The Spanish Embassy in London hosted more than 100 professionals and players from the real estate sector on the 19th of June, in a conference organized by Iberian Property, Investment Briefing and ICEX Spain Trade and Investment.
Spain is currently the country with more new real estate investment projects, after the United Kingdom and Germany, pointed out María Jesús Fernández, Executive Director at ICEX – Invest in Spain. The Spanish economy is amongst the 10 most advanced economies in the world, and this is a good country to invest in: «it has a robust economy with a tendency to become even stronger. The Spanish economy’s expansion should continue, since both the financial circumstances and employment are good», and the «the Spanish market is more open, resilient and competitive», she highlighted.
Since 2013 construction in the country has grown and it should keep growing at least until 2020, estimates Reno Cardiff, International Partner at C&W. He also points out that the demand for offices in Madrid and Barcelona keeps growing and the logistic segment has benefited from a significant boost provided by the ecommerce increase. On the other hand, there is also a growing interest in the alternative investment segments, such as parking lots, co-living, co-working and student residences.
The housing market offers some of today’s main opportunities, especially within the rental and logistic segments, believes Hernan San Pedro, Corporate Director & CFO at Lar España, who took part in one of the round tables of this event. Javier Martín, Senior Portfolio Manager for Spain at Nuveen Real Estate agrees that logistic might currently be one of the best segments to invest in. Carlos Portocarrero, Partner and Head of Real Estate at Clifford Chance believes that terrains «are a real treasure». Audrey Klein, Managing Director for International Institutional Clients at Corestate Capital Group, highlights the student residences, which are still a new trend in Spain.
The new world of investment alternatives
Alternative assets are increasingly becoming more important for real estate investors and Spain is no exception.
Student residences stand out, a segment that «makes sense at a time when there is more demand than offer in the country for student accommodation», points out Brian Welsh, The Nido Student’s CEO.
Bruno Hallé, Partner and Co-head of Hospitality at C&W, believes that «student residences are on the front line of alternative investment. There are still several Spanish cities to be explored like Cadiz and Zaragoza», and they still have «good prices».
Tourism, rental housing, senior residences, urban logistics or even asset renewal are gaining ground, pointed out Cristina García-Peri, Director of Business Development & Strategy at Azora.
The hotel segment «still makes sense» when investing in Spain, in particular within holiday destinations, pointed out Jaime Buxó, Chief Development Officer at Grupo Barceló.
During the event, the audience was invited to answer one question: Where to make a 100 million euro investment in Spain? 56% of respondents answered leisure and tourism, 32% debt funds and 12% student residences.
This event had the support of Azora, Cushman & Wakefield, Clifford Chance, Square AM, its sponsors, and of EPRA and ASPRIMA, its institutional sponsors.