The market for new homes in Barcelona will almost double in the next few years as the city’s housing market recovers from crisis, forecasts international real estate consultants CBRE.

There will be potential demand for almost 8,000 new homes each year in Barcelona province between 2016 and 2025, almost double the level of planning approvals last year, say CBRE in a recent report.

As the capital province of Catalonia, Barcelona’s property market will do better than other areas of the region, they say. The two speed recovery will continue for several more years in Catalonia, just like the rest of Spain.

But in Barcelona province, which attracts demand from locals and foreigners alike in both the city centre and coastal areas of the province, CBRE must expect a robust recovery if new home building is to hit 8,000 units per annum.

The housing market turned the corner in Barcelona back in 2013, after housing starts crashed 97% from the peak, effectively wiping out the home building industry in Barcelona and the rest of Spain.

By 2015, planning approvals in Barcelona province were back up to 4,540 units, higher than the number of construction completions for the first time since 2007, and a clear sign that the home building industry was in recovery mode.

RISING PRICES

CBRE also forecast that house prices will rise in Barcelona province, driven in part by a shortage of building land. Prices in the city have already risen 4.3% over twelve months, and by 3.7% in Catalonia as a whole, they say.