Laurence Dollimore
MILLENNIALS in Spain are turning their backs on their parents’ dreams of owning a home.
The devastating real estate crash and ensuing rise in property prices has made long-term renting a much more attractive option for the younger generation.
The emerging trend is leading Merlin Properties Socimi to bet it can overtake Goldman Sachs and Blackstone Group in the rental market.
Spain’s biggest real estate investment trust is planning to almost double the units it has for rent by the end of the year, according to Chief Executive Officer Ismael Clemente.
The younger generation that I know have been without full time work for years, some as long as a decade, so renting would be their only option. They are not turning their backs on anything; they just don’t have a choice. As for the “ensuing rise in property prices”, this may be true in a few very larger cities, and expat bubbles like Marbella, but in real Spain locations such as inland Andalucia, house prices have still not recovered, indeed yesterday I passed a advert offering “2 flats for the price of 1”. I last saw that back in 2010.