Pursuits
Spain's Littered With Unsold Homes. This U.S. Firm Wants to Build More
- Almost half of Spain’s homebuilders have gone bust since 2008
- Private equity has edge in market as bank lending dries up
A construction crane operates above residential property in Madrid.
Photographer: Angel Navarrete/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Ignore those million-plus empty new homes scattered across Spain. A developer owned by Lone Star Funds says there’s never been a better time to build more.
Neinor Homes, bought in 2014 by the Dallas-based investor, aims to become one of Spain’s biggest homebuilders by increasing construction in big cities where the housing stock is running low, according to Chief Executive Officer Juan Velayos. Competition is thin after the 2008 real estate collapse wiped out about half the company’s competitors and made banks reluctant to finance development.