Property market decreasing? 2019 is about to surpass 2018
A study by Cushman & Wakefield concluded that 2019 could equal or even surpass the good time that was experienced in the housing market last year.
Despite the first signs of declining, housing market activity this year may exceed that of last year. The conclusions are of the consultant Cushman & Wakefield (C&W), which also highlights that, until September, the volume of investment in commercial real estate reached 1.7 billion euros. The highlight was the offices that, despite the scarcity of supply, broke a record in terms of average transacted area.
In the final stretch of the year, the domestic property market continues to perform well, says the study “Market Update”. The path so far has been so positive that C&W experts even believe that they are equalled or even exceeded the record levels of activity achieved last year in all sectors.
“The biggest robustness of the economy and the market values practised have contributed to the attractiveness of the real estate market, which, despite still being clearly dominated by international demand, has been experiencing an increase in the national capital. For 2020, we expect a positive evolution of the market, although at more moderate levels compared to recent years”, says Andreia Almeida, research director of the consultant.
In the 1,700 million euros of investment achieved in the commercial market, the highlight was the offices (34%). In this segment, over 149,000 square meters were traded, a total of 130 deals between January and September. A new historical record in terms of average area per transaction was achieved: 1,150 square meters, twice the average for the last ten years.
But despite these good results, the scarcity of office space continues to be worrying, also due to strong demand. In this sense, the vacancy rate hit 3.9% in September and rents rose to 23 euros per square meter in zone 1.
