Socimi Lists its €46-Million Portfolio of Homes and Land in Madrid

27 April 2018

The countdown has started for Spain’s stock exchange to become home to a new real estate investment company listing. AP67 has received the approval to start trading on the Mercado Alternativo Bursátil (MAB).

Although the exact date of the listing is still unknown, the socimi will debut at a price of 6.65 euros per share and a market value of about 34 million euros.

The vehicle is specialised in the residential sector and has residential buildings, one residential plot of land, two industrial plots of land and several commercial premises. All the assets are located in the municipality of Leganés (Madrid) and have a market value of €46.5 million, according to calculations by the appraiser Gesvalt.

The two most valuable assets in its portfolio are a residential building and a housing development that is currently under construction: between them, they total 25.8 million euros, more than half of the total.

There are several major shareholders behind the vehicle: the minority interests that the MAB requires for a listing, as well as the architects Álvaro Rubio Garzón and Francisco Escudero López, who control more than 90% of the capital. According to the document published by the MAB, both created a property management company in 2001, based on real estate development for rental in the area of Leganés, “specifically in the main streets of the urban centre, in locations near the Universidad Carlos III and industrial property in the suburbs.”

AP67 will be added to the fifty-one socimis that are already present in the MAB and to the sector’s main players, which are on the Ibex 35 and the continuous market: Merlin Properties, Colonial, Axiare, Hispania and Lar. In its debut, the company will be advised by the registered adviser Armabex. The Renta 4 bank will act as a liquidity provider.

Original Story: Idealista

Photo: Gtres

Translation: Richard Turner

 

Quabit Creates a Corporate Network to ‘Attack’ the Rental Market

24 April 2018 – Eje Prime

Quabit is looking to the future and is organising its business to respond to the new trends in the residential market. The company, chaired by Félix Abánades, has started to create a new corporate network under the activity of freehold properties, a business concept that is used for asset management with ownership rights. The constitution of these companies comes in response to “the evolution of the market and the importance of businesses such as the rental market”, according to explanations provided by Quabit to Eje Prime.

Specifically, the property developer has recently created four companies: Quabit Freehold Properties, Quabit Freehold Properties Levante, Quabit Freehold Properties Centro and Quabit Freehold Properties Sur, whereby covering a large proportion of the Spanish peninsula. All of the companies have their registered addresses at number 1 Calle Capitán Haya in Madrid, which is also home to Quabit’s headquarters.

In this way, the company is getting its business ready to meet the needs of new generations, who see renting as a more feasible option. These types of companies may also be the seed of a future Quabit Socimi, although sources at the company say that this option has been “parked” for the time being (…).

Quabit, recent steps

Last year and the beginning of 2018 have been very positive for Quabit. The property developer bid farewell to 2017 with a net profit of €14.4 million, which represented an increase of 80% compared to the €8 million it earned in 2016.

Moreover, the company recorded turnover of €535.7 million in 2017, although its sales fell by 83% due to a reduction in stock during 2016 and because new developments will start to be handed over this year, according to the real estate company. The market value of Quabit’s assets (GAV) as at 31 December 2017 amounted to €399.3 million.

Moreover, the group’s plans involve continuing to fatten up its portfolio with the purchase of new land to continue growing. In April, the company signed a line of credit for up to €50 million with the aim of financing the acquisition of buildable land focused on the construction of residential real estate assets.

The real estate company signed that loan with several funds advised by Taconic Capital Advisors UK and Grupo Royal Metropolitan España. Specifically, according to the agreement, the line will be used to finance 70% of the amount corresponding to the acquisition of land and taxes, whilst the remaining 30% will be financed by Quabit.

The signing of that line of credit formed part of the new investment financing scheme set out by Quabit in its Business Plan for 2017-2022 (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by C. Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Stoneweg to Sell more than 300 Homes to a single Investor for €200M

13 April 2018 – Expansión

The Swiss fund Stoneweg is finalising the sale of a batch of three large residential developments located in Cataluña and Madrid, which have sparked interest from several international funds and a handful of property developers. The three developments, which contain more than 300 homes, are worth around €200 million.

They are the three largest developments of the almost thirty residential projects that Stoneweg is promoting in Spain through its subsidiary Stoneweg Living. Two of them are located in Cataluña and one in Madrid and, although in theory, they were designed to be sold, on an individual basis, to end users, the significant interest that the Spanish residential sector has sparked amongst investors has led to a change of plan.

In this way, Stoneweg has combined its three largest developments and is going to sell them as a single lot, with the idea that the buyer will incorporate them into its real estate portfolio and put them on the rental market. Although several overseas investors have expressed their interest in the package, the most advanced negotiations are the ones being held with a German institutional fund, according to sources speaking to Expansión.

Stoneweg was created in 2015 by the former team of the real estate division of the private bank Edmond de Rothschild and by the founding partners of CBRE in Switzerland. It is chaired by the former President of the Executive Committee of Edmond de Rothschild, Claude Messulam, and two Spaniards sit on the management board: Jaume Sabater, as the CEO and Joaquín Castellví, as the Director of Investments and Acquisitions. Since 2015, it has invested more than €500 million in the promotion of offices and residential buildings in Spain. Recently, it moved its headquarters from Barcelona to Madrid and expanded its offices in the Spanish capital to make space for its growing workforce.

The sale of this package of more than 300 homes is another example of the interest that the residential rental market is sparking in Spain. This business, which has just a few strong operators, is gaining strength in the capital. The professional rental home market in Spain is very fragmented. Testa owns a portfolio of 10,700 homes and is preparing its stock market debut. Another player is the manager Azora, which is also preparing its debut on the stock market, and Fidere – Blackstone’s Socimi – which made its stock market debut in 2015 with 2,688 social housing properties purchased during the crisis.

Original story: Expansión (by Marisa Anglés and Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Residential Rental Specialist VBare Launches €14.1M Capital Increase

4 April 2018 – Eje Prime

VBare is pushing ahead with its business plan and is continuing to put together its perfect portfolio of assets. The company, which specialises in the acquisition of residential buildings, has launched a €14.1 million capital increase through which it is hoping to acquire new properties in the main cities in which it operates, according to sources at the real estate group speaking to Eje Prime.

“On 23 March, the company’s Board of Directors approved an increase in the share capital up to a maximum of €5,310,465.00, with the aim of continuing with its growth and investment acquisition strategy, as set out in its business plan, through the issue of a maximum of 1,062,093 ordinary shares”, explain company sources.

VBare’s new shares will be issued with a nominal value of €5 plus an issue premium of €8.30 per share, resulting in an issue price of €13.30 per share. “The total amount of the capital increase, in the event that it is subscribed in its entirety, will amount to €14,125,836.90, in other words, €5,310,465.00 as share capital and €8,815,371.90 as the issue premium”, they add.

The funds obtained through the capital increase will be used to equip the company with the capital resources necessary to continue with its expansion and growth strategy, “through the acquisition of identified real estate assets that fulfil the criteria established in the strategic guidelines, as well as allowing it access to external sources of financing with the aim of achieving the target returns”, say sources at the Socimi.

The products that the Socimi is going to consider acquiring once it has completed this capital increase include “entire buildings, portfolios of (geographically) scattered assets and portfolios of assets in the same complex, with the aim of maintaining a balanced portfolio to avoid concentration risks, and to obtain a competitive advantage over other players in the market, involving the identification of opportunities with limited competition and the achievement of below market prices”.

Moreover, the company’s roadmap involves acquiring assets with a net direct asset yield of “no less than 4%, as well as properties that it can acquire for an average discount over the market value of no less than 10% overall”.

In March, the company acquired a package of assets comprising 12 homes and a commercial property at number 5, Calle Concordia in the Madrilenian town of Móstoles, according to a report submitted by the group to the Alternative Investment Market (MAB).

Of the twelve homes that it acquired from the Eureka business group, five of them have tenants and the others are “in optimal conditions to be let out immediately”. The net yield on these assets is estimated to amount to 5.9% when they are fully occupied.

“VBare’s objectives for 2018, which it presented together with its results for last year, include, not only to generate returns from its assets when the portfolio is fully operational, but also to make investments in other cities, besides Madrid, wherever the firm expects a potential increase in rents in the short-medium term”, explain sources at the group.

VBare is a real estate investment vehicle specialising in the acquisition and management of residential assets for rent. The company was constituted in March 2015 (…) and currently manages a portfolio of 197 assets. To date, the company has analysed assets worth more than €500 million and it is constantly on the lookout for new business opportunities within the scope of its investment policy.

Original story: Eje Prime (by C. Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Spain No Longer Features in EU’s Top 10 Home Ownership Ranking

23 March 2018 – El País

77.8% of citizens resident in Spain own their own homes. In this way, the country was placed in 13th position in the ranking of European Union (EU) countries in terms of this parameter in 2016, one place below its position the previous year – after being overtaken by the Czech Republic – according to data from the European statistics institute Eurostat, and well outside of the Top 10. Compared to the European average (69.2%), the Spanish figures are still high, although each year, the percentage of homeowners is decreasing slightly to the benefit of the rental market. Ownership fever dominates in Eastern Europe, in particular, where the percentage exceeds 90% in many countries.

In 2007, the first year for which Eurostat compiled data for Spain, the country was ranked in 9th place in terms of the number of citizens owning their own home, with a percentage of 80.6%. Thus, between then and 2016, the rate has been decreasing slightly at the same time as the rates in other countries have been increasing, relegating Spain to lower positions in the ranking.

“In Spain, home ownership is decreasing slightly each year due to the economic conditions and the difficulty in accessing a mortgage”, explains José García Montalvo, Professor at the Universidad Pompeu Fabra, who points out that nowadays you need to have a permanent (employment) contract to be granted a mortgage, whereas, in 2007, you could have been a temporary worker. García Montalvo also argues that society has changed and young people – who are finding it harder to access real estate loans due to their employment conditions – regard the purchase of a home as a “problem” (…).

The professor says that the price of rental homes is rising due to greater demand, and he does not think that the decrease in home ownership is a phenomenon that is going to reverse despite the rent increases. In 2017, the price of rental homes in Spain recorded its third annual rise. The average price grew by 8.9% in 2017, the highest ever increase in the historical series of the real estate portal Fotocasa’s index, which has been compiling data since January 2006.

Eastern European countries lead the home-ownership statistics

In 2016, Romania was the country where the highest percentage of citizens owned their own home, with 96%. It was followed by Lithuania, with 90.3%; Croatia and Macedonia, with 90%; Slovakia (89.5%); Hungary with 86.3%; Poland, with 83.4%; Bulgaria (82.3%); Estonia and Malta, with 81.4%; Latvia with 80.9% and the Czech Republic with 78.2%. “The countries where citizens are most committed to buying their own home are primarily those in Eastern Europe. This is partly a result of the fact that many of those regions were communist countries and that when the market was opened up, it was shared out and everyone got involved”, says García Montalvo.

By contrast, the data from Eurostat shows that the citizens of countries with more consolidated economies back the rental market to a greater extent over the acquisition of home. Thus, Germany leads this category with 51.7% of its citizens owning their own home, followed by Austria, with 55%; and Denmark with 62%. Nevertheless, none of these countries fall below 50%, although the percentages are decreasing every year, opting for a rental model. The EU average stands at 69.2%, more than 8 percentage points below the figure in Spain.

“Rental is favoured in countries where labour mobility is higher such as in Germany and Austria. In Spain, it would be great if that was the case to boost labour mobility because ownership ties people down a lot (…).

Original story: El País (by Nahiara S. Alonso)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Axis: Spain’s Banks Have €31.7bn in Toxic Assets Up For Sale

15 March 2018 – Eje Prime

After a 2017 in which one of the key characteristics of the residential market was the interest from funds in going to banks for property, this year, the trend is set to increase. The investment funds are now being joined by Socimis, which want to take advantage of the rapid and generous divestments that the banks are undertaking of their real estate portfolios.

Pressure from the European Central Bank (ECB) for the financial entities to clean up their balance sheets has meant that they have been rushing, for the last year and a half, to sell almost all of their portfolios of assets and non-performing loans relating to the real estate sector. According to data from the consultancy firm Axis, the banks currently have €31.7 billion in toxic assets up for sale.

This large sum of portfolios up for sale is proving to be the subject of major battles between the main investment funds, the majority of which are international, and which in 2017 managed to close record operations in this sense. The sale by Santander of property inherited from Popular to Blackstone for €10 billion, and the agreement reached between BBVA and the fund Cerberus for €4 billion to transfer assets from the real estate firm Anida, fired the starting gun for a race that is going to reach its cruising speed this year, according to Cinco Días.

Spain is the third country in the Eurozone by volume of doubtful loans, with €136 billion and a default rate of 5.7%, a percentage that is above the European average of 5.1%. According to the Bank of Spain, non-performing loans held by the banks at the end of 2016 amounted to €190 billion.

The oligopoly of the servicers 

Axis details that the assets of the banks under the management of the servicers are no longer going to be a question of five, since some of the players may come out of the equation. In 2018, “there will be a greater concentration in the market, with the sale of some of the servicers”, according to the study.

Until now, 80% of the portfolios have been managed by the banks and funds, as demonstrated in the cases of Altamira, which is controlled by Banco Santander; Haya and Anida, companies that are both linked to Cerberus; Anticipa and Aliseda, which are both owned by Blackstone; and Servihabitat and Solvia, which are owned by CaixaBank and Banco Sabadell, respectively.

In addition to the aforementioned funds, Axis adds others with a presence in the Spanish market such as Lone Star, Oaktree, Deutsche Bank and Fortress, which will try to acquire one or more of the portfolios for sale.

Funds and Socimis are going to be searching to generate returns this year, above all, in the rental market, which with yields of 8% “is going to be the product with the most attractive investment prospects”, according to Axis.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

ST: Lack of Skilled Workers Starts to Limit Construction & Threaten House Prices

18 January 2018 – Cinco Días

Without exception, all of the studies currently being published about trends in the real estate market indicate that 2018 is going to be better than the previous year. Nevertheless, the experts are warning that certain risks may lie in wait for the sector.

On Thursday, the CEO of Sociedad de Tasación, Juan Fernández-Aceytuno, presented a report compiled by his company, which forecasts that: house prices will rise by 5.5% on average this year, sales will improve by 14.1% and mortgages will increase by 9.4%.

Based on those figures, it seems that the sector is set to close the year with all of its variables growing at a strong rate. And, what’s more, with no need to talk about the generation of a new bubble, for the time being, at least. Nevertheless, Fernández-Aceytuno warns that we should not lose sight of certain indicators and concrete facts that are already starting to emerge and that may be early signs of situations from the past that nobody wants to see a repeat of.

One such circumstance is the lack of skilled personnel for construction projects that is being seen now that property development has taken off again. The CEO of Sociedad de Tasación revealed that work at some sites has been suspended due to a lack of labour, which is not only going to result in delays in the hand over of certain homes, but which may also end up leading to an increase in house prices. “Most of the best professionals that were working in the previous boom cycle have retired or retrained in other areas, which is why property developers are finding it hard to find qualified personnel for their jobs”, he explained (…).

Another risk that may lead to distortions in the proper operation of the market is the paralysis of too many urban development plans, which, in turn, leads to a shortage of buildable land for the construction of new homes. “All restrictions on the supply side end up resulting in a bubble”, said Fernández-Aceytuno. For that reason, he recommends that to the extent possible and where it is clear that demand for housing exists, it is desirable that the urban development processing times be made as streamlined as possible (…).

Regarding the current situation in the residential rental market, the report from Sociedad de Tasación warns that it is possible that the high returns that are being recorded at the moment constitute an “ephemeral” bubble, given that in some areas, we are starting to see the rise in rental prices tail off, since rent is very volatile to certain factors.

One of those is the limitation on rental prices being demanded by some of the political parties, to reflect what is happening in other European cities. “We consider that in the rental market, the path to follow cannot involve imposing limits. Each owner must be free to lease his home at the price he wants to and then comply with the law and pay the taxes that he ought to”, he said. In this sense, he defended his point that with more rental properties, Spain would be a richer country, because rental favours labour mobility and constitutes a more liquid market. However, he did demand the legal security be professionalised and guaranteed so that increasingly more companies want to invest (…).

Original story: Cinco Días (by Raquel Díaz Guijarro)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Experts: Foreign Investors will Continue to Back the Spanish RE Sector in 2018

11 January 2018 – Expansión

The experts believe that the residential sector is going to be the main protagonist of 2018, in terms of both development and investment. The banks are expected to continue their balance sheet clean-ups with more portfolio sales.

The real estate sector is expected to continue to constitute a mainstay of the Spanish economy in 2018 thanks to the growth of residential property development and the commitment from international investors to Spanish property as a safe haven for their investments, according to the experts consulted by Expansión.

For Adolfo Ramírez-Escudero, President of CBRE España, property developers will be some of the most dynamic investors in 2018. “Last year, they underwent an expansionary cycle and, through specialisation and the sophistication of their product, they will continue to increase their prominence in the sector”, he explains.

The CEO of JLL España, Enrique Losantos, forecasts that 2018 will maintain the positive rhythm of recent years and that figures will remain in line with 2017, with a total investment volume of around €13 billion. Losantos also expects that portfolio operations, which were the major stars of 2017, thanks to the sale of assets by Banco Popular and BBVA, will continue to strengthen their position in 2018 (…).

Rents

For Santiago Aguirre, President of the Board of Directors of Savills Aguirre Newman, “we are entering a year of consolidation in terms of the upward cycle that we have been immersed in since 2014. Several segments, such as offices and logistics, have reached maximum leasing levels, nevertheless, we still see potential for rents to reach the maximum levels seen in the previous cycle”.

In terms of investment in tertiary assets, Oriol Barrachina, CEO at Cushman & Wakefield, explains that there is a perception that there will be more liquidity than product, despite caution being erred in light of the local and international uncertainty. “The main difference with respect to the last two years is that one group of buyers, the Socimis, are now also going to be selling assets. For years, they have purchased lots of assets and after generating value from them, they are going to put them up for sale, a fact that will also help to bridge the gap between supply and demand”, adds Barrachina.

Sandra Daza, Director General at Gesvalt, thinks that this year those investors who entered the cycle during the opportunistic period, between 2013 and 2015, will be replaced by long-term investors, such as insurance companies and pension funds.

In terms of trends, Mikel Echavarren, CEO at Irea, considers that residential development will continue to generate news this year, both in terms of land transactions, as well as price rises and the recovery of secondary markets (…).

Humphrey White, Director General at Knight Frank, highlights that Spain is currently at the beginning of an expansion period, with forecast demand of between 120,000 and 150,000 new homes per year, even though it closed 2017 with just 47,500 new home transactions (…).

No sign of a bubble

White considers that the growth in the sector in Spain rests on “some very firm foundations in terms of the law of supply and demand, whereby moving firmly away from a possible real estate bubble”.

For Gonzalo Gallego, Partner in Financial Advisory at Deloitte, buildable land will be one of the major challenges in the property development sector.

In terms of the rental market, Ramírez-Escudero explains that in 2018, we will see “quite a lot” of activity in the market from institutional investors backing rental homes. Over the last decade, the number of rental homes has increased significantly to reach 22.5%. Nevertheless, Spain still has major potential given that the average in the EU is 33% (…).

Javier López-Torres, Partner in Real Estate at KPMG, agrees. He considers that the rental segment will continue to gain weight due to the difficulties involved in accessing credit, mobility and cultural change (…).

Asset types

By sector, Thierry Bougeard, Director General at BNP Paribas Real Estate, says that demand for office space will continue its strong performance (seen in 2017), above all in Madrid, where leasing volumes are expected to increase to around 600,000 m2.

Meanwhile, in the logistics market, e-commerce will continue to be the main motor of demand, whilst in retail, many owners are betting on improving the quality of their centres, boosting leisure areas and the quality of them, with the aim of encouraging customers to stay longer, he explains.

The experts also agree in highlighting the high level of interest expected in alternative real estate assets, such as student halls and nursing homes.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Spain’s Residential Rental Sector Continues to Thrive

6 January 2018 – Cinco Días

The current rental market in Spain has nothing or very little to do with the one that existed in the noughties (2000-2009), when being a tenant was almost equivalent to being a second-class citizen, as Gustavo Rossi, President of Alquiler Seguro, recalls. A study compiled by Idealista maintains that whilst in 2000, homes offered for rent represented just 9% of the market, by the end of 2017, Madrid was the third-placed city in the ranking of places with the most rental homes in Europe, whilst Barcelona was ranked sixth.

That increase in supply has been driven by an exponential growth in demand for rental homes and by the boom in tourist rentals. During the first few years of the crisis, demand switched to the rental market, above all due to necessity. Faced with the impossibility of buying a home due to the high prices or the closure of the credit tap by the banks, or even both factors, families had to resort to renting as their plan B.

Nevertheless, and as the economic and employment recovery has been gaining momentum, although the majority of those who rent still aspire to become homeowners, increasingly more households are opting to lease regardless of their economic capacity or solvency level. They are the new tenants by conviction. “The impact that the no-credit-generation (those who are not willing to get into debt and who prefer to pay to use a home) is having on the market is considerable”, explains Rossi.

One way or another, the percentage of households that rent their homes has gone from just 11% in 2001 to almost double that figure, more than 20% in 2017, according to figures from the sector. That progression is even more marked in the large cities since it is estimated that in Madrid and Barcelona, more than 30% of families rent their homes, which brings Spain closer to the European parameters, where the average number of rental homes exceeds that 30% threshold (…).

Sources at Fotocasa are convinced that this year (2018) there will be a lot of talk about the rental market once again. “The high returns that investors are seeking, the boom in tourist apartments and the change in mentality (towards renting) are going to continue putting upward pressure on rental prices, above all in the large cities”, says the firm’s Head of Research, Beatriz Toribio. In this sense, the table published by the Bank of Spain comparing yields on rental homes with those on the stock market (Ibex 35) and fixed income securities leaves little room for doubt. The latest data reveals a gross profit from rental properties of 4.2% p.a., which soars to 10.9% if we add the gain that can be obtained when a property is sold (capital appreciation) (…).

The experts offer two pieces of advice. Before choosing between traditional rental and tourist lets, investors should analyse all of the variables because it is not always more attractive for a property to be let for very short stays (refer to the comparative graph). And the Administrations are demanding that investors bet more on the rental segment, in the form of direct subsidies and tax reliefs, to encourage owners to put empty homes onto the market and that will allow them to reach maturity. “The rental market is here to stay”, says Eduard Mendiluce, CEO at Anticipa Real Estate.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Raquel Díaz Guijarro)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Idealista: Rental Prices Rose by 18.4% in 2017

4 January 2018 – Eje Prime

The price of rental homes is continuing to rise. The residential rental sector ended 2017 with an average price increase of 18.4%, to reach €9.7/m2/month, according to the latest report from Idealista. The fourth quarter saw a slow down in the rate of growth, given that prices only rose by 3.3%. Barcelona and Cáceres were the only cities where rental prices fell during Q4, by 2.4% and 1%, respectively.

“2017 was undoubtedly the year of the rental market in Spain. Between January and September, the sector grabbed the headlines and was a popular talking point amongst the general public. Prices rose in general across the whole of Spain, although the upward trend was curbed slightly during the final quarter of the year”, according to the research.

It is worth noting that not rental prices did not increase to the same extent in all markets: the Canary and Balearic Islands, together with the Andalucían capitals of Málaga and Sevilla, and the Catalan city of Girona led the price rises. Madrid, which together with Barcelona has traditionally spearheaded the rental market in Spain, saw its prices rise by half the national average. And Barcelona was the only Spanish capital, alongside Cáceres, to end the year with a decrease in rental prices after four years of YoY increases.

In all of the other provincial capitals, rental prices are more expensive today than they were a year ago. Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the capital where rental prices increased by the most in 2017, with a rise of 22.7% to reach €8/m2/month. The increase recorded in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria was also considerable, where rental prices rose by 22.5%, followed by Girona, with an increase of 20.5%.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake