Apartments up to 537,000 euros ignite neighborhood debate in Pere Garau

PalmA new development of homes on Joan Bauzà street, in the Palman neighborhood of Pere Garau, has ignited debate among residents over sale prices. Most apartments exceed 330,000 euros before VAT, with amounts that can reach over 530,000 euros (including VAT), figures that many residents consider beyond the reach of the area's usual population (and which expel them from the neighborhood where they have grown up and want to live).

There is only one exception within the promotion: a property with a price of 165,560 euros (without VAT), notably smaller(and cheaper) than the others. This apartment is also the only one listed as 'unavailable' and, according to the real estate company's promotional document, it is a limited-price property, with a final cost of 182,116 euros including VAT. This circumstance has generated controversy among residents, as it is the only theoretically affordable option within the complex.

This more economical property has very different characteristics from the others: it has a usable area of 46.5 square meters, well below the rest of the apartments in the promotion, and it does not have a garden, a storage room, or a parking space. In contrast, the rest of the homes offer larger areas —between approximately 67.4 and 78.6 usable meters—, with two or three bedrooms (except for one case with a single bedroom) and, in many cases, with a balcony or terrace. The final prices with VAT range between 313,830 and 537,680 euros. Furthermore, parking spaces are sold separately, with an approximate cost of 40,150 euros (36,500 euros without VAT), which further increases the final price for buyers.

These figures have generated unease among the neighborhood's residents, who denounce that the new prices are far above the local population's possibilities and that they contribute to gentrification processes and the increase of real estate pressure in the area. They also consider it especially controversial that the only limited-price housing is not available, despite the fact that this could be explained by the fact that marketing depends on the channels of the competent administration.

The entity Flipau with Pere Garau has focused on the high cost of apartments, in an area of Palma where prices have not stopped increasing in recent years, a dynamic parallel to that of the neighboring district of La Soledad.

In the project's informational document, the development is presented as "a modern building" of 735 square meters that "offers the opportunity to enjoy a quality home in the city center". According to this same file, the property is located three streets from the Avenidas and is only a four-minute walk from the Pere Garau Market, ten minutes from El Corte Inglés, and fifteen minutes from Plaza de España, a location that the developer highlights as one of the main attractions.