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Spain – Offices: 2020 Snapshot and 2021 Forecast
Janeiro, 2021
The Covid-19 crisis has affected investment in the Spanish office sector during 2020 (after reaching all times peak in 2019), reaching a total investment in the sector of c.€2,300m (c.-40% vs. 2019 and c.-10% vs. 2018), with a surge in investment of c.600m in December (c.26% of the total) due to the positive news regarding Covid vaccines. Despite the Covid impact, offices are still the leading sector in terms of investment volume, averaging c.35% of total real estate investment volume since 2015.
Madrid and Barcelona markets have been the least affected during 2020, attracting c.55% and c.30% of total investment respectively. In the case of Barcelona, one of the main areas where investment has focused is the 22@ business district, while in Madrid, some prime assets in the city centre have drawn most interest from investors due to their resilience, with transactions closing at pre-Covid prices.
Offices stock is expected to increase significantly during 2021-2022, with c.75 office projects currently ongoing in Spain (mainly in Madrid and Barcelona) out of which c.60 projects will be completed in 2021, accounting for an additional c.580,000 sq.m. in terms of stock.