The real estate sector is booming, with an increase in sales of 25% and a new increase in prices (it seemed impossible, but it is true) driven by foreign buyers, especially the Dutch, who have a high purchasing power and who acquire properties both as an investment and as a second home, says Jeffrey Fernández de Bobadilla, delegate on Eivissa and Formentera for the Real Estate Agents’ Association and the API Baleares Association, a sector that yesterday held a conference at the Torre del Mar hotel in Platja d’en Bossa to analyze the market situation. His statement coincides with the latest data on sales on the islands, which have experienced an increase of 166% so far this year.
“Right now there are a lot of sales, a lot. The market is very active. There is a lot of demand. And there is supply”, says Fernández, who explains that there has been such an upward turn in prices that “the properties that were out of the market due to their price are now integrated, they have entered the market”. That is to say, their price, despite being very high, is now within the average, it even seems normal: “There was a niche of homes that, until now, were out of reach for the majority due to their prices, but that have now found their place in the supply and demand”. And they’re running out the door.
“Foreign real estate buyers with high economic capacity are coming, which is bad for the residents on these islands because it drives the price up” recognizes Fernandez
The bad side
The delegate of the API admits that the properties “are still expensive”, at least for our pockets, but not so for customers who come from countries with per capita incomes much higher than the Spanish: “Foreign buyers come with high economic capacity which is bad for the residents on these islands because it drives the price upwards, although it is good for the Ibizan economy because it activates the market and the sectors that accompany real estate, such as the builders and labourers carrying out the renovations”.
Therefore, the delegate of the API believes that the real estate and tourism sectors are the “engine of the economy, both for the sales that are generated and for the associated renovations”. “The detriment is for the residents, as they are at such high prices that they are prevented from having access and competing with those who come from outside”.
In fact, the accumulated value of mortgages in the Pitiüses so far this year has reached 99.5 million euros, 95% more than in any of the last three years, even before the health crisis.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.