11 March 2018 – Málaga Hoy
“We all want to be in Málaga because almost all of the cases there are successful. It is an established location (…)”. That is according to Juan Conejo, Director in Andalucía of the property developer Momentum, and his feelings are shared by the majority of the professionals in the sector who ratify that Málaga is, for the time being, the third largest market in Spain for the construction of new build homes, behind Madrid and Barcelona. This newspaper has been in contact with several of the most important property developers that operate on the Costa del Sol and all of them tell the same story: the crisis is over, the sector has reactivated and thousands of homes are being built or will be soon backed by multi-million investments.
Moreover, the complexion of the market has changed completely. The banks are no long financing the land purchases, but rather property developers are having to look for other resources – in-house, investment funds, asset sales, etc. – and they are only being granted loans to build homes if they can prove that at least 40%-50% of the homes have already been reserved, the famous pre-sales. Financial institutions only lend money if they find safe bets (…).
In this context, Málaga is becoming one of the great protagonists on the national stage because it is playing on several fronts. The capital is an important location for primary residence properties and the coast, primarily to the west of the capital, although there are also some projects to the east, is one of the most sought-after places for foreigners to have second homes.
“Málaga has clearly climbed onto the podium alongside Madrid and Barcelona and it is clear that the market has been reactivating for a year now, whereas other provinces such as Valencia and Sevilla are starting to see movement now”, explains Miguel Ángel Barruso, Director in Andalucía of Avantespacia, a property developer that is building 215 homes in two promotions in Tabacalera – where it has already sold 70% of the properties – and Teatinos, which will be handed over at the end of 2019. “Property developers have not sold any new homes for 10 years and there is significant pent-up demand on the buy-side, and so we are now looking ahead to the next few years with optimism”, added that expert.
Momentum is clear about its commitment to Málaga (…). “Málaga is growing a lot. We have a development in Teatinos that we were going to build in phases but which, in the end, we are going to construct in one go, comprising 300 homes in total, because we already have 50% of the properties reserved; meanwhile, in Colinas del Limonar, we have two other projects with the same level of pre-sales”, said Conejo (…).
Nevertheless, the Regional Director for Momentum emphasises that it is important to move with caution and to analyse each project in detail, especially in light of the current banking demands. “Starting a construction project now is already a success because it shows that you have pre-sold around half of the homes that you are going to build and it is always harder to get customers to buy off-plan, and so we have to analyse very clearly where the demand is”, he said.
Now, professionalism is key. Rafael Torres, Insur’s representative in Málaga (…). Insur is working on two major projects in Málaga capital in the Plaza del Teatro – where work on 57 homes has now started and 50% of the properties have been reserved, some of which have been paid for in their entirety – and in Churriana. It also has several projects in Marbella, comprising 300 more homes. Torres highlights that the market research conducted by his company reveals that there are 83 new home developments under construction or in the pre-sale phase on the western Costa del Sol, of which 40% are in Estepona, Mijas, Benalmádena, Marbella and Fuengirola.
One of the historical Málagan property developers in Myramar, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. Its CEO, Miguel Rodríguez (…) says that the company is currently working on four real estate developments in Mijas, Fuengirola and Benalmádena involving around 200 homes (…).
Meanwhile, Rafael Molina, Commercial Director at Grupo Ansan, also corroborates that the real estate sector is currently enjoying good times in the province (…) “we have developments underway in the Carlos Haya area, in Teatinos and in Puerto de la Torre, where we have already sold a significant volume”, he said.
Two other national companies that have set their sights on Málaga are Aelca and Neinor Homes. Jaime Pérez is the Director of Aelca in Andalucía and explains to this newspaper that “we are absolutely convinced about working in Málaga and we have land on which to build 3,200 homes in the province over the next four or five years”. In Málaga capital, his firm has started to market the first phase of an urbanisation in Hacienda Cabello comprising 128 homes – the total project involves 433 units – , they are going to start work in Bizcochero Capitán, they acquired the Flex building on the Cádiz Road and they are going to start to sell 130 homes and a retail area at the end of the year. They also have another project behind Vialia comprising 144 homes and a hotel. Moreover, they have projects in Mijas and Estepona.
Meanwhile, sources at Neinor explain that (…) “Málaga attracts domestic and international demand alike due to its location, infrastructure and climate (…)”. That firm’s portfolio of projects is also very extensive. At the moment, it has 20 plots and 2,166 homes in the province, which corresponds to a turnover of €780 million. In 2018, it is going to launch the sale of seven new projects, comprising 1,076 homes in total, in Casares, Estepona, Benahavís and Málaga capital (…).
Property developers are investing millions in Málaga because they know that there is demand there. Last year, permits were granted for 5,000 homes and, taking into account the projects that all of these companies have in the pipeline, that number looks set to soar over the next few years, which will generate more employment and wealth in the area.
Original story: Málaga Hoy (by Ángel Recio)
Translation: Carmel Drake
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