Los fondos ven peligrar ventas de carteras de pisos para alquiler por 4.000 millones

Blackstone, Cerberus, Greystar and Ares collectively manage over 15,000 rental properties spread across various Socimis and platforms. Their aim is to rotate their assets, as the market anticipates their vote this Friday in the Congress of Deputies' Plenary on two housing decrees. These measures have raised concerns among promoters, major shareholders, and property companies, who fear they will destroy the supply and deter investment.

The biggest affected parties are funds with large portfolios of properties waiting to be rotated, including Blackstone, Cerberus, Greystar and Ares. Among the most advanced sales so far is Greystar and Vía Cielo, which was negotiated by Norges in collaboration with Azora for 510 million euros. Although the deal remains active, a tightening rental market could impact its price.

Despite shrinking its residential exposure in recent years - selling a 5,000-property portfolio to Brookfield in 2026 - Blackstone remains a significant player in Spain's real estate market. It still owns Testa, another large Socimi with 8,354 properties and a gross valuation of 2.555 million euros as of 2025's year-end. Blackstone can choose from various options to shed its positions, such as selling the entire platform, parceling out assets, or continuing with a unit sale.

Cerberus is another fund looking to sell rental properties in Spain. The U.S. firm commissioned Deutsche Bank to sell a portfolio of 3,300 units from its Macc 1x1 Socimi, valued at up to 800 million euros. Ares is also in the process of exiting, having welcomed Hoopp, a pension fund for Ontario workers, into its Iante Socimi in March, which consists of 2,300 free-price properties valued at over 600 million euros.

Ares still controls another Socimi, Daria 323, following its entry into the platform in March. Daria 323 has 1,705 properties, with 587 in operation valued at over 100 million euros and 1,118 in the Plan Vive construction plan, valued at 125 million euros. Nestar, a platform established in 2018 by Lazora with the support of CBRE GIP (now CBREIM) and Madison, now has nearly 9,500 units across major urban areas, including 1,500 newly constructed properties and a valuation of 1.750 million euros.

Recent capitalization of Nestar after its share sale to Madison means the platform has more time to explore alternatives, including unit sales of properties. Rising property prices combined with legal uncertainty and rental operating risks have led many investors to pull their properties out of the rental market and sell them instead.

An example is Brookfield, which hired Clikalia to manage the vacant units of Fidere and sell its vacant properties. Starwood also contracted Spain's proptech firm for this process. As reported by EXPANSION on September 25, Starwood has purchased 1,100 properties from Nuveen for 240 million euros, intending to keep Madrid and Pamplona assets in rental mode while selling the Madrid units en masse, which constitute the core of the portfolio and were not rented.

Colliers estimates that 40,000 rental properties will change hands to investors focused on segregation and subsequent unit sales in the next three years. However, the Government's proposed rental conditions tightening could accelerate and further increase this prediction.