Office
This first quarter of 2021 has seen the closure of 52 deals in Madrid office market, representing an increase of 21% in comparison with the average for the 3 quarters during the pandemic (April-December, 2020). Although the average floor area per deal has fallen, businesses are beginning to unfreeze their movement and strategy plans. With a total of 60 deals, take up in Barcelona reached around 81,000 sq m, some 60% above the figure for the same quarter the preceding year. In annualised terms, Barcelona achieved a figure of 208,000 sq m transacted between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021.
Investment
Real estate investment in Spain amounted to €1.554 billion (not including land deals or acquisitions for own use), a fall of some 60% in comparison with the figure at the close of the first quarter of 2020 (€3.6 billion). The annualised figure points to a degree of optimism for the sector in that the aggregate for the past 12 months amounts to €6 billion.
Retail
Twelve months of the pandemic have led to a drop in rents of between 10% and 20% on the main high streets of Madrid and Barcelona. This softening has been even greater on secondary streets and locations where tourism represents a key part of the local economy, such as in the case of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Having now reached the first anniversary of the pandemic, investor activity with respect to Shopping Centres has slackened throughout the period. The gap between prices that buyers are willing to offer and vendors are willing to accept means that deals have been very thin on the ground. What is more, it is likely that this dynamic will persist over the coming quarters until there is better visibility in terms of operator/retailer performance. In terms of Retail Parks, it is important to differentiate between those that have numerous operators comprising the park and individual units (operators located on independent sites).
