Real estate investments, Spain overtakes Italy

With France creaking, Germany jammed and the UK travelling outside the EU parameters, in the first half of 2025, real estate investments transacted in the Southern European region - Italy, Spain and Portugal - exceeded EUR 12 billion for the first time (47% in Spain, 43% in Italy and 10% in Portugal), demonstrating resilience and a strong ability to attract capital, marking an increase of more than 30% compared to the same period last year.

Not only that. It is Spain that does better than Italy. In the first half of 2025, the Italian real estate market recorded EUR 5.1 billion in investments, up 46% compared to the first half of 2024. In spite of economic and geopolitical uncertainty, Spain closed the first half of the year with a total volume of around EUR 5.7 billion, +16% compared to the same period in 2024.

Cushman & Wakefield notes this and according to its analysts, in Spain, the hotel and retail sectors are driving investment. The residential sector continues at a good pace, while logistics is facing challenges. Offices, with solid fundamentals, are starting to show signs of recovery, particularly in Madrid. In the capital city, investments of around EUR 800 million involve, in particular, the change of use of obsolete office buildings, to be transformed into residences/hotels.

Also in Italy, according to Cushman & Wakefield, 'growth was driven by the hospitality and retail sectors. The hotel industry has confirmed itself as a sector in post-Covid recovery, supported by solid tourist demand in the main urban and leisure destinations. Institutional investor interest is growing in a sector that is still fragmented and largely held by private operators" sometimes on the threshold of complex or unsuccessful generational transitions and "with significant opportunities in the luxury hotel segment. While offices and logistics have seen selective strategies focused on core+/value-add assets in strategic locations. Urban redevelopment is gaining ground, with living, especially in Milan and Rome, where obsolete assets offer development potential'.

In June, Nido Living concluded an agreement with Brookfield Asset Management to acquire the Iberian student housing portfolio 'Livensa Living' for EUR 1.2 billion. In the first quarter of the year, Dils signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Lucas Fox, the leading independent player in the residential real estate market in Spain.