Spanish property services agency Don Piso plans to close up to 120 offices with the loss of 350 jobs. The property advisor reported a drop in sales of 66% last year. The offices are worth a total EUR 110mln, according to Spanish newspaper El Pais. Don Piso operates another 140 offices under franchise agreements. The company, which employs a total 420 staff, was acquired by Habitat in December 2006, as part of the takeover of Ferrovial Inmobiliaria.
Spanish property services agency Don Piso plans to close up to 120 offices with the loss of 350 jobs. The property advisor reported a drop in sales of 66% last year. The offices are worth a total EUR 110mln, according to Spanish newspaper El Pais. Don Piso operates another 140 offices under franchise agreements. The company, which employs a total 420 staff, was acquired by Habitat in December 2006, as part of the takeover of Ferrovial Inmobiliaria.
Spanish real estate services companies closed about half of their offices in 2007, according to data issued by Agentes de la Propriedad Inmobiliaria (API), a network of real estate agents across Spain. API estimated that around 40,000 offices closed last year, which compares to a total of 80,000 previously active in the country.
According to the real estate network, most of the offices were part of small local firms with no more than one or two offices. However, larger real estate groups such as Fincas Corral or Tecnocasa have not been spared. In November, Fincas Corral, one of the leading real estate consultancy groups in Spain, said it had closed half of its offices in the country. The consultant closed 170 offices out of a total of 350, and currently has 180 offices left in the country. Tecnocasa closed another 160 offices across the country in 2007.
