Foreign investments in the Spanish real estate sector positively indicated that 2013 was the year for foreign investment in Spain. Investors sought all types of real estate, whether of high standing, offices, apartments, industrial lands, or hospitality acquisitions.
Foreign investment in Spain is expanding. According to a report from the consultancy firm CBRE, four million Euros of general investments were registered in 2013. This amount has doubled compared to 2008. Particularly, the rate of foreign investment has grown by 1,4% in 2013 compared to 2012 in the Spanish real estate sector, making it the most attractive market. Thus, 2013 will end with a positive balance and a gradual decrease in the number of unsold housing.
These investors are principally from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Russia. The investment from North Africa is also progressing, especially through funds from Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria.
There is also a tendency on the part of the middle classes of these countries to invest in real estate in Spain, particularly for tourism or to obtain legal residence and permission to work in Spain by purchasing property (as set out in the Law to Support Entrepreneurs and Internationalization, which the Spanish Government approved in September 2013). Investment is not an exclusive opportunity for powerful investors.
Moreover, in the last quarter of 2013, the value of Spanish property decreased by 9,46% from the price recorded in the same period in 2012, also making the market more attractive. The decrease is one of the most important within the registered global market according to the Global Property Guide. The correlation between the depreciation and the large influx of foreign investment in Spain is due to the country’s growing new interest in foreign funds.
This trend is expected to continue to grow in 2014. In any case, most real estate consulting firms agree that this setting favours the continuation of investment in 2014.
Hélène Dagousset
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