Barcelona has captured all national investment in student residences during the first half of the year, totalling 219 million euros. This represents an increase of 68.5% compared to the same period last year, according to data provided by CBRE.
Specifically, the living sector in Barcelona has experienced an overall investment of 269 million euros in the first six months of the year, representing an increase of 3%. This growth was mainly driven by the student residences segment, which accounted for 81.3% of total investment. The most notable acquisition was Morgan Stanley's purchase of two student residences from the Vita Group, for a total of 624 beds.
Olga Beltrán, head of living Barcelona at CBRE, comments: ‘The growth in student numbers and the increase in the international student population has increased the need for student residences. In 2023, the increase in the supply of beds and the improvement in the occupancy of the residences led to a good performance of this market in Barcelona, with an investment of 130 million euros, a trend that we expect to continue this year.
On the other hand, the BTR (Build to Rent) segment recorded an investment of 35 million euros in the first half of the year, down 50.3% compared to the same period last year. Likewise, PRS (rental housing completed and rented) reached an investment volume of €16 million, down 57.8%. The flex living segment did not report any transactions in the first half of the year, after having reached €25 million in the first half of last year.
In total, the living sector has registered an investment of 269 million euros in the first half of the year, representing 18% of the national total of 1,496 million euros. Prime residential yields in Barcelona remained stable at 4% during the second quarter, with a positive market outlook due to the increasing rental trend, the shortage of supply and rising rents. Student residences have achieved yield compression, with a reduction of 10 basis points in the last quarter, driven by strong investor interest.
The student residence market in Catalonia points upwards
Catalonia is positioned as the second autonomous community with the second highest number of students enrolled in the 2022 - 2023 academic year, with a total of 299,000 students, second only to Madrid with 370,000. In total, Spain has 1.7 million students enrolled, an increase of 1.4% compared to the previous academic year.
However, Spain has one of the lowest rates of student bed provision in Europe, at only 6.7%, considerably lower than the European average of 18%. Currently, the country has 115,000 operational beds, with plans to increase this figure by 14,500 beds by 2026, reaching a total of 130,000 beds. Of these, 54% will be distributed between Madrid and Barcelona, with 15,900 beds currently operating in the Catalan market and plans to add a further 3,500 by 2026.
