Office
The good momentum of space absorption has been slowed down due to the severe reduction of Spanish economic activity since March 15. In the first quarter of 2020 the space take-up reached 85,740 sq. m. A simple comparison shows that this absorption volume represents 40% less than the quarterly space take-up of the last 3 years. The first quarter of 2020 reached a space take-up of 44,200 sq m in Barcelona. Compared to the quarterly average of the last 3 years, represents a decrease of 50%.
Industrial
Vacancy rate has remained stable over the past 12 months. Construction activity pace is maintained and it is estimated that by the end of 2020 the stock of logistics warehouses will grow by around 577,000 sq. m (4% already committed).
Barcelona’s logistics stock and its area of influence amount to 7 million square meters with an available area of 390,000 sq. m. The scarcity of availability is notorious in the prime area, with only 23,000 sq. m available which means a 1.8% vacancy rate.
Investment
After strong lockdown measures taken by mid March in the Spanish government, most of the economic activity has been halted, exception made essential products and services (e.g. food & health) and some other industries not able to work remotely (e.g. construction). This implies Spanish GDP will decrease by the end of 2020 and the IMF and the Bank of Spain are signalling central scenarios of between 7% and 9%.
