Foreign investment in Spain reaches five-year high

Data from the international real estate advisor shows that 68% of the €10,800m invested in Spain came from foreign investors – the highest proportion in the last five years which represents an increase of 12 percentage points in the last three years.

According to the data, the volume of cross-border investment reached €7,300m – 23% higher than the final figure recorded at the end of 2017. In terms of origin, Europe and the United States accounted for almost 57% of total investment and 85% of volume in cross border operations.

With regard to specific sectors, the boom in e-commerce meant that logistics saw the biggest increase over the 12 months and was up 61% compared to the end of 2017 at €1,300m. This was thanks to several notable deals including the purchase of the Colver portfolio by Blackstone at the end of the year. The interest from international buyers in logistics assets is clearly reflected in the 87% ratio of foreign to domestic investment.

The report also shows that retail is still a popular option with €3,432m of investment over the 12 months – 68% of which was from overseas. Investment into commercial high street premises saw the biggest rise, with the figure recorded standing at almost double that at the end of 2017 (€1,150m).

The office sector also had a positive year with investment (€2,200m) up 19% compared to the end of 2017. 67% of this came from overseas players who have traditionally come behind domestic investors.

Luis Espadas, Executive Director in the Capital Markets Division, Savills Aguirre Newman, commented: “2018 really was the year of foreign investment in Spain. We have had a high volume of portfolio deals across all sectors, with high cross border interest in high street retail, shopping centres, logistics and offices. We expect to see increasing demand for all these sectors and investors can expect to see strong returns in a thoroughly positive climate. Rents continue rising and economic indicators for Spain show better evolution than average across the rest of Europe.”