On November 12, Urbanitae and KPMG Spain will present in Madrid the first edition of the Observatory on financing for the real estate development sector, a pioneering study offering a comprehensive view of the financial ecosystem driving real estate development in Spain. This initiative is designed to continue annually, aiming to become a key reference for understanding how access to capital in the sector evolves and how its main actors interact.
A Sector in Transformation
The Observatory emerges at a critical moment for development financing. After several years of regulatory changes, tighter credit conditions, and the emergence of new financial instruments, the market has reached an unprecedented level of maturity and diversification. Today, traditional bank financing coexists with alternative equity and debt sources—specialized funds, family offices, or co-investment platforms—that help cover phases and projects where conventional credit has a smaller presence.
The study, prepared by KPMG in collaboration with Urbanitae, aims to shed light on this new balance, highlighting the complementarity between banks, funds, and alternative financiers. Rather than simply measuring market shares, its goal is to understand how financing is structured at each stage of the development cycle, from land acquisition to delivery of the final asset, and how different sources are combined to optimize project development.
As Diego Bestard, CEO and founder of Urbanitae, explains:
“The goal of the Observatory is not only to examine alternative financing but to show the complete picture of the financial ecosystem supporting real estate development in Spain. Each actor plays an essential role at different stages of the project cycle.”
Methodology: A Broad and Balanced Perspective
The First Observatory on Real Estate Development Financing in Spain combines quantitative and qualitative analysis. On one hand, a survey was conducted among developers, financial institutions, investment funds, and capital managers to track the evolution of financing sources, access conditions, and expected trends over the medium term.
On the other hand, the study includes in-depth interviews with representatives from across the financial ecosystem—banks, funds, advisors, and platforms—to provide a more complete and nuanced market view. Participants include Banco Santander, Arcano, FS Capital, Onate, and RTV Grupo Inmobiliario, along with Urbanitae, which contributes its experience as the leading co-investment platform for real estate in Spain and Portugal.
Thanks to this dual approach, the Observatory offers a rigorous market snapshot: from project capital structures and developer margins to the most widely used instruments—such as bridge loans, debt funds, or crowdfunding financing—and projections through 2030.
A Shared Goal: Transparency and Dialogue
This study aims to be more than a situational report. With this initiative, Urbanitae and KPMG seek to promote transparency and professionalization in the sector, providing data that helps developers, financiers, and institutions better understand the evolution of real estate capital and identify synergies between different financing sources.
Alternative financing—both equity and debt—does not replace banks but complements them. Its role has become essential for projects that require speed, flexibility, or tailored financial structures for new property types, such as flex living or senior living. This balance between actors is crucial to building a more resilient and efficient financial model, capable of supporting sector growth in a context of high demand and limited supply.
An Initiative with Continuity
The Observatory is designed as an annual tracking tool to monitor how capital sources evolve and how the sector adapts to new market challenges: rising costs, planning delays, labor shortages, and the need to expand affordable housing supply.
With this first edition, Urbanitae and KPMG launch a new line of analysis and information for the Spanish development sector, to be updated periodically to reflect changes in real estate financing in Spain.
The report will be presented on November 12 at Torre de Cristal in Madrid, in an event bringing together representatives from real estate development, banks, funds, and alternative financing.
Stay tuned for the key findings of the report.
