The firm estimates that a further 400 million could be invested in the next few months, a record amount, registered in 2015 with about 497million euros.
The biggest operation of the year was the Parque Abadía, in which Lar España acquired 65% of the complex for just over 63 million euros. This is the second operation concerning a shopping centre in the year, after Savills IM completed on a small complex in el Oiartzun (Guipúzcoa) for 16 million in its first operation in Spain
Although this is a product historically dominated by specialised international funds, the difference in the average investment volume between these, and national investors has gone down due to the impact of the socimis and their increasing participation. It should also be added that, while in the retail total, nationals have participated in 28% between January and March 2017, in the segment covering medium sized shopping centres and parks, the national quota rose to 64%.
Salvador González, Retail Investment Director at Savills explained, “The medium sized segment, traditionally attractive by the ease of management and low risk tenants, is generating increasing interest among investors for being the product which recorded the biggest differential compared to levels recorded in 2007 (the last market spike), 105 basic points, showing that there the level of growth is till growing.”
Furthermore, since Savills pointed out that new activities in both retail and leisure are leading to much diversification in the parks, attracting equally consumers, developers and investors. Brands like IKEA, click&collect shops, Mustang, usual up to now in shopping centres or the high street, Starbucks, up to now in urban zones, are now opening in these formats with more and more presence in the traditional retail market.
As to yields, the imbalance between supply and demand maintains a tendency for compression, more in prime assets, of which the yield at present is 5%.