and now represent 62.2% of the total, compared with 45.8% in 2016. By contrast, homes measuring less than 100 m2 are losing weight, down from 36.1% in 2016 to 22.1%.

In terms of prices, there are increasingly fewer homes that cost less than €150,000, which have gone from accounting for 25.6% of the supply to just 15.2% in the Madrid region and from 13.6% to 9.7% in the Spanish capital. By contrast, the proportion of homes costing between €150,000 and €300,000 has increased, according to ST.

In the Barcelona metropolitan area, homes costing less than €150,000 have gone from accounting for 15.9% of the total supply to just 4.8%. And in the city itself, the appraisal company has not been able to identify any units on the market for less than €150,000. What’s more, homes costing more than €500,000 have grown from representing 24% of the total in 2016 to 39% in 2018.

Original story: El País (by Sandra López Letón)

Translation: Carmel Drake