The ‘retail’ operators resume the search for premises that allow physical and ‘online’ sales

Closures, capacity limitation and hours. Commercial premises have experienced their particular descent into hell with the pandemic. A business that had already been deflating during the last five years due to competition from the trade online.

“The sector of the retail it has been, probably, the most affected by the Covid crisis along with the hotel sector ”, affirms Helena de Arcos, head of Retail of MVGM Spain. And adds: “The influxes and sales are gradually approaching the year 2019, already surpassing what happened in 2020 ”.

Keep in mind that retail sales are conditioned by a number of factors. For example, due to the situation that will occur in Spain after the suspension of the ERTE, and the inevitable rise in prices.

“The operators of retail are making adjustments in their expansion plans to achieve a balance between physical sale and sale online. The demand for premises is focused on locations that allow them faster and more efficient access to their customer”, Indicates De Arcos.

In this way, it is intended to facilitate the customer’s purchase, whether physical or online, “Without noticing the difference between one choice or another.”

Positive outlook

With regard to income in the case of retail, they are undergoing adjustments according to the sectors. The most affected is leisure, due to the closure and the strong restrictions that it has experienced.

“The pandemic has had a logical impact on trade that has caused temporary rent adjustments and some closures. The forecast for the last quarter of the year is very positive. Operations are moving that will be closed before the end of the year, or at the beginning of 2021 ”, predicts De Arcos.

The period of confinement and the restrictions has done nothing but accentuate the influence of electronic commerce on the sales of retailers. A period that has revealed that many brands were not prepared for the tsunami of orders online. Hence their effort was to invest to improve this channel.

“Operators have more reliable data that will allow them to adjust their sales forecasts in one channel or another and, therefore, invest more wisely ”, points out the head of MVGM Spain Retail. “During this period, capex’s management and investment in shopping centers has focused on favoring omnichannel sales by operators, investing in digitization, spaces to favor logistics, means to help the reception and delivery of orders, support in home delivery… ”.

Offices, logistics and residential

Beyond the retail, and in the case of logistics, the rents prime in the main logistics markets, that is, Madrid and Barcelona, ​​maintain a stable evolution. “By the end of the year, and in the coming years, it is estimated that rents will continue to rise linearly,” says Carlos González, spokesman for the logistics area of ​​the Dutch firm.

For its part, the office sector has experienced a small adjustment in income during the first half of the year. Something that has happened in both Madrid and Barcelona. “Expected an increase in both demand and hiring in the last semester as the return to normality in the occupation of the buildings stabilizes ”, says Fernando Garrote, head of the MVGM office area.

Finally, with regard to the residential market, a 5% drop in rents can be seen if the second quarter of 2021 is compared with the same period in 2020. In the case of Madrid and Barcelona, ​​this percentage is even higher, between 13% and 14%. But if you compare the second quarter with the first, there is a stabilization of rental prices.

“We have seen an increase in interest in renting and in the closing of operations. Therefore, it is easy that, as the offer is absorbed, Let’s see mild price increases again”, Predicts Faustino Garcia, the head of the residential area of ​​the firm expert in property management.

In summary, Elisa Navarro, general director of MVGM in Spain, points out that “the sector has a good and fast recovery forecast that we hope to continue seeing in the coming months”. And he concludes: “In the last part of the year we will witness new operations that will prove the good progress of the year and the desire of investors to position themselves in the Spanish market.”

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