45% of real estate transactions closed by women

Who is your real estate agent of choice and if you already own a property in Spain, I wonder who closed the deal?

The chances are you dealt with a man, but the 45% figure quoted by the Spanish real estate federation, Federacion Internacional de Profesiones Inmobiliarias (FIABCI), indicates a positive movement towards greater female representation in Spanish real estate.

Indeed, this 2019 figure is 60% higher than five years ago, when women closed just 28% of sales – that’s despite representing half the number of employees in the sector.

It seems there is still progress to make with only 9% of women in real estate holding management positions and the pay gap between men and women at around the national average of 11,5%.

FIABCI and the Association for Professional Women in the Real Estate Sector (Asociacion de Mujeres Profesionales del Sector Inmobiliario (AMPSI)) work to alter these statistics following an agreement signed in November 2018 to ensure recognition of the significant role that women play in the Spanish real estate sector.

Mercedes Blanco, vice president of FIABCI says: “Two decades ago, the real estate sector was dominated by men, but today women are very well represented as important role players within the industry. This is thanks to their great work, the growth of real estate in Spain since the 1990s and the fight for sexual equality in Spain.”

Interestingly in 2008, the then Prime Minister José Zapatero sent a message with his predominantly female cabinet, but this didn’t filter down to employment conditions for the majority of women, who eleven years later still suffer a wide pay gap and are obliged to juggle work and family, largely due to long-held social stereotypes in Spain.

Gradually, however, women are assuming their rightful position in the industry, especially as many of the best-respected real estate agencies in Marbella, and on the Costa del Sol, are run by women.

Our team is headed by Loraine de Zara, a highly experienced real estate agent with many years’ experience in the property market of Marbella and abroad.