The office market continues to attract investor interest. At national level, around €2,510m was raised, of which €1,715m was concentrated in Barcelona (around 70% of the total). This is the second best record in the historical series, behind only the €1,791m recorded in 2019. 

The appeal of Barcelona compared to Madrid, which has historically concentrated most of the transacted volume, has been mainly due to the amount of product available on the market.

Meanwhile, all megadeals registered in the office market (those of ≥€100m), six in total, were located in Barcelona and amounted to more than €810 million, i.e. 47% of the total.

The concentration of large transactions directly affected the average price per asset, which stood at €50.5m.

International capital clearly dominated the market. Institutional funds and insurance companies, with greater financial strength, participated in the market’s major deals (including the six megadeals). The average volume per building paid by cross-border companies exceeded €60m, while domestic companies only reached €26m.

AIn the face of uncertainty such as that experienced during the health crisis, risk aversion is the most common characteristic among players. In 2021, 75% of the volume transacted corresponded to core and core+ products, although value added assets in good locations also came into consideration.

By zone, the Technology District accounted for 49% of the total volume. Although most of the deals were focused on core and core+ product, it was also home to three of the five value added deals. The increase in availability and the huge volume of new space planned for the coming months have not managed to overshadow the recovery of demand for space in this submarket, which explains why investors remain confident.

The largest transaction in Q4 was the Estel building (€120m). The former Telefónica headquarters will return to the office market after several years, with a plan to change its use to residential. Bain Capital, together with Freo, will carry out a comprehensive refurbishment of the building, making it a market point of reference in the heart of the Eixample district.

Yields

Achievable yield levels remain stable. Prime CBD remains at 3.60% and prime NBA at 4.10%, although the high volume of liquidity and buying pressure could favour compression in certain assets that meet the criteria of location, quality, good covenants and long-term contracts at market rents.