The real estate sector in Catalonia has registered a record €2,727 million at the end of September 2022, according to data from CBRE. This figure is 7% higher than the record investment reached in the same period of 2021, with €2,544 million.
Catalonia closed the third quarter with €816 million transacted, 26% less than the same period last year and very much in line with the average for the last five years. "The €2,727 million achieved up to September means that the record figure set in 2021 has been beaten. In this way, Barcelona is at levels of investment never seen before at this point in the year. Catalonia began to experience significant growth in its investment volumes from 2017 onwards, an increase that accelerated exponentially from 2019, when the historical maximum reached in 2007, the peak of the previous cycle, was surpassed by far. In the last quarter of this year we expect a slowdown in investment due to the macroeconomic situation but, despite this, Barcelona will close the year with an investment figure close to 3.5 billion, a record figure reached in 2021," said the Head of CBRE Barcelona, Xavier Güell.
The Industrial sector accounted for 50% of the total investment registered in the third quarter, with 416 million euros, 27% more than the investment registered in this segment in the whole of 2021. Among the main transactions in the third quarter was the sale of the Crossbay portfolio, which, despite having assets throughout Spain, around half of the volume transacted was concentrated in Catalonia.
Considering the cumulative investment in the first nine months of the year, the sector with the greatest weight is Living, with a total of 932 million euros, 35% of total investment in Catalonia. This sector has been greatly influenced by the record transaction in Build to Rent with the sale of BeCorp to Patrizia in the first quarter of the year for 600 million euros. With these figures, this segment has registered a record investment record since records have been kept, also positioning itself above pre-pandemic values.
The office segment ranks second in terms of investment volume in Catalonia, both during the third quarter (with 235 million euros and 45% of total investment), and in cumulative investment from the beginning of the year to September (with 649 million euros transacted, representing 23% of investment). However, the Mile transaction has not been taken into account, as it is awaiting the signing of a private contract.
The Hotels segment reached EUR 263 million of investment in the first nine months, followed by EUR 170 million transacted in Retail. Of note was the evolution of the Healthcare sector, which accumulated 107 million euros of investment in the first three quarters of the year, with operations in homes for the elderly in Tarragona and Barcelona. This sector has had an exponential growth compared to 2021, multiplying by nine the figure recorded last year.
Share of investment in the national total
Catalonia accounted for 19% of total national investment, both in the first nine months of the year and in the third quarter. "The figures recorded in the third quarter show a slight slowdown, but are still good data for the Barcelona market," said the Head of CBRE Barcelona, Xavier Güell.
The Spanish real estate market closed the third quarter with an investment of €4,298 million, 27% more than during the same period in 2021. In total, the sector has reached an investment of 14,196 million in the new first months of the year, the best figure since the beginning of the historical series, above the record of 2018 (14,000 million euros).
"The data recorded up to September are evidence of investors' interest in the real estate sector. However, for the last quarter of the year we anticipate greater caution as a result of the macroeconomic context that will be reflected in a moderation of the good figures recorded so far," said Miriam Goicoechea, Director of Research at CBRE Spain.
