New property for sale in Barcelona is taking 10 times longer to sell than a year ago, says the real estate consultancy Aguirre Newman.
Thanks to the Spanish property market crash, developers now take an average of 27 months to sell a new development in Barcelona city, and 28 months to sell in the wider metropolitan area.
As a result, prices on new urban developments are falling by an average of 1.5% in the city, and by as much as 17% in Barcelona’s Old Town Gothic Quarter.
In an effort to cut costs, some developers in Barcelona are reported to be closing onsite sales offices, and resorting to call centres instead.
According to Aguirre Newman, the short term outlook for developers in Barcelona is bleak. The consultancy expects prices, sales rates, and consumer confidence to fall, whilst the supply of new properties contracts in response to a shrinking market. “With an unemployment rate that could reach 11%, consumer confidence will be very low at the start of 2009”, García Mateo of Aguirre Newman told the Spanish daily ‘La Vanguardia’.
