Real estate professionals confirm the recovery in housing market activity, which had already begun to be seen since the last quarter of 2020, and after hitting lows between September and December last year, according to the Real Estate Sensitivity Survey (ESI), prepared by idealista, the leading real estate marketplace in Spain, Italy and Portugal. Real estate agency confidence has risen by 8.3 points in the Sales Index to 58 points, while the Rental Index has risen by 8.7 points to 55.7 points, with both returning to above the 50-point mark, which would be a pass mark.

Despite being far from the highs in real estate confidence that were seen in 2018, the Sales Index returns to precovid levels, when economic and political uncertainty after the general elections were the country’s main problems before the outbreak of the pandemic.

Better expectations are supported by the end of the state of alarm and the fact that mobility restrictions will be somewhat more flexible from now on. For all these reasons, real estate agents foresee an increase in activity in the sector for potential buyers and tenants who until now have been waiting to move to another city or waiting to see how the country’s economy evolves, with a savings capacity that has grown in many families during these months.

Sales: More transactions, but falling prices

The forecasts of most of the real estate agencies that took part in the survey estimate that prices will continue with a stable or even downward trend, at least until next summer. Almost 90% of those surveyed believe that prices will remain the same or fall.

In contrast, activity is growing for 53% of respondents, while 32% say that sales volumes will remain the same. The acquisition of new assets is also positive, with 54% of real estate agents expecting more acquisitions and 36% expecting activity to remain the same.

Renting: greater stability while the correction of rents continues

The rental market is recovering somewhat more slowly than the sales market, due, among other things, to the biggest fall in rental prices since the outbreak of the pandemic. Although the general trend (65%) is for prices to remain unchanged, 16% believe that rents will continue to fall during this quarter.

Expectations are improving for new leases. In fact, 39% aspire to add new flats, and up to 33% will maintain a stable number of new acquisitions. On the side of closing deals, 41% highlight that they will manage to close more leases, while 29% are somewhat more conservative and will maintain the same number of properties rented between quarters compared to the previous one.

The Real Estate Sensitivity Survey (ESI)

Idealista has been conducting this survey since the fourth quarter of 2017 with the participation of more than 250 real estate experts from almost all over Spain. The study shows the degree of satisfaction and forecasts of the real estate sector in both the home buying and selling and rental market based on a 100 index, where 100 would be the maximum positive and most euphoric data and 0 when all responses are negative and discontent is widespread.

If you are a real estate agent and would like to be part of the panel of experts who respond to idealista’s Real Estate Sensitivity Survey (ESI), please contact your manager so that we can send you the quarterly survey.