Real estate investment in Catalonia hits €2.5 billion in 2016, 81% foreign

• This figure is up 26% from the previous year and is a new all-time record
• The industrial and logistic sector (€144 million) posted the highest growth, up 61%

Real estate investment in Catalonia totaled approximately €2.5 billion in 2016. This figure is up more than 26% from the previous year and is a new all-time record, beating even the best years of the real estate boom. These figures have been made public by real estate consultancy Aguirre Newman, which highlights that the investment was mainly in the Barcelona area.

According to the consultancy firm, this investment mainly went to purchase office buildings and shopping centers, which made up more than €1.6 billion. Nevertheless, the industrial and logistics sector, with €144 million in investment, showed the highest growth, up 61%.

Additionally, noteworthy among this data is that 81% of all operations carried out were with foreign capital, despite the fact that the number of local investors is gradually increasing. Aguirre Newman also highlighted that opportunistic investors have nearly disappeared, with their proportion of the total real estate operations dropping nearly 95%.

The forecast for 2017 is also positive and the consultancy expects that pressure from foreign investors will push the weight of Catalonia in the Spanish total up between 20% and 25% over the course of the year as a result of positive progress in all segments (offices, shopping centers, hotels, industrial/logistics properties and residential developments).