What sold in Poblenou this summer, street by street

Between June and August we sold nine homes in Poblenou. Prices rose, but not evenly, and the difference between two streets was often larger than the difference between two years. This is what sold, where, and what we learned from it.

Street by street

The figures are averages for each street, so read them as a direction rather than a valuation. With one or two sales on a street, a single flat can move the number a long way.

Rambla del Poblenou is still the street people ask for first. Flats on it found buyers within a month, and none needed a price change. The best results were above the second floor, where the plane trees stop blocking the view. Two of the three buyers had rented on the Rambla before.

Pallars had the highest prices per square metre. Both sales were lofts in converted factories, with ceilings over four metres and windows to the south. Buyers paid for height and light, not for area.

Pujades and Taulat sat in between. On Pujades both sales were in older blocks a few doors from the new building site, and both buyers asked when the scaffolding would come down.

Llull was the slowest. The flat we sold there faced north onto a busy stretch, and it took one price review to find its buyer. That is not a judgement on the street. It is what a north-facing first floor costs anywhere in the city.

What buyers asked about

Most buyers this summer already lived in Barcelona and were moving within it. Fewer came from abroad than last year, and those who did came mostly for the new buildings. The questions changed too. Two years ago people asked how far the beach was. This summer they asked about the heat.

Flats with cross ventilation, shutters or louvres, and a terrace in shade during the afternoon sold faster than flats without them, even when they were smaller. A south-facing terrace with no shade, the selling point of every listing a few years ago, came up twice as a reason not to buy.

Parking mattered less than a year ago. Three of the nine buyers did not own a car, and two of those had sold one when they moved to the neighbourhood.

What we expect this autumn

New supply is limited. Pujades 112 is the largest project in our part of Poblenou, and half of its residences are already sold or reserved. We expect prices on the main streets to hold, and the gap with the quieter streets to narrow as buyers who missed the Rambla look one or two blocks inland. Rents rose again this year, which keeps investors interested in the smaller flats, but most of the larger homes are going to people who will live in them.

If you are thinking of selling in Poblenou, we will show you what sold within two streets of your door this year, and at what price. That is the number we will put on your home, and it is usually closer to the final price than any asking price on a portal.