As reported by Forcadell in Locales Comerciales del primer semestre de 2017 en Barcelona (Business premises of the first semester of 2017 in Barcelona), the retail in the city Condal has developed very positively along these six months, according to a stability and consolidation trend. To that end, the rent demand had increased in terms of quality and volume, recording an inter-semester variation of the 27%.
As for the luxury sector, Barcelona continues to be one of the favorite destination for the consumers with high purchasing power, together with New York, Paris, Venice or Rome. Prime locations like Passeig de Gràcia or Portal de l’Àngel concentrate an exclusive offer of the best national and international companies.
As for the surface demand, up to 200m² are still the most requested in the first and second places, while in third and fourth places there's a range up to 500 m².
The buying demand has also registered positive data in the first half of the year, gaining an inter-semester variation of the 13%. The investors, both for large volume as for family office and end users, represented 46.15% of the demand, while the services sector has led to 21.54% and hotels to 15.38%.
Poor availability of locations under the pressure of offer
Forcadell data refer that the offer for business premises to rent continues to register low levels, mainly in the first and second places. On one hand, the high demand of international operators, who want to enter the Spanish market through Barcelona, and, on the other hand, the demand of national companies and small traders, has resulted in remarkable occupation levels that make difficult to find spaces, either in prime streets, in secondary streets or in pedestrian streets.
The offer of business premises for sale, according the Forcadell report, is still low along this first semester, despite investors and end users’ interest is picking up. Although the increase of rental prices, the revenues have compressed, in many cases. This means that not all the buying options are interesting opportunities. The transactions of places which have materialized, were closed with final prices somewhat higher than the expected, as has been the case since 2016, given the booming in retail for street level premises.