The property arm of BBVA bank Anida has become the developer of the moment, in the past two years it has completed more than 3,000 housing units and by the end of 2014 will have provided over 5,000. In an interview Xavier Sainz, the director of Anida, says the housing market has bottomed and that “what we see coming from now on is the start to a slow recovery in prices and demand “.
Question : How do you see the real estate sector currently? And what about prices?
Answer : I see real estate sector having starting a strong recovery since the beginning of 2013 and especially before summer there has been a feeling that we have bottomed out and that starting from now it will not go further downwards, but stabilize and we will see a start of a slow recovery in prices and also in demand.
BBVA Banks property arm Anida says prices in Spain have bottomed out
Question : So what factors lead him to believe that the market is recovering?
Answer : Mainly from all the reforms that have been made in Spain in recent years, these have now begun to have the desired effect, there is a great demand both from foreign and the domestic market, having liquidity available to start investing for both home ownership and as an investment and the thinking is that the time to invest is now because we will not see a lot more price decreases as has happened in recent years.
Question : How do you think things will evolve for housing prices for the remainder of the year and in 2014?
Answer : There are areas with higher demand that are already producing a recovery of the prices and also we are seeing prices starting to climb month to month in general. Estimates that the prices have bottomed out, what we are seeing is that the price of sales transactions currently being closed is the lowest that we will see and from now on a plateau and then a recovery closely linked to the arrival of foreign investment and also the slowdown in job losses will follow.
Question : What factors have pushed you to build housing developments ?
Answer : Clearly demand in areas where we see an unmet demand for housing, that is where we invest. In the last two years we have completed more than 3,000 homes a year and from now until the end of 2014 we will sell more than 5,000 newly built houses.
Question : What is the type of houses being sold?
Answer : We are committed to build a home that has better value than the rest, that is what is helping us to sell, when in areas where housing is needed and where the property is located in an area of demand and at the right price. We have housing at all levels and for all tastes, what are most in demand are homes with 3 bedrooms.
Question : What do you think about renting property?
Answer : Renting is a way to meet the housing needs of any citizen and the decision between buying and selling is influenced by the current interest rates, the prospect of appreciation in housing and labour geographical mobility buyer / tenant. BBVA does also have rental housing developments available.
