Lar Buys A Shopping Centre & 22 Eroski Stores From Rockspring For €111M

29 March 2017 – Inmodiario

The Socimi Lar is continuing to build up its collection of assets. It has spent €111 million buying the Parque Abadía shopping complex in Toledo and a portfolio of 22 Eroski stores, from the British fund Rockspring. It has completed these purchases entirely using its own funds, just one week after securing bank financing amounting to €104 million.

Parque Abadía, which Lar has purchased for a price of €63.1 million, is the largest retail space in Castilla-La Mancha, with a gross leasable area of 54,100 m2 – of which 37,114 m2 forms the subject of the transaction – and currently has an occupancy rate of 100%. It is the most iconic retail complex in the area, with retailers of the calibre of Alcampo, Media Markt, Decathlon, Leroy Merlin and Kiabi.

The location of Parque Abadía is another one of the asset’s strong points. Specifically, it is located on the motorway between Madrid and Toledo, which makes it highly visible and means that it can be accessed very easily. Parque Abadía is just ten minutes away from Toledo’s city centre and more than 300,000 people live within half an hour of the shopping centre by car.

Meanwhile, the 22 stores that Lar has purchased for €47.6 million are completely occupied and operated by the Eroski Group. They have a combined surface area of 28,822 m2 and the portfolio is very diversified from a geographical perspective.

Ten of the stores are located in the País Vasco – the area in which the retailer has its highest market share -, seven are located in the Balearic Islands, two in Navarra, another two in Cantabria and one in La Rioja.

The incorporation of these assets into Lar’s portfolio is allowing it to grow in the retail asset space. It now owns more than €1,000 million retail assets, which account for 75% of the Socimi’s total assets.

Lar owns 31 real estate assets, whose value amounts to €1,385.7 million, of which €1,072.4 million correspond to 16 retail spaces located in Madrid, Toledo, the Balearic Islands, La Rioja, Vigo, Valencia, Sevilla, Alicante, Cantabria, Lugo, León, Vizcaya, Navarra, Guipúzcoa, Palencia, Albacete and Barcelona.

Original story: Inmodiario 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Savills IM Buys Retail Park In San Sebastián For €16M

15 March 2017 – Real Estate Press

The real estate fund manager Savills Investment Management (IM) has completed the purchase of a retail park located on the Lanbarren de Oiartzun industrial estate, close to the city of San Sebastián. 

The asset has a surface area of 10,300 m2 and is leased to companies such as the DIY chain Brico Depot and the food retailer Mercadona, which is the main tenant. The Valencian distribution group opened this establishment in November. It has a sales hall covering 1,500 m2, and represents the fourth store that Mercadona has opened in the province of Guipuzcoa and the thirteenth in the País Vasco.

Savills IM has paid €16 million for the property, which it has acquired from a local property developer, through its fund Europe II – Retail. It is the first retail property that the fund manager has purchased in Spain. Until now, the fund has focused on acquiring residential properties in the country.

“This is the fund’s first acquisition in Spain. It is a newly built prime asset in San Sebastián, in the País Vasco, and it is already generating results that exceed expectations (…)”, said Michael Reinmuth, Director of Savills IM in Spain.

The fund manager, which has offices in Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hong Kong, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Paris, Singapore, Stockholm, Sydney and Tokyo, is one of the largest real estate asset investors in Europe. As at 30 September 2016, Savills IM managed assets with an approximate combined value of €17,000 million.

Last week, Savills IM announced its plans to launch a pan-European investment fund, through which it hopes to raise €500 million, which it intends to invest in retail assets in several cities, including Madrid, as well as in various capital cities in the north of Europe.

Original story: Real Estate Press

Translation: Carmel Drake

Fotocasa: Rental Housing Prices Rose by 1% In May

29 June 2016 – El Economista

The average price of rental housing in Spain rose by 1% in May, to €7.36/m2/month, placing rental prices at levels not seen since October 2012 (€7.38), according to the latest data from the real estate portal Fotocasa.

In YoY terms, rental prices rose by 5% in May, the steepest increase since January 2006, when fotocasa.es began to compile these statistics.

The monthly increase in rental home prices recorded in May continues the trend recorded during 2015, the year when rental prices began their recovery after eight years of widespread decreases.

In monthly terms, rental prices increased in 15 autonomous regions in May, meanwhile, in YoY terms, they rose in every Spanish region.

“The rental market is slowly gaining ground in Spain. Despite the re-opening of the credit tap and the marked decrease in prices, there is still a very significant segment of the population that cannot afford to buy a home and is therefore forced to rent. Higher demand, together with the high returns that this market offers, are causing a widespread recovery in prices across the country”, explained the Head of Research at fotocasa.es, Beatriz Toribio.

Since rental prices peaked in May 2007 (at €10.12/m2/month), they have recorded a cumulated decrease of -27.2%. In this sense, four autonomous regions have recorded price decreases of more than 30% since their maximums five years ago.

Aragón is the region where residential rental prices have decreased by the most (by -40.2%), followed by Castilla-La Mancha (-35.3%), Cantabria (-34.9%) and Comunidad Valenciana (-30.3%).

Price rises in 15 autonomous regions

By autonomous region, price rises were recorded in 15 regions in May, with the increases ranging from 3.9% in the Balearic Islands to 0.1% in Cataluña and La Rioja. Meanwhile, prices remained stable in Navarra and fell by -0.1% in Aragón.

In terms of the price ranking, Madrid (€10.29/m2/month) replaced the País Vasco (€10.18) and Cataluña (€10.23) as the most expensive region to rent a home. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Extremadura (€4.53/m2/month) and Castilla-La Mancha (€4.69/m2/month) are the two regions were rental prices are most affordable.

Original story: El Economista

Translation: Carmel Drake

País Vasco Will Tax Empty Homes And May Expropriate Properties From Banks

5 May 2015 – Expansión

The Socialist Party, EH Bildu and UPyD are going to add their votes together in the Basque Parliament to push through a new housing law in Euskadi, which recognises the subjective right to have access to a home. The law will result in the forced and temporary expropriation of the use of homes owned by banks, as well as the introduction of a fee for homes that have been empty for two years.

This initiative – which stems from when Patxi López was the Basque regional president – has been rejected by the PP and the PNV, which governs the País Vasco. Nevertheless, the support of the three opposition groups guarantees 38 votes against the 37 of the nationalist and popular parties.

Through this law, Euskadi will become the first autonomous community to recognise the subjective right to housing, in addition to (the subjective right to) health and education, according to the socialists.

The text provides for the possibility of expropriating empty homes, and those with tenants that cannot afford to pay the rent, from banks for a maximum period of three years, even though this measure has been suspended by the Constitutional Court in other autonomous communities. Within five years, all public housing will be put up for rent. The fee for empty homes will be €10 per square metre per year, an amount that will increase by 10% per year, up to triple the initial fee.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Kutxabank Stirs Up The Mortgage War With A 2.5% Fixed Rate Product

12 March 2015 – Expansión

Kutxabank launches one of the best offers in the market / The Basque entity enters the battle started by Sabadell and CaixaBank and seeks to foster loyalty from its customers.

Kutxabank continues to embroil itself in the mortgage war that has been unleashed in the Spanish financial sector, which is showing the first signs of economic recovery. Two months after the launch of mortgages offering rates of Euribor + 1%, the bank comprising the former Basque savings banks BBK, Kutxa and Vital, has now launched one of the most attractive fixed rate offers in the market: a 30-year 2.50% fixed rate product.

According to the entity, its proposal is the “most attractive” in the market because, not only is it offering a reduced interest rate, also this rate will remain unchanged throughout the life of the loan. The nominal interest rate (‘tasa nominal’ or TIN) of 2.50% represents an annual percentage rate (APR, ‘tipo annual equivalente’ or TAE) of 3.28%, according to the new calculation rules, which include various expenses.

Currently, several institutions are embroiled in the fixed-rate mortgage war. Sabadell is offering a nominal fixed rate mortgage at 3.25% (4.18% APR) over thirty years and at 2.90% over twenty years, and CaixaBank has loans at nominal rates of between 2.50% and 3%, depending on the other products held by the customer, and with no set-up fees. Other banks, such as Bankinter, Bankia and BMN are also offering fixed rate mortgages with interest rates of between 3.4% and 4.6%.

Just like with its variable rate mortgages, Kutxabank is looking to foster loyalty from its customers and achieve maximum links (with them) through this aggressive offer . As such, the entity requires them to have their salaries, which must amount to at least €3,000/month, paid directly into their accounts; make payments with the bank’s cards amounting to more than €3,600/year; make contributions to pension plans or social welfare institutions of more than €2,000/year, and take out life assurance contracts with Kutxabank. The set-up fees for the mortgage will be 0.25%, with a minimum charge of €400.

According to the Basque entity, fixed rate mortgages “provide greater security and stability” for customers, as they allow them to know what their instalments will be, at all times, regardless of (variations in) interest rates (in the wider market).

Kutxabank has a 35% share of the mortgage market in the País Vasco and almost 70% of its total loan book is concentrated there, amounting to €31,000 million. The bank is working on the assumption that the mortgage market is in full recovery, after increasing its home loans by 24% in 2014.

Original story: Expansión (by M. Á. F.)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Housing: Rental Prices Increase By 2.6% In 2014

21 January 2015 – El País

Barcelona is the most expensive regional capital in Spain and Lugo is the most economical.

House rental prices in Spain closed the year (2014) with a slight increase of 2.6%, to reach €7 per square metre per month. During the last quarter of the year, prices continued to rise, up by 0.2%.

“The data shows a stable outlook for the rental market, which although is now recovering, is not showing any signs of a sudden increase in prices. In any case, as with the market for house sales, we have to recognise that the rental market has two speeds. Thus, the increases recorded in markets such as Madrid, Barcelona, tourist areas and specific areas of the País Vasco have sparked interest from investors towards these regions, however this has been at the detriment of other less profitable areas”, says Fernando Encinar of idealista.com.

By autonomous region, the greatest increase was recorded in Cataluña, where landlords are now charging 9.8% more to let their properties than a year ago. It is followed by the regions of Extremadura (3.9%) and the Balearic Islands (2.4%).

By contrast, Murcia and Galicia have experienced price reductions of around 4% and 3%, respectively.

Madrid continues to be the most expensive autonomous region, at €10.20 per square metre. It is followed closely by the País Vasco (€10.00/m2) and Cataluña (€9.20/m2).

Barcelona consolidated its position as the most expensive regional capital in Spain, with an average price increase of 11% to take it to €12.50 per square metre; it is followed by San Sebastián (€11.80/m2) and Madrid (€11.40/m2). At the opposite end of the table, we find Ourense and Lugo, as the cheapest regional capitals, with an average price of around €4.10/m2 in both cities.

Notably, Jaén was the regional capital that saw the highest increase in rental prices in 2014, which grew by 10.4%.

Original story: El País (by Paula Cossío)

Translation: Carmel Drake