On the one hand the elections in France and Germany, in May and September respectively, could see an end to the popularist character of the parties presently in office. On the other hand, it is hard to assess the economic impact of the arrival on the scene of Donald Trump as president of the USA. Lastly, there is Brexit, which, although as yet has not had any visible reflection on our economy, is nowhere less certain than in this sector where the impact is direct, as 17% of foreign investors in real estate are from British clients.
In spite of all these uncertainties, the real estate sector is working towards guaranteeing a stable and sustained future. In this sense, the introduction of systems like BIM (Building Information Modeling) and Lean Construction is a clear indicator for innovation, guaranteeing greater efficiency in building processes.
The search for new sources of financing will be one of our principle challenges. In the past, real estate has depended on an excess of bank finance and when the flow of credit contracts, the sector did not have alternative funding sources in order to continue their normal activity. To seek and opt for alliances with funds such as crowdfunding and crowdlending will be key factors in an ever more global market but where production is local.
Equally, our businesses must seek out alliances, both national and international, in order to grow in size. We have to involve ourselves in the debate to view resizing our businesses as an opportunity which will allow us to compete sustainably in an ever more complex market. Small firms, which represent the majority of the Spanish entrepreneurial fabric, double their productivity when expanding from small to medium companies. In the real estate sector this productivity triples in size.
According to Eurostat, in Spain the average age for the emancipation of young people is 29, while it is 26 in the rest of the European Union. This social dilemma affects us especially in that, currently, the main problem is mobility. We need to work together with public administration to implement housing plans which will substitute the obsolete ones in existence today. Programmes such as Help to Buy, an initiative of the British government, are a firm commitment towards house purchase by young people, contributing to their independence and giving an opportunity to a social group which, perhaps otherwise, would have no possibility of buying their own house.
2017 is therefore a year of great challenges for the real estate sector, but also one of great opportunities: to expand, to seek new funding sources, as well as finding formulae to facilitate first time home buyers are all opportunities which we cannot ignore. As a result, the sector will be strengthened and future perspectives much better.