Barcelona attracts investment interest in the first six months of 2023. The Catalan capital is among the top five European markets with the most foreign real estate investment in the first half of the year. This is one of the conclusions of the report 'Global Real Estate Capital Flows H1 2023' prepared by the consultancy firm CBRE.
Specifically, Barcelona is the fifth European city with the highest volume of real estate investment from other countries, with €882.9 million. Ahead of Barcelona are London, Berlin, Manchester and Munich.
In total, the European market has received foreign investment of $14.7 billion (€13.7 billion), 68% less than the $45.9 billion (€42.7 billion) recorded in the same period in 2022.
Despite attractive euro exchange rates, capital inflow from other regions to Europe in the first half of the year was the lowest since 2010. This market, which typically receives about three-quarters of total cross-border investment, saw its market share fall to 48% in the first half. This is mainly due to tight debt markets and the scarcity of deals caused by pricing uncertainty.
Capital invested in Europe in the first half of the year came mainly from North America, with $10.14 billion (€9.4 billion), followed by the Asia-Pacific region, with $3.46 billion (€3.2 billion), and the Middle East, with $1.07 billion (€990 million).
The United Kingdom, Germany, France and Spain were the European countries with the most foreign real estate investment due to their strong fundamentals. As for asset type, the industrial sector attracted the most cross-border capital, followed by multifamily.
"Barcelona's good fundamentals have played a role in attracting foreign capital. In general terms, real estate investment in Barcelona has fallen by 34% in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2022, a decline well below the European average, with reductions of between 40% and 70%," said Xavier Güell, Head of CBRE Barcelona.
On the other hand, real estate investment from Europe to other regions amounted to $2.07 billion (€1.9 billion), 60.8% less than in the same period last year. The countries with the highest investment volumes from Europe were North America, with $1.81 billion (€1.68 billion), and the Asia-Pacific region, with $260 million (€240 million).
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