Tag: Palma de Mallorca

AENA Activates its RE Plan in Palma, Málaga, Valencia & Sevilla

23 May 2019 -. ABC 

AENA is going to become the largest property developer in Spain over the next few years, having launched four real estate mega-projects at its airports in Palma de Mallorca, Málaga, Valencia and Sevilla, in addition to those already underway in Madrid and Barcelona. The airport manager is now looking to engage a consultant to help it decide the uses that will be assigned to the land that it owns in the vicinity of the four airports.

According to sources, AENA and the private partner will identify which plots are “potentially marketable” and will plan their development together. This process will take around a year, with AENA planning to dedicate the first six months to the development of the airports in Palma de Mallorca and Málaga-Costa del Sol, and the second six months to the airports in Sevilla-San Pablo and Valencia.

Madrid and Barcelona

These projects will join those already announced by the company led by Maurici Lucena for the vicinity of Barajas and El Prat airports in Madrid and Barcelona, respectively. There, AENA is planning to build offices, hotels and logistics hubs. In the Spanish Capital, the company is planning to develop up to 2.2 million m2 of land, whilst in the Catalan capital, that figure amounts to 1.1 million m2.

Original story: ABC (by Guillermo Ginés)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Aena Reduces its RE Plan for Barajas & El Prat and Plans to Add 4 Other Airports

9 April 2019 – El Economista

Aena has decided to reduce the surface area to be included in its real estate plan for development at Barajas and El Prat. Following the publication of its strategic plan for 2018-2021, the airport manager has chosen to reduce the amount of land by 73 hectares (or 12%) to 549 hectares. As such, 349 hectares will be developed in Madrid and 200 hectares in Barcelona.

In addition, the company chaired by Maurici Lucena (pictured above) is also considering extending the plan to include four other airports: Valencia, Sevilla, Palma de Mallorca and Málaga, although no final decisions have yet been made.

The real estate plan will be developed in phases and plots of land will be put up for tender in accordance with demand. The first lot will comprise logistics space at Barajas.

Aena also plans to dedicate some of its facilities to solar panels, with the objective of generating 70% of its annual energy consumption through its own photovoltaic plants by 2026.

Original story: El Economista (by África Semprún)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

INBISA Delivered 378 Homes in 2018 and Now has 1,500 Homes Under Construction

12 February 2019 – Press Release

INBISA Inmobiliaria closed 2018 with 378 homes delivered in privileged locations and the purchase of nine buildable plots of land. At the same time, it started 2019 with 1,500 homes under construction and it remains firm in its commitment to search for new opportunities and to its objective of developing new projects in accordance with the current market.

Thanks to the experience harvested since its creation in 1995 and its capacity to adapt to the needs of the market and its clients, in 2018, INBISA Inmobiliaria successfully achieved the objectives established at the start of the year and took another step forward in the fulfilment of its Strategic Plan 2017-2020.

In this context, last year, the company delivered three residential developments containing 379 homes in total (70% more than in 2017), located in the Madrilenian neighbourhood of Sanchinarro, Sant Cugat del Vallès (Barcelona) and the Vizcaya town of Etxebarri (…).

In terms of the new plots of land, during 2018, INBISA Inmobiliaria acquired nine plots on which to construct 600 new homes. The portfolio is distributed between Madrid, Barcelona, Málaga and Palma de Mallorca, priority enclaves for the company within its strategy to back locations with high and sustained demand in the real estate market. In the case of the Community of Madrid, INBISA Inmobiliaria backed the northwest of the capital, primarily the neighbourhoods of Valdebebas and Sanchinarro.

In Cataluña, the company continued its expansion across the metropolitan area of Barcelona, specifically, in Ripollet, Teià y Viladecans, whilst in the Balearic Islands, it acquired a plot in Palma de Mallorca. Finally, in light of the booming interest from primarily international clients in the Malagan coast, INBISA Inmobiliaria opted to purchase two plots in Mijas and Estepona (…).

All of this has allowed the company to start 2019 as one of the leading property developers in Spain, with 1,500 homes under construction distributed across different enclaves of the country and with a clear commitment to searching for new developments in residential and logistics areas this year (…).

Moreover, as part of its strategic plan for this year, the company is also planning to develop some new logistics projects in light of the great interest in the sector from domestic and international investment funds (…).

Original story: Press Release

Translation: Carmel Drake

Aena Commissions Real Estate Plans for its Airports in Palma, Málaga, Valencia & Sevilla

7 December 2018 – Voz Pópuli

Aena’s real estate development of its two main assets, the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas and Barcelona-El Prat airports, is going to continue at other major airports in the network where the company has land reserves. At least, that is the intention of the company chaired by Maurici Lucena (pictured below), who has commissioned research to analyse the options for generating returns from its land at the airports in Palma de Mallorca, Málaga, Valencia and Sevilla.

The airport manager, in which the State owns a 51% stake, is going to invest more than €2 million to engage an expert to analyse the options for the plots and, where appropriate, develop the real estate plans, which will follow in the footsteps of those already designed for Madrid and Barcelona, where the combined investment is going to exceed €4.6 billion (most of which is expected to be financed by the private sector).

The strategy involves devising an identical roadmap to the one followed for the plans at the two major infrastructures, namely: engage an external advisor to analyse the plots that Aena has in the area around the four airports and identify opportunities for the development of real estate activities that could be performed on them. Based on the results of the reports, the company will decide whether to go ahead with the operations, as well as on the definitive design of them.

Although the manoeuvre is still at an early phase, all indications are that, in theory, activities relating to logistics and air cargo are those that have the greatest potential for capturing a leading role in the future development of the four infrastructures.

Airports on the rise

Palma de Mallorca and Málaga-Costa del Sol are the two busiest airports with the greatest passenger numbers in the Aena network, aside from Madrid and Barcelona. The former has seen an increase of more than 17% in passenger numbers over the last two years and closed last year with a record of almost 28 million visitors, which could be pulverised in 2018, with a figure that may exceed 30 million.

Meanwhile, Málaga has experienced an increase of almost 30% in passenger numbers over the last two years and is also on track for a record year in 2018, which could close with around 20 million users.

Valencia and Sevilla are in the top 12 of the airport ranking in Spain by passenger numbers although, in their cases, the appeal of their land stems more from their proximity to the two most populous cities in the country outside of Madrid and Barcelona.

1,000 hectares still available

According to the figures presented by the company when the details of its strategic plan for 2018-2021 were published, Aena owns a potentially marketable surface area of around 2,000 hectares, of which 50% corresponds to the airports in Madrid and Barcelona (…).

Aena’s plans were launched during the company’s previous stage, under the presidency of Jaime García-Legaz. The current management team is not only continuing that strategy, but it also seems to be willing to bet decisively on it.

Indeed, the strategic plan emphasises the need for the company to diversify its revenue streams, both through the commercial operation of its airports and through real estate plans designed to generate returns from its land around Madrid-Barajas and Barcelona-El Prat (…).

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Raúl Pozo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Idealista: House Prices Soar by 18%+ in Madrid, Málaga and Las Palmas

3 November 2018 – Expansión

In October, the residential market recorded its largest increase in 2018. House prices rose by 10.5% on average across Spain in year on year terms, after recording an average cumulative increase of 7.7% during the first nine months of the year, according to the latest data published by the real estate portal Idealista.

But although the growth is generalised across Spain, it is the large capitals that are driving the sector. “Prices are continuing to rise in a general way, but they are doing so at two speeds. Whilst in half of the markets, the YoY growth rates are in the single digits, it is the major capitals that are responsible for the YoY growth of more than 10% that is being seen across Spain as a whole”, said Fernando Encinar, Head of Research at Idealista.

House prices are rising at double-digit rates in 15 Spanish capitals. More specifically, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Madrid and Málaga are leading the charge. House prices in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria soared by 21.2%, the largest increase across the whole country, taking the average price there to €1,929/m2.

They were followed by Madrid, where, despite the overheating of the market (the average price of €3,827/m2 is only exceeded by Barcelona and San Sebastián), house prices rose by 19.2%. In third position, Málaga saw an increase of 18.8%, to €2,229/m2.

The residential sector in Málaga, which bottomed out in 2013, has been experiencing an increase in its recovery, boosted by its tourist appeal. “In addition to Barcelona and Madrid, certain other capitals, such as Málaga and Palma de Mallorca, are joining the previous two (…) with more acute increases than the rest, above 5% in all of them”, explain sources at Sociedad de Tasación.

Currently, the Málagan capital is one of those that makes up the second wave of cities that are leading the house price increases. “Despite these increases, none of the capitals has reached the peaks of 2007, with the exception of Palma”, added Encinar.

Finally, at the bottom of the pile are those inland provincial capitals, where depopulation and less economic dynamism are hampering the evolution of the sector.

Specifically, prices in Ávila fell by 2.4%, in Jaén by 1.6%, and in Teruel by 1.2%. Meanwhile, prices recorded moderate decreases in A Coruña, Oviedo and Ourense of 0.6%, 0.5% and 0.2%, respectively.

Nevertheless, the greatest correction in prices was experienced in Tarragona, with a decrease of 2.8%, in line with the deceleration of the market in Barcelona, where house prices rose by only 1.1%.

Original story: Expansión (by Inma Benedito)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Spain’s New Gov’t to Promote Construction of 20,000 Affordable Homes for Rent

12 July 2018 – El País

The Ministry of Development is preparing an ambitious range of measures to increase the supply of rental homes, put a stop to escalating prices and facilitate access to housing for young people and low-income families. Its proposals include a plan to build 20,000 rental homes, which will be allocated at controlled prices in cities where prices have soared, according to sources speaking to El País. Moreover, the Ministry wants to extend the duration of rental contracts from three to five years, limit damage deposits and stimulate the supply of rental housing with tax incentives and the moderation of rents.

More funding, regulatory changes and a tax reform are the three components of a broad plan through which the Ministry of Development says it wants to give a social twist to the housing policies and whose main lines will be announced in Congress today by their owner, José Luis Ábalos. The objective is to avoid a new housing price bubble from destabilising the economy once again, according to government sources, and, in particular,  to help families with limited resources and young people.

The package includes urgent measures aimed at alleviating the increase in rental prices, which have soared by up to 50% in large cities over the last four years due to the emergence of tourist apartments and the reactivation of the real estate market. The Government is going to launch an inter-ministerial working group tasked with developing a set of urgent policies for housing and rent.

Amongst the initiatives that the Ministry of Development is going to implement is a plan to build 20,000 affordable rental homes over the next four to six years. The State will promote the construction of these 20,000, mostly public, homes (although this has not been finalised and all of the possible formulae are going to be considered because the most important thing is for the homes to be built quickly). The homes will be destined for rent or transfer of use, for an indefinite period, with a limited rent or price, in cities with accredited demand and where rental prices are higher.

Palma de Mallorca, Las Palmas, Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid, Málaga, San Sebastián and Sevilla are the cities that have experienced the largest increases in rental prices over the last four years, which have risen by up to 50% on the islands, according to data from Idealista.

Last year in Spain, work was completed on 48,853 private homes and 4,938 social housing properties, according to data from the Ministry of Development. At the height of the real estate bubble, in 2007, almost 650,000 homes were being constructed per year.

The plan will be carried out in collaboration with autonomous communities and town halls, which will be asked to identify and facilitate the most appropriate plots of land on which these housing developments can be built. The State will involve SEPES, the public land entity, in this program and will contribute its own momentum and financial support. The ICO will also play a role in the design of the policies (…).

Original story: El País (by Elsa García de Blas)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Testa Completes Acquisition of 1,329 Homes from CaixaBank’s RE Arm for €207M

25 May 2018 – ABC

The listed real estate investment company (Socimi) Testa Residencial has today completed the acquisition of 1,329 homes from BuildingCenter, the real estate subsidiary of the CaixaBank group for €207 million.

The sale agreement was reached in March and accounts for more than 90% of BuildingCenter’s assets, according to a statement issued by Testa. The remaining 129 homes included in the agreement will be acquired for €21 million over the coming months, as certain conditions are fulfilled, added Testa.

On the basis of its existing rental contracts, the Socimi estimates that the homes acquired now will generate annual revenues of €8.5 million from 1 June onwards.

Once Testa has acquired the remaining homes, that figure will increase to €9.3 million per annum. The homes currently have an occupancy rate of 92%.

CaixaBank’s portfolio has a “prominent presence” in the main Spanish cities, including Madrid, Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona and Valencia, and together account for 66% of the total acquired portfolio, explains Testa.

In terms of the financing of the operation, Testa says that it has today signed a bank loan amounting to €92 million, with a seven-year bullet maturity (repayment of the initial capital on the maturity date) and an interest cost of approximately 1.6%, covered at 100%.

The Socimi Testa Residencial plans to go public either before or after the summer through a public sale offer (OPV) of the existing shares and a public subscription offer (OPS) through a capital increase.

Original story: ABC

Translation: Carmel Drake

Palma de Mallorca to Ban All Tourist Apartments From July

24 April 2018 – El País

From July onwards, homeowners in Palma, on the Balearic Island of Mallorca, will not be allowed to rent out their apartments to tourists. The capital of the popular Mediterranean destination has adopted a pioneering measure, which will see the definitive prohibition of tourist flats right across the city. The local government team – a leftist alliance between the Socialist Party (PSOE), the local group Més per Mallorca and the anti-austerity Podemos – has taken this decision after commissioning several studies on the matter, which revealed that the supply of unlicensed tourist flats increased by 50% between 2015 and 2017 to reach 20,000 beds across the city. In Palma, which is Spain’s eighth-largest city by population, only 645 properties used for short-term vacation rentals have proper licenses.

The government team will approve initial holiday rental zoning plans at a meeting on Thursday, which will then be subjected to public scrutiny before being put to a final vote at a council session in July. At that point, tourists seeking this kind of accommodation will no longer be allowed to rent apartments in multi-family residential housing. Instead, they will only be able to stay in detached, single-family homes, which are being left outside the ban. Yet even these properties will be off limits if they are located on protected rural land, near the airport, or in non-residential areas such as industrial estates.

The move follows a reform of tourism legislation by the regional parliament of the Balearic Islands in August last year. That reform banned vacation rentals in apartments but left it up to local authorities to decide which neighbourhoods to apply it in. In the end, the city of Palma has decided to consider the entire municipality a “single zone” and so the ban will apply in all parts of town. The decision is meant “to protect residents,” said mayor Antoni Noguera.

Studies commissioned by city officials show that 48% of tourist apartments are offered for seven to eight months of the year, meaning they are not available for long-term residential rentals. “There is a parallel between the evolution of vacation rentals and the rise in rental prices,” said José Hila, the local chief of city planning. Rent in Palma has soared by 40% in recent years, making it the second most expensive Spanish city after Barcelona for residents who rent.

“Tourist accommodation affects the makeup of buildings and neighbourhoods, and it also affects social harmony,” said Hila. A report by the Citizen Ombudsman’s Office shows a rise in the number of complaints filed by residents due to problems with tourists who use these apartments, typically related to noise. There were 42 complaints in 2014 and 192 in 2017.

Pioneering initiative

Mayor Noguera is convinced that this measure, which is pioneering in Spain, will set the standard to be followed by other cities. “Palma is a bold and decisive city. We have agreed this on the basis of the general interest, and we believe that it will create a trend in other cities when they see that finding a balance is key.” said the mayor. “All European cities are being transformed from one day to the next by this type of offer,” said planning chief Hila.

Currently, in the Balearic capital, there is a supply of around 11,000 tourist rental beds, of which 645 have licences, all for family homes. Before the new regional legislation was approved in August, the number of beds amounted to 20,000 but the high fines established by the law – of up to €400,000 – led to the withdrawal of adverts from users of many of the large platforms (…).

Original story: El País (by Lucía Bohórquez)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Tinsa: House Prices Rise in Madrid & Palma by 17% & 15%, Respectively, in Q1 2018

5 April 2018 – Expansión

The boom continues with an average price rise of 3.8% during the first quarter of 2018 / Rises in large capital cities and tourist areas boost house prices in a market that is still operating at several speeds. Nevertheless, Cataluña is showing signs of a slow down.

Madrid and Palma de Mallorca led the growth in house prices during the first quarter of the year, according to data published yesterday by the appraisal company Tinsa. Specifically, the city of Madrid saw price increases of 17% with respect to the same period last year, followed by the capital of the Balearic Islands (14.7%), Barcelona (11%), Pamplona (10.4%) and Logroño (10%). All of them contributed to an average increase in house prices across the country of 3.8%.

Despite the great motor that Madrid, many tourist areas and certain non-coastal cities represent, where demographic pressure is starting to push prices up again, the positive trend of the market as a whole is being weakened by the diminishing strength of Cataluña following the independence referendum on 1 October 2017. Whilst house prices in the Cataluñan capital rose by 20.6% during the third quarter of last year, that growth had moderated to 14.8% by the end of 2017 and to 11% by the start of this year.

This weakness corresponds to lower investment activity, due in part to a slowdown in tourism, as well as uncertainty, which has caused a delay in certain purchase decisions, such as the time it takes to sell a home (…).

Moreover, it is worth noting that whilst before house prices in Cataluña as a whole rose by 12.5%, now prices in the other three capitals are stagnating or falling, and prices in the region as a whole have slowed to an increase of 7.3%.

This situation is the opposite of what is happening in the Community of Madrid, where the increase in prices in the capital is driving demand out to towns on the outskirts. In this way, prices for the region as a whole are rising with similar strength to those in the city of Madrid (…).

Heterogeneous situation

The increases in the large capitals are not isolated, given that the rises are taking place in the most touristy areas, as well as in those areas where unemployment has decreased significantly. In this way, prices are rising by between 5% and 8% in capitals along the Mediterranean (only Gerona has seen its prices decrease), as well as in Andalucía and the Canary Islands, and in several cities in the Northern third of the peninsula (such as Vitoria, San Sebastián and Burgos); in the case of Sevilla, prices rose by 8.8% in Q1.

Nevertheless, within the real estate market as a whole, there are still many provincial capitals where house prices are falling, such as the case of Ciudad Real (where prices fell by -11.9% in Q1), followed by Cáceres (-9.2%), Guadalajara (-6.3%) and Lérida (-6.2%). Several factors explain those decreases, which are concentrated in the least populated areas and, which, therefore, have little weight on the overall market. Firstly, many of those cities have high levels of unemployment and the majority are experiencing population loss, which relieves pressure on the real estate market (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Pablo Cerezal & Juanma Lamet)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Testa Residencial Purchases 1,458 Homes from Caixabank’s Real Estate Arm

23 March 2018 – Inmodiário

The 1,458 homes are located in some of Spain’s principal cities and are being acquired for an estimated 228 million euros.

Testa Residencial, with a portfolio of 10,702 homes, is thereby consolidating its leading position in Spain’s rental housing market.

Testa Residencial has reached an agreement with Building Center SAU, the real estate arm of the Caixabank group, to acquire a portfolio of 1,458 homes, for approximately 228 million euros. 66% of the properties are located in Madrid, Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona and Valencia, while the remainder is in other Spanish metropolitan areas. Of the 42 developments that make up the portfolio, 90% are allocated, and it is estimated that they will add 8.7 million euros to the company’s annual turnover. The acquisition is subject to a series of conditions, and the homes will be acquired in the coming months as those requirements are met.

Wolfgang Beck, Testa Residencial’s CEO, stated that he is very satisfied with the acquisition, which will “allow Testa to consolidate its position as the leading company in Spain in the rental housing market, excluding financial entities.” After the purchase, Testa will own 10,702 homes in Spain, which are located mostly in Madrid, with a prominent presence in San Sebastian, Barcelona and Valencia as well.

Testa Residencial aims to consolidate its position as an efficient rental housing platform that adapts to the needs of its tenants, in line with Europe’s other residential real estate firms. The socimi intends to continue to follow its strategic growth plan, purchasing assets that are complementary to its portfolio, to achieve its goal.

Original Story: Inmodiário

Translation: Richard Turner