Home

Activity in construction
Real Estate Watch
Both on the Balearic Islands and in the Canary Islands, real estate development has been more sluggish than in the country as a whole. In the Balearic Islands, the number of housing endorsements fell by 7.6% in the first four months of the year, while it increased by 1.1% on the Canary Islands. Performance was uneven on the Mediterranean coast, with an increase of nearly 25% in Murcia and stability in the Region of Valencia.
However, if the growing trend observed in the early months of the year continues, a total of 850,000 starts could be registered in 2006, which would be a sizeable increase in residential supply in a year when demand will slow. This last scenario implies a stronger risk of there being a sharp adjustment in the Spanish residential market.
In line with the trend of previous quarters, the number of houses completed in the first four months of 2006 increased by 14% with respect to the same figures the preceding year, thus exceeding 175,000 houses. Over the year as a whole, more than 550,000 new houses will be delivered, to rise to nearly 600,000 in 2007.
Non-residential building picks up
In the first four months of 2006, over 7.5 million square metres of non­residential area was endorsed in Spain, a 5.8% increase in year-on-year terms. The trend indicates that a total of 23 million square metres will be endorsed in 2006, of which 19% will correspond to industrial properties, 32% to space for commercial uses or warehouse purposes and 10% to offices.
In the first four months of the year, the area to be built for commercial purposes increased by 42%, to over 3 million square metres, while the space going to offices fell by 33% and accounted for a total of just over half a million square metres. The trend is likely to continue in the two segments, albeit at a slower pace. The development of industrial space will benefit from the expected increase in company investment in capital goods and, after a year of moderation, it will change trend and start to present positive rates once again.

1  2 
3  4  5