Tag: neighbourhood

New RE Record: 450m2 Luxury Apartment In Barcelona Sold For €10M

29 June 2017 – Expansión

The Spanish real estate market is starting to reflect clear signs of a recovery after years of decline. These first indications of revival are already a reality in some areas of the large cities, such as Madrid and Barcelona and, above all, in a particular type of product: luxury housing.

An example of this boom can be seen in the record prices that have been achieved over the last few months in the high-end residential market. “The trend in the last three years has been a gradual increase in residential prices. If we focus on prime products and areas, we see that this increase has been considerably greater. Last year, nevertheless, was a year of transition due to the political uncertainty, and so, although prices continued to rise, in general, they did so at a more conservative pace, whereby stabilising. This year, the increase is continuing to display a bullish trend”, explained Carlos Zamora, Residential Director at Knight Frank in Spain.

The latest example is a home measuring 450 m2, located in the L’Antigua Esquerra neighbourhood of l’Eixample, alongside Barcelona’s famous Paseo de Grácia. The new owner has spent €10 million to acquire this 4-bedroom apartment, which has four bathrooms and a terrace measuring 250 m2 with views over La Pedrera and Paseo de Gràcia, explained the real estate agency Coldwell Banker Prestige Barcelona.

The home, which has been completely refurbished, includes an intelligent home automation system and a Zen garden located in an inner courtyard. In addition to the habitable surface area of 500 m2, the flat comes with five parking spaces for cars, two parking spaces for motorbikes and a storeroom in the basement, according to the estate agent’s advert.

Its price per m2 amounts to: €16,500/m2. “This price is due primarily to the fact that it is a unique property, located in the most prime area of Barcelona, which has been completely redecorated and furnished”, explained François Carriere, founding partner at Coldwell Banker Prestige Barcelona, who highlights that the average price of apartments in the area stands at around €12,000/m2, whilst the price of penthouses and ground floor apartments with gardens increases to €15,000/m2.

“An apartment with these characteristics in London would be sold for around €25,000/m2”, according to Carriere.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Andalucían Gov’t Will Invest €21M In 1,226 Homes In Cádiz

26 April 2017 – Inmodiario

The Junta de Andalucía has committed to investing €21.1 million in the city of Cádiz to build 1,226 social housing properties. Some of the construction work is already underway in the two Urban Regeneration and Renovation Areas (ARRU) that have been declared in Cádiz, in the historical city centre and the La Paz neighbourhood. €6.6 million is being invested there in the refurbishment of properties and buildings containing 1,057 homes.

In the presence of the mayor of Cáidz, José María González, the Councillor for Housing and Development, Felipe López, reiterated the commitment announced at the end of last year by the Ministry of Development, to continue allocating resources to housing in the city of Cádiz. Other projects are also now being resumed there, such as the second phase of Matadero and the seventh phase of Cerro del Moro. Those two initiatives will allow for the development of 169 new homes, with an estimated investment of around €14.5 million.

During the meeting, Felipe López highlighted that the decision, taken by the Ministry to resume the development of social housing in Cádiz capital, has been made possible thanks to the reactivation of residential land sales in the province. Specifically, between December 2016 and March 2017, the Agency for Housing and Refurbishments in Andalucía (AVRA) awarded two plots for private housing in Costa Ballena (Chipiona).

At the end of last year, the Ministry of Housing and Development announced the boost for projects in high demand in the city, as well as the second phase of Matadero, which is going to be executed in two phases. During the first phase, 60 rental homes will be constructed; the detailed plans for that project have already been submitted to the Town Hall for approval.

Once the first phase has been completed, the remaining 42 homes will be built, also under a lease framework. Matadero’s second phase will have an estimated cost of €5.7 million and construction work is expected to begin during the first quarter 2018.

Moreover, AVRA has resumed work to accelerate the execution of the seventh phase of the comprehensive refurbishment of Cerro del Moro. Currently, the Ministry is accelerating the signing of deeds in order to take ownership of the 47 properties that will have to be demolished to free up the land on which the 67 new homes that form part of the seventh phase of this development will be constructed.

The Junta proposes carrying out the demolition of the three buildings during the first quarter 2018, and continuing with the construction work thereafter. The estimated investment for the seventh phase, including the costs of acquiring the homes, demolishing them and building the new properties, is €8.8 million. The two initiatives, Matadero Sur and the seventh phase of Cerro del Moro, should take a year and a half to complete. (…).

Original story: Inmodiario

Translation: Carmel Drake

Buyers Willing To Pay 30%-50% More For Homes With A View In Barcelona

19 December 2016 – Inmodiario

Good views are a key component of the appraisal value of luxury homes in Barcelona. They account for between 30% and 50% of a property’s value, depending on the type of skyline on offer, in such a way that south-facing homes with views of the sea are worth up to twice as much as properties with similar characteristics without any views.

In this sense, of the 600 properties in Barcelona that are worth more than €2 million, 301 are located in the neighbourhood of Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, i.e. 50.1% of the total. That district is followed by El Eixample (with 103 properties or 17.2% of the total), Les Corts (with 102 or 17%), Ciutat Vella (with 42 or 7%), Sant Martí (with 14 or 2.3%), Sants-Montjüic (with 9 or 1.5%) and Horta Guinardó (with 2 or 0.5%). None of the properties in Nos Barris and Sant Andreu are worth more than €2 million, given the low price per square metre of homes in those neighbourhoods, and the limited supply and demand for luxury properties there.

“Our buyers want to make their idealistic visions of Barcelona a reality. For them, the city is all about beauty, art, sun and sea. They come here for those reasons and they want their homes to fulfil those criteria of exclusivity”, said Emmanuel Virgoulay, Partner at Barnes International, the master franchise network in Spain.

Besides good views, other important factors that influence a property’s appraisal value are: its location, its size, its condition and its layout (whether or not it needs to be renovated), the monthly maintenance charge and the circumstances in the real estate market at the specific time when the sale is completed.

The apartments that cost more than €2 million range between 150 m2 and 350 m2 in terms of size, whilst the houses in the same price bracket range between 400 m2 and 1,000 m2 in terms of constructed surface area, plus any land. These types of properties tend to have large lounge-dining areas, 4 or 5 bedrooms, three bathrooms, lifts, high ceilings, large terraces, good sound proofing, a lot of light, a concierge/porter service and parking spaces. They also have special security systems and some offer a 24-hour security service.

Original story: Inmodiario

Translation: Carmel Drake

Fotocasa: Rental Prices Rose By 4.8% YoY In June

18 July 2016 – Expansión

Over the last three years, the prices of most goods and services have remained stable, to the extent that many economists have come to fear that Spain will enter into a period of deflation. Nevertheless, in the midst of these “doldrums”, there is a market where prices have already started to pick up pace: the residential rental sector. According to the latest data from Fotocasa, residential rental prices rose at a rate of 4.8% YoY in June, just two tenths below the historical maximum, recorded in 2006, when the index was first compiled. (…).

As with everything, this market also reflects the two speeds that are being seen in other segments. In this way, prices grew by 15.7% in the Balearic Islands, but remained stable and even decreased in La Rioja, Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha, reflecting the demographic and tourist pressures in one of the areas and the lack of strength in the others. After the islands, comes Murcia, where rental prices rose by 11.3%, followed by Cataluña (10.7%), Comunidad Valenciana (10.5%) and Madrid (9.9%). All of the other regions fall a long way behind, well below the average.

Something is changing in the rental market. “There is no longer a single market, but rather areas that vary significantly by district and even by street. For example, in Barcelona, rental prices have risen by more than 20% in several neighbourhoods: Gràcia, Sants and Ciutat Vella”, says Beatriz Toribio, Head of Research at Fotocasa. In addition, whilst before the highest rental price increases were seen in those cities with the highest economic growth, now prices are rising by the most in the most popular tourist destinations. That is because tourists are increasingly opting to stay in private accommodation instead of hotels, and increasingly more owners are putting their homes up for rent for this purpose, given that they offer higher returns.

Although this type of housing does not enter into Fotocasa’s calculations, the use of residential properties for this purpose significantly limits the supply of homes, which drives prices up. For example: rental prices rose by 7.1% in the capital of Valencia with respect to last year, but soared by 19.6% in Peñíscola, 21.6% in Gandía, 25.6% in Benidorm and 49% in Santa Pola. (…).

The major exception to this changing pattern in the Canary Islands, where rental prices grew by 3.8%, below the average. That rate of growth was in line with Andalucía (where prices rose by 4.3%, also driven by many towns along the coast), Navarra (where prices also rose by 3.8%), Cantabria and Galicia (3.5% in both cases). There were also significant price increases in Asturias (3.2%), Aragón (3%) and Castilla y León (2.4%).

Finally, prices remained stable or decreased in just four autonomous regions: País Vasco (where rental prices rose by 0.8%), Castilla-La Mancha (0.6%), Extremadura (where they remained stable) and La Rioja –where they decreased by -0.2%.

As a result of the price increases in the last year, Madrid and Cataluña have joined the league of autonomous communities where rents now cost more than €10/sqm, following the path set by País Vasco. These regions are followed by the Balearic Islands (€9.16/sqm) and then Navarra (€7.11/sqm). The cheapest rents are found in Castilla-La Mancha and Extremadura, at less than €5/sqm, followed by La Rioja, Murcia and Valencia (between €5/sqm and €6/sqm).

Original story: Expansión (by P. Cerezal)

Translation: Carmel Drake

IPE: House Prices Will Rise By 5% In 2016

18 July 2016 – Expansión

The recovery of the real estate sector began in 2015, and we are now (in 2016) seeing the consolidation of the end of the crisis, with increases in: property prices, the number of transactions, the number of housing permits and rentals, spreading across the whole country.

After seven years of crisis in the sector, the improvement in 2015 might have seemed like a mirage to many, a temporary bounce or a small sign of stabilisation. Nevertheless, the figures for 2016 are showing that the outlook is strong and that the housing market still has great potential, which means that we no longer need to talk about “blossom in the greenhouse” or an incipient recovery, but rather future growth.

The scenario outlined by the Institute of Business Practice (IPE) in its next edition of the Real Estate Pulsometer, shows a very favourable outlook for the sector, in which average transaction prices will grow by 5% and the volume of sales will increase by 13.9% with respect to 2015. All of this will act as a driver for the rest of the sector, which is also being boosted by construction activity. Thus, the number of projects launched will increase by 9.3% and the number of permits for new homes will grow by 13.9%. It seems that the sun is already shining on all of the major indicators in the real estate market.

In addition to this data, we are seeing a gradual and increasingly rapid recovery of the rental market; a strong increase in the yield on homes; and a clear recovery in the non-residential sector, which set record breaking figures in 2015 and is following a positive trend so far in 2016, with fewer operations, but higher prices.

The indicator that best indicates the recovery of the real estate sector is the number of transactions, which grew by 11.1% in 2015 and which is forecast to rise by 13.9% this year. In addition, the increase in sales does not depend only on purchases by those with significant savings…, which was the main driver of the market in years gone by, but in very specific areas.

More mortgages

During 2016, the opening up of the bank loan tap will drive mortgages up by 10.5% (compared with a miniscule increase of 0.6% in 2015), which will allow buyers to return to the market in search of primary residences, even if they only have small amounts of savings. This means that the improvement in the market will extend to other provinces and neighbourhoods that have not featured on the radars of investors in the past.

In addition, this recovery will also affect plots of land, as well as garages, offices and storerooms, to reach 787,839 operations (up by 10.2%) compared with last year. In total, more than half of these transactions are expected to involve homes.

Based on the data to May, the highest increases in house sales are being seen in the Balearic Islands (where purchases grew by 38.6% between January and May, with respect to the same period last year), followed by Murcia (28.9%), País Vasco (24.3%) and Extremadura (21.7%), according to INE. Nevertheless, the Institute of Business Practice forecasts that, during the year, Madrid, Cataluña, Valencia and the Canary Islands will also see some of the most significant increases. (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Pablo Cerezal)

Translation: Carmel Drake

ST: New House Prices Rise By 4% In MAD & BCN

30 June 2016 – El País

According to ST Sociedad de Tasación, the average price of new homes grew by 4% YoY in June in the cities of Madrid and Barcelona. They were the two provincial capitals with the highest new home price rises in the last year. These price increases, which are not being seen in other capital, have been driven by the shortage of new home stock, explain sources at ST. “Our analysis of this data and of the increasing trend observed since June 2015 allows us to predict that Barcelona and Madrid are going to act as the drivers of the recovery process for new house prices, albeit at a slow pace”.

Barcelona is the provincial capital that recorded the highest new house prices, with an average of €3,390/sqm. Prices grew there by 2.2% during the first half of 2016. The YoY price increase in Barcelona was 4.1%, the highest of all of Spain’s provincial capitals.

By district, Gracia recorded the highest increase in new house prices, with a rise of 7.72%. It was followed by the neighbourhoods of Sarria-Sant Gervasi, with 6.94% and Sant Marti, with 6.38%. At the other end of the spectrum, the districts with the lowest YoY price increases were Ciutat Vella (1.33%), Sant Andreu (1.93%) and Nou Barris (2.33%).

And not only did the district of Sarria-Sant Gervasi in Barcelona record one of the highest price rises, it also registered the highest average price per constructed square metre, at €5,672/sqm. The districts of Les Corts and L’Eixample were ranked in second and third place, respectively, in terms of average prices, with values of €4,610/sqm and €4,511/sqm. By contrast, the districts with the lowest average prices were Nou Barris (€2,721/sqm), Sants-Montjuic (€3,024/sqm) and Sant Andreu (€3,062/sqm).

In Madrid, a new home costs €2,886/sqm on average

In the case of Madrid, new house prices have grown by 4% with respect to the previous year and by 2.1% during the first half of 2016. That takes the average price of new homes in Madrid to €2,886/sqm.

The ranking for the YoY variation in new house prices is headed by Ciudad Lineal, which saw growth of 5.8%. It was followed by Barajas, with 5.7% and Arganzuela, with 5.4%. At the other end of the spectrum, the neighbourhoods with the lowest YoY price variations were Hortaleza (0.8%) and La Latina (1%), followed by Tetuán (1.8%).

In terms of the average price of new homes, Salamanca was once again the most expensive district in the capital, with an average price of €4,799/sqm, followed by Chamberí (€4,626/sqm) and the Centre (€3,939/sqm). By contrast, the neighbourhoods of Vicálvaro, Villaverde and Villa de Vallecas registered the lowest average new home prices, of €1,856/sqm, €1,883/sqm and €2,203/sqm, respectively.

Original story: El País (by S.L.L.)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Banks & RE Firms Sell Affordable Homes In Seseña

10 May 2016 – La Voz de Galicia

Its silhouette – large blocks of toasted brick emerging out of the green fields of Toledo province – attracts attention from the Madrid-Andalucia motorway. The urbanisation of El Quiñón or Residencial Francisco Hernando, as its developer, Paco, el Pocero, named it, is located in the municipality of Seseña (Toledo), which borders Madrid, in an image linked to the real estate bubble whose crash hit it hard, but from which it is striving to break loose.

It wants to show that it is just another neighbourhood in Seseña and that, as such, the ghost town with deserted streets that received its first visitors in the Summer of 2007, when the first half a dozen residents moved in, of the 580 who received the first sets of keys, has gone from being a dormitory town to one where 6,700 people are officially registered, of which 1,600 are under 16 years old.

Amongst those that financed Pocero’s mega project – a PAU containing 13,000 homes of which only 5,096 have been constructed in two phases – at the height of the boom, was the former Galician savings banks. In fact, one of the financing operations, by Caixanova, is now under the spotlight of the National Court, along with the allegedly irregular loans that the FROB sent to the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor at the time. The Town Hall highlights that the neighbourhood currently has an occupancy rate of 80% and that the “reactivation” of the real estate sector has been felt “over the last year or so”, when the banks started to put the stock they holds in Seseña on the market. “The population has grown very fast”, say sources at the Town Hall. And the census confirms this: El Quiñón has more than doubled in terms of the number of inhabitants in five years, from 3,280 residents in 2011 to 6,700 currently, who represent 30% of the municipality’s total population (22,500).

Slow start

But the start – which is now happening – is slow and not free from difficulties. The key factor for Seseña to become an object of desire for potential buyers once again is prices, which have decreased by more than 50%. At the moment, for example, Aliseda has several two bedroom homes for sale for €85,000, although in 2012, other real estate arms of banks such as Santander and Sabadell ended up selling homes off virtually at cost, for less than €60,000 (…).

Original story: La Voz de Galicia (by A.B.)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Supply Of New Homes In Madrid Increases By 68%

6 May 2016 – Knight Frank

We are talking about a changing trend in the new build residential market in Madrid. The projected supply is increasing significantly – up to 68% more construction permits were granted in 2015, the third consecutive year of increases – but that volume is still insufficient to satisfy demand. This is the main finding from the latest report about new-builds from the real estate consultancy firm Knight Frank.

Currently, the municipality of Madrid has a stock of around 3,000 new homes. 30% are located inside the M-30 (ring road), where supply is limited due to the shortage of land. The area between the M-30 and M-40 ring roads is home to 20% of the supply, whilst the remaining 50% is located, for the most part, in the PAUs.

The average absorption rate of the product supplied over the last year has been 37%. Most of this absorption has happened in the PAUs (12%), which indicates very reasonable levels in areas that are continuing to establish themselves.

According to Ernesto Tarazona, Managing Partner for Residential and Land at Knight Frank, “the lack of stock, together with the increase in demand has resulted in the sale of new build homes that have been on the market for years”.

In 2015, we saw how auto-promotion and cooperative activity decreased by 8%, in favour of traditional property developers. “Although it is a small percentage, the future trend points to a continuation of the positive recovery, to the extent that access for financing for property developers is more flexible”, said Tarazona.

The number of new build transactions increased by 15% with respect to the previous year. 73% of transactions were bought off plan and the remaining 27% were turn-key projects.

By area, the PAUs lead in terms of demand, with 48% and there, Valdebebas (20%) and the Ensanche de Vallecas (10%) stand out, in part due to the concentration of more affordable supply. The area inside the M-30 ring road comes next in the ranking, accounting for 23% of demand. There, the neighbourhoods of Tetuán (6%), Centro (4%) and Chamberí (4%) are the most popular. Finally, the area between the M-30 and the M-40 receives 18% of demand and the area beyond the M-40 accounts for 11%.

Original story: Knight Frank

Translation: Carmel Drake

Vía Célere Acquires 2 Plots Of Land In Madrid For €10M

6 April 2016 – El Mundo

The property developer Vía Célere has acquired two plots of land in Madrid for €10 million, where it plans to construct two new developments, according to a statement by the company.

The plots, located in the town of Móstoles and in the neighbourhood of Embajadores, have an above ground buildable area of 5,400 m2 and 4,400 m2, respectively. Similarly, the owner pointed out that both sites are well connected and benefit from good services, “which are very important factors when it comes to buying a home”.

The Chairman of Vía Célere, Juan Antonio Gómez-Pintado, highlighted that Madrid and the Community in general “has some very interesting plots of land for the construction of new homes”. Specifically, in the case of the plot in Embajadores, he said that his company has “studied the area in great detail, as it is close to another development that we are already working on and where all of the units have already been sold”. Similarly, regarding the purchase in Móstoles, they commented that the determining factors behind the sale have been “the price and the location, two of our fundamental premises for the construction of new homes”.

Currently, Vía Célere owns seven property developments that have been completely sold out, one that is under construction and one that is pending delivery, but also sold completely and one with units still for sale, which is very close to the Méndez Álvaro area, called Residential Célere Adelgas II (pictured above). In addition, the property developer is hoping to launch three new projects within the next few months.

Original story: El Mundo

Translation: Carmel Drake

House Prices Rise By 10%+ In Most Exclusive Neighbourhoods

5 April 2016 – Expansión

Changing trend / Madrid and Barcelona are leading the recovery in the residential market, with house price increases of 9.2% and 7.5%, respectively during Q1 2016. The appraisal value of homes is now on the rise in every district of both cities.

(…). According to statistics from the appraisal company Tinsa, the value of residential properties increased by 1.4% during the first three months of 2016, with Barcelona and Madrid leading the charge.

The average appraisal value of (unsubsidised) homes per m2 in Barcelona amounts to €2,551/m2, which is 19% more expensive than the average in Madrid (€2,142/m2). This gap between the two cities has a simple explanation: not only have house prices been rising significantly faster in Barcelona than in Madrid, but also the Catalan capital has a higher population density than Madrid, which affects supply and demand, resulting in a higher degree of concentration. Moreover, barely any new residential properties are being constructed in Barcelona. (…).

The evolution of house prices in Madrid and Barcelona varies by neighbourhood. House prices rose in all 10 districts of the Catalan capital during Q1 2016, without exception and, for the first time, they also increased in all 21 Madrilenian districts. That has not happened since the real estate bubble burst.

The ranking

The highest price increases were concentrated in Barcelona. The two districts where average prices rose by the most were Les Corts (13.5%) and Sants-Montjuïc (12.2%). They were followed by the district of Salamanca, Madrid’s main real estate district, with an increase of 11.8%.

With an average price of €3,597/m2 and despite the heterogeneity of the neighbourhoods that comprise it, Salamanca is the district with the second highest prices of all of those analysed by Tinsa, behind only Sarrà-Sant Gervasi, which has an average price of €3,671/m2 (5.8% higher than in 2014). (…)

According to calculations from the consultancy firm Knight Frank, prices are going to rise by between 5% and 10% in prime areas in 2016, especially in five areas of the Madrilenian capital, namely Salamanca, Jerónimos, Chamberí, Justicia and El Viso. (…).

In Madrid, the most expensive districts after Salamanca are Chamberí (€3,444/m2 for subsidised homes, up by 5.4% compared with Q1 2015), Retiro (€3,270/m2, up by 4.3%), Chamartín (€3,312/m2, up by 1.7%) and the Centro, which has exceeded the €3,000/m2 threshold once again (€3,014/m2, up by 3.7%). All of the others sit below this psychological barrier, such as for example Moncloa-Aravaca (€2,793/m2 and 6.9%) and Arganzuela (€2,697/m2 and 8.5%).

The cheapest areas

The cheapest areas in Madrid are Villaverde (€1,232/m2), followed by Puente de Vallecas (€1,307/m2), Usera (€1,398/m2) and Carabanchel (€1,531/m2).

Average house prices will increase significantly in the Madrilenian capital during 2016, according to predictions by real estate analysts.

In Barcelona, Nou Barris is the district where house prices are lowest (€1,752/m2), followed by Horta Guinardó (€2,007/m2) and Sant Andreu (€2,105/m2). They are the only three places in Barcelona where prices are lower than the average price in Madrid (€2,142/m2), however, as is always the case in a market as fragmented as the housing sector, each area has its own micro-market. (…).

In any case, the forecasts are promising, in general terms. “In terms of both the number of transactions and prices, there has been a certain rebound effect following the collapse of the market that had not been seen for many decades. Now we need to wait for the stabilisation of the market, for similar data to that seen last year”, says Jorge Ripoll, Director of Research Services at Tinsa.

For the upwards trend to be maintained, the growth forecasts must be met and the labour market must improve. The other factors are already working on autopilot, at least in Madrid and Barcelona.

Original story: Expansión (by Juanma Lamet)

Translation: Carmel Drake