The contribution of the real estate sector in the creation of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), exceeds 3%, so to say that this sector is one of the largest sources of fundraising by public organizations is only to speak out It is a reality that the different administrations have known for a long time, from the local (municipalities) to the Central Government, passing through the autonomous administrations.
But all this, is it taking some type of measures to safeguard this sector and keep the market at acceptable levels of activity? It really seems not, at least this is the perception that professionals in the sector maintain.
It is true that the final product is supporting increasingly higher prices, difficult to maintain and, above all, increasingly distant from the possibilities of future buyers, which seems to present a lack of image that the purchase of a home is being turning into an elitist act, which few will be able to access, although the responsibility for this situation is not in the same sector, so it is not the different groups that come together in its development, who must be responsible for level reached both in prices and volume of activity.
The origin of this price escalation is in the land that must be acquired and the one that generates it to a great extent is the administration, therefore we must go to it in search of an answer, although we already know in advance that there is an explanation that It serves practically for almost all the actions they have carried out (or the lack of them on other occasions) and it is the need for collection that the administration has to attend to the services they offer to citizens, but also the greater ease that they have in the face of transactions. or product holdings generated by the real estate activity. This contribution of resources to the GDP also allows the public agencies in charge of collecting the different taxes a quick access route (personal income tax, IBI and building licenses, among others),so the perception of availability is closer.
The high volume of activity, both in the construction of new homes and in the transactions carried out, (in the first nine months of 2006 alone, were 706,928 homes, according to data from the Ministry of Housing, with an estimate at the end of year around the million real estate transactions carried out) is given not by a greater offer of product, in any case this is the consequence of the demand caused by the need that existed and that still exists in many families, to have a home.
This deficiency has been translated into a buying opportunity thanks to the evolution of interest rates that have remained downward in recent years, also accompanied by the excellent economic evolution in general and the high level of employment. Now with a new scenario of rising interest rates, although among specialists there is some caution not to alarm the market with warnings of further increases, since it seems that although this trend will continue, it may occur at a rate and possibly at Some levels lower than those indicated by some financial sectors in the last quarter of the year, therefore the need for families to access a home must converge,with the least purchasing power (in comparative terms) and once again raises the demand to generate a housing stock to meet the needs of the population levels with fewer resources.
Until now, this social and economic need has encountered difficulties for its development, as a consequence of policies applied in the provision of publicly owned land to the market through the sale at free prices, which has facilitated, if not promoted, the current prices, instead of reserving it for the development of subsidized or concerted housing, which would have allowed, in addition to offering a volume of necessary housing for these low-income groups who have greater difficulties in accessing the purchase, a dampening effect of the increase in free housing prices, as has been found in populations where the City Council has developed these policies.
This lack of foresight and action, in the application of measures to generate land at lower prices and avoid the spiral of prices in homes or generate a stock of protected homes, has led to the current situation, in which year after year the price of housing has increased at levels much higher than that reflected in the CPI, a situation that did not seem to be overly concerned because all the participants, including the home buyers, felt comfortable, the promoters and intermediaries because their activity was seen In a certain way, the economy because it generated a very positive balance and the buyers because once they had purchased the apartment, they were satisfied with their purchase, since the value of the family assets grew year after year.
It is now when the problem arises, (although it already existed from the beginning) and that is that with the annual revision of interest rates, the monthly payment of the mortgage becomes increasingly difficult and threatens both the real estate sector, with a risk of Less activity, but also, and to a large extent, the financial sector, which views with some concern the possible increase in delinquencies in its mortgages and the administration itself, which according to what was pointed out at the beginning, national wealth may suffer.
The truth is that the land in the hands of external agents to the promoters, involves an increasing percentage of the cost of the final product. It has gone from a 15% impact of land on the price of housing, as an optimal scheme, to levels in which this ratio is around 50%, not to mention extreme situations in cities with high density and low volume of available land in which 65% is exceeded. The time has come, this is the message from public agencies with the capacity to influence this sector, take action and start acting.
In this sense, both from the Autonomous Communities and City Councils, apart from the central administration's own policies, plans, actions and regulations have been developed to generate urban land that allows the construction of homes under specific development plans, taking into account the objective of offering a house to the market at lower prices than the current ones.
These measures have a temporary difficulty and is that before being able to have an urban land that allows a housing construction project, it requires a long and laborious process that takes time, years, actually, before it is available to generate the product (low-priced housing), so that these measures, necessary in any case, will not begin to be seen for three or four years. The situation does not seem to have a short-term solution.
Some measures, such as those announced by the Ministry of Housing, initially with the offer of 35 m2 housing, now with the proposal of rental housing for students of similar dimensions. This seems that the problem of the price of the house can be somewhat tempered, although it is not really the case, the truth is that it accentuates the problem, since as houses with fewer meters are generated, logically the final price is comparatively less than with homes of more meters, Although this is not always the case, when the comparison is made based on the impact of price per m2.
In some way, these measures maintain the problem, although they mask it with the presentation of lower-priced floors.
This is a strategic sector and therefore cannot be in accordance with punctual measures or politically convenient actions, it requires careful reflection and betting on the development of urban land in conditions that allow the planning and subsequent actions of protected housing projects., concerted or any other modality that facilitates access to sectors of the population with difficulties, but it must also generate the appropriate scenario so that the price of free housing, remember that the housing stock is mostly free, can also develop in some economic environments that do not generate a race to buy before the next price rise.
Housing is a permanent asset for a family and is often necessary for it to exist (let's see the current situation of young people), therefore any measure that is not considered in the long term (extending the term of validity of the qualification of a protected housing, it is not a measure that contributes anything) you will not be able to achieve your objectives and finally remember that you do not have to resort to citizenship or the free market every time there is a problem so that it can be solved, as is now pointed out in some Autonomous Communities with the need to create a rental housing stock through penalizing property, with a desire to collect more than socially. It is the administration in collaboration with all the social and economic agents who has led a broad process in its content, ambitious in time and consistent in its objectives.
