Tag: Málaga capital

Málaga Capital Attracts Attention from Top Real Estate Investors

10 April 2018 – Diario Sur

“We are in love with Málaga”. Just like that, without any qualms, Juan Velayos, CEO of Neinor Homes declared his love for the city. (…). Neinor is one of the large real estate giants to have emerged during this new cycle in the housing market. Fed by international investment funds, the property developer is building tens of thousands of homes all over the country. And Málaga is one of the jewels in its crown. “Our forecast sales for the province amount to €850 million”, announced Velayos today at a real estate meeting organised by the Association of Construction Companies and Property Developers (ACP) in the auditorium of the Museo Picasso.

The most striking aspect is that 40% of those forecast sales correspond to Málaga capital, where Neinor starred in a macro-operation last year when it purchased land from Unicaja, as a result of which it is going to be able to build almost 1,000 homes. Velayos highlighted the great appeal of the city for investors and property developers, in part due to the tourist boom and in part because “things are being done significantly better here than in other places” in terms of the processing of urban development plans. (…). The other experts participating in the forum were in agreement with Velayos: Málaga capital is starting to become an entity in its own right in the real estate market, whereas previously it was always in the shadow of the Costa del Sol brand.

In this way, the Regional Director of CaixaBank in Andalucía, Juan Ignacio Zafra, highlighted that the city “is enjoying a unique time”, adding that the western coast “continues and will continue to operate well” and that the eastern coast “has enormous potential capacity” still to be developed.

The Commercial Director of Tinsa, Pedro Soria, stressed that Málaga is the Mediterranean capital where homes are sold the quickest, after Barcelona. And the Director of Capital markets at Savills Aguirre Newman, Pablo Méndez, revealed that the office market in the city also has significant potential, given that Madrid and Barcelona – until now the only two cities that have operated as proper markets in the tertiary sector – are showing signs of depletion and investors are on the hunt for new opportunities. “Very few cities have an office stock of the size of Málaga: around 600,000 m2. But the stock is old, with a significant shortage of buildings that fulfil current requirements in terms of sustainability, energy efficiency and comfort”, he explained. “Monthly rents average around €12/m2, which is insufficient for investors, but we are now seeing maximum rents of €18/m2/month in the centre. When the average rent reaches €14/m2/month, we will start to see new office building projects, which is what we need”, he added, warning, as an aside, about the need to reserve tertiary land in attractive areas of the city.

The Secretary-General of the ACP, Violeta Aragón, highlighted the good times that the real estate sector is enjoying in the province, although she ruled out any risk of a bubble. (…). “The growth percentages may seem exorbitant, but the reality is that we are starting from levels well below those seen ten years ago”, she explained, providing some examples: last year 3,800 new home permits were granted, compared with 40,000 in 2008; and the average price per square metre amounted to €1,479/m2 last year, compared with the peak of €2,415/m2 in 2008.

Original story: Diario Sur (by Nuria Triguero)

Translation: Carmel Drake

House Prices Rose By 0.7% In Málaga In Q1 2016

30 March 2016 – La Opinión de Málaga

During the first few months of 2016, the cost of new homes in Málaga has confirmed that prices are starting to rise there again, albeit slowly and cautiously. Having said that, prices in the region are still between 32% and 34.3% lower than the maximum values recorded at the peak of the housing bubble, according to the latest quarterly report from the Town Hall of Málaga’s Urban Environment Observatory (OMAU). Last year represented the turning point with the first YoY rise in house prices since the crisis began (specifically, prices rose by 4.3% in the capital and by 3.7% in the rest of the province) and now, during the first quarter of 2016, that trend is continuing, with new increases, albeit small, but nonetheless indicative that the recovery of activity in the real estate market is starting to take hold. According to OMAU, the average value of new homes for sale in the capital (including VAT) now amounts to €2,096/m2, after an increase of 0.4% during Q1 2016, whilst the average price in the province as a whole rose by 0.7% to €1,904/m2.

“In Málaga, several new developments, above all in Teatinos and along the West Coast (Litoral Oeste), have driven the market this quarter, together with others that were lying dormant, waiting for the reactivation of the market. That is now happening in a very timid and unstable way”, says OMAU which notes that, in any case, some values are still “not showing clear trends”, with quarterly fluctuations up and down.

The western area of the Costa del Sol is the area of the province that saw the highest price rises during Q1 2016 (1.98%), whilst the West Coast recorded increases of 0.9% and the inland area recorded rises of 0.6%. The highest prices in the province (ahead of those in Málaga capital, which is ranked in second place) are in Marbella, with an average price of €2,537/m2 and a rise of 3.8% during Q1 2016.

In terms of Málaga capital, OMAU’s report indicates that prices have increased above all in the West Coast (by 3.2%) and in the Centre (by 3.1%). In Puerto de la Torre, prices rose by 8.6%, although that was the direct result of the inclusion of a specific development, which significantly affected the average for that area. Interestingly, in Teatinos (one of the areas with the most activity, where work has been on-going at five or six developments in recent months), prices fell by 2.5% during the first quarter although, in any case, prices there are still higher than they were a year ago.

Very high unemployment. The Director of OMAU, Pedro Marín, confirms the reactivation of the real estate market, in the context of the tough years of the crisis, but he warns that it is a process that must be taken “very cautiously”. “There is still a lot of uncertainty in Spain, both in terms of the economy as well as politics, and the real estate sector is waiting (to see what will happen). But it is true that construction has resumed at several developments and there are lots of adverts around”, he says. However, according to OMAU, the major problem continues to be the persistence of high rates of unemployment (almost 27% in the case of Málaga).

“In reality, whilst unemployment is so high, individuals’ capacity to obtain reasonable incomes to allow them to access the real estate market and boost demand is little more than a pipe dream…”. (…).

Original story: La Opinión de Málaga (by José Vicente Rodríguez)

Translation: Carmel Drake