Construction costs in Spain have increased considerably since January 2021, a rise that was prompted by the strong recovery in global demand as the economy reopened after the pandemic but was further aggravated by the outbreak of war in Ukraine. In recent months, however, the price of industrial metals on international markets has fallen sharply and the futures markets point to prices stabilising to some extent. Given this situation, the cost of construction materials in Spain is expected to moderate in 2023.
Search at CaixaBank Research
Search results
191 results found for 2024
The tourism industry is a key sector for Spain's economy and the decline forecast in tourism for 2020 will have a major impact on the country's level of economic activity. However, this economic impact will not be spread evenly throughout Spain as there are big differences between regions in the relative importance of the tourism sector. We expect the islands and Mediterranean communities to be more exposed than the average in Spain, while inland regions will suffer less.
In this issue, we focus on China's commodity stockpiling strategy and the fiscal room for maneuver of the new Trump administration. As for the Spanish economy, which we expect to continue to grow above the eurozone average in 2025, we present new forecasts for the real estate sector, analyze the Treasury's strategy in a context of a reduction in the public deficit and note the improvement in employment stability as a result of the decline in the temporary employment rate.
The European Parliament elections this June were held at a key moment for the European construction process, taking into account the economic, political and social challenges that our continent must address in the coming years. Many of these challenges are discussed in the Dossier of this Monthly Report, ranging from the loss of competitiveness in a world that is undergoing a reconfiguration of value chains and relationships between economic blocs, to the revitalisation of productivity and technological development, to the need to push ahead with the capital markets union.
Foreign demand for housing in Spain has performed exceptionally well after the pandemic. In 2022, foreigners bought 90,000 homes in Spain, 46% more than in 2021. In line with this good performance, the number of mortgages taken out by foreigners also increased and reached 30,000 in 2022, so that one in three foreign buyers took out a mortgage in Spain last year. Foreign residents tend to buy homes and take out mortgages for a similar amount as Spaniards. On the other hand, non-resident foreigners tend to opt for more expensive properties and, consequently, the average mortgage taken out by foreigners is higher, although there are notable differences depending on nationality and autonomous region. The value of mortgages taken out by foreigners in the Balearic Islands is particularly high while, in terms of nationality, Swedes and Americans tend to take out the largest mortgages.
We dedicate the dossier of the December issue to one of the major determining factors for social well-being and cohesion: inequality. Through the monthly monitoring of internal data that we have carried out since the pandemic, we are able to confirm the downward trend of inequality in Spain, contrary to that observed in the main developed economies, and we stop to examine the recent evolution of Spain’s middle class. In other articles of the report, also using internal data, we analyse the economic impact of the floods in Valencia and how households in Catalan municipalities in a state of drought adjusted their water consumption. In addition, we study the exposure of the Spanish, European and Chinese economies to tariff hikes in the United States.
After the sharp downturn in the sector caused by the pandemic, the recovery of international tourism in Spain can now be considered almost complete. Among the world’s top 10 tourism destinations, Spain was the second to exceed its number of pre-COVID international tourists, behind only Türkiye.
Given the dramatic decline in demand, house prices are likely to undergo some adjustment in the period 2020-2021, although there will be significant differences depending on the property's location and type. Specifically, we expect house prices to fall more sharply in the second-hand market and tourist areas, which have been severely affected by the restrictions on international travel.
In the first issue of 2025, we stop to take a snapshot of foreign demand for housing, international business tourism and the savings of Spanish households according to their demographic and income profile. We continue to analyse the European economy’s exposure to US tariff hikes, this time from the perspective of value chains, and we also assess the challenges for European fiscal policy following the entry into force of the new economic governance framework.
Consumption in Spain is recovering faster than in previous crises. This is highlighted in the consumption tracker produced by CaixaBank Research based on internal data (available in Spanish: Monitor de Consumo). In the month of October, our consumption indicator was already 13% higher than in the same month in 2019.
Las perspectivas del yen frente al euro para los próximos trimestres son de estabilidad general, aunque con un sesgo ligeramente favorable a la divisa japonesa. Las expectativas económicas para 2025 son algo mejores en Japón, y el Banco de Japón está endureciendo su política monetaria cuando el BCE está recortando los tipos de interés. No obstante, aunque el diferencial de tipos nominales a corto plazo sea favorable al yen, la principal fuerza directora de la divisa nipona (tanto frente al euro como frente al dólar) está siendo el diferencial de tipos reales a largo plazo. Este se debería mantener estable en un entorno al que, a las dinámicas monetarias, habría que añadir la diferente normalización de la inflación de ambas geografías (acelerándose en Japón y desacelerándose en Europa).
In this issue of the Real Estate Sector Report we take stock of a more positive 2023 than expected and offer our forecasts for 2024-2025, which we have also revised upwards. In addition, we analyse how population growth has driven up housing demand in Spain in recent years; how the real estate markets of the main advanced economies have responded to the tightening of financial conditions, and what we expect for Spain’s commercial real estate market.
The record figures achieved by tourism in Spain in the opening months of 2024 and the effects of climate change on the sector highlight the need to continue improving the management of tourism flows and to promote innovation and investment, in order to minimise the negative impacts caused by tourism activity and move towards a less seasonal, more sustainable model.
The rapid growth of Spain’s real estate sector during the first half of the year has led us to revise upwards our forecasts for 2024 and 2025. Even so, the mismatch between supply and demand will determine the sector’s behaviour, as it tackles major challenges such as climate change and the housing affordability problems for the young and the most vulnerable segments of society.
Activity in Spain’s agrifood sector is increasing at a faster rate than across the economy as a whole and the outlook for the 2024-2025 campaign is encouraging. Exports are holding up well in the adverse environment of recent years and the food price rally has begun to slow, although the cumulative increase since 2019 remains significant.
In 2024, the Spanish economy has experienced widespread growth across virtually all of its sectors. The outlook for 2025 also looks promising, although there will be differences in growth rates and the transition to a more sustainable production system will need to be tackled head on. The automotive sector will also face the challenge of remaining competitive in the new global ecosystem.
Spain’s manufacturing sector has overcome a 2022 that was hit hard by the energy crisis and supply problems regarding some raw materials, preventing manufacturers from getting back to their pre-pandemic levels. In 2023, although the economic situation is still significantly uncertain, the outlook is somewhat more favourable than a few months ago: having weathered the more adverse scenarios observed during the winter, the economy continues to show positive signs thanks to the stabilisation of energy markets and the resilience of Spain’s labour market and household consumption.
The rental housing market has attracted a lot of attention in recent years. Its sharp price rises, much bigger than the increase in wage income, has highlighted the economic vulnerability of households living in rented accommodation. These households tend to have a lower-than-average income level and a high percentage of them spend more than 40% of their income on housing-related payments. To redress this worrying situation, much-needed economic policy measures have been taken to increase the supply of affordable housing. However, other types of policies have also been proposed, such as rent caps in stressed market areas, although their effectiveness is limited judging by experiences in other countries.
Activity in the real estate market is recovering from its extraordinary slump between March and June. House sales and new building permits have regained much of the ground lost in Q3 2020, a trend we expect to consolidate in 2021. House prices, whose trend is still weak but without any extreme corrections, are expected to follow a similar trend in the coming quarters, ending 2021 with a decline of around 2%.
The Trump administration’s announcements of tariff hikes have raised the effective average US tariff on imports to its highest level in a century. Although the decision has been suspended for 90 days, with the exception of China, it reflects the destabilising potential of the measures announced and has triggered fears of a further slowdown in the global economy.