Tag: rural

INE: House Sales In Balearics Rose By 32.8% In Nov 2016

16 January 2017 – Diario de Ibiza

House sales rose by 32.8% YoY in November in the Balearic Islands, as 1,258 operations were closed, representing the highest increase of all of the autonomous regions.

Of the homes sold, 1,234 were unsubsidised and 24 were protected (subsidised); meanwhile, 232 were new homes, compared with 1,026 second hand, according to data published on Thursday by Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE).

The total number of properties sold on the islands in November 2016 amounted to 4,208, up by 2.9% compared to the same month a year earlier.

Overall in Spain, house sales rose by 17.3% in November with respect to the same month in 2015, with 33,806 operations recorded in the property registries, to complete ten consecutive months of increases.

According to the data from INE, house sales grew by 15.1% between October and November 2016.

This monthly rate is 10.6 basis points higher than that registered during the same period a year ago, when the increase amounted to 4.5%, and is the highest monthly variation since 2012.

Second-hand homes

The increase in sales in November was due yet again to the second-hand market, which increased by 19.8% to reach 27,996 transactions, whereby accounting for 82.8% of the house sales registered.

The number of operations involving new homes also rose although to a lesser extent, by 6.8%. 90.3% of all homes sold were unsubsidised compared with just 9.7% that were protected (subsidised).

By autonomous region, the sale of homes grew by 32.8% YoY in the Balearic Islands; by 26.3% in the Canary Islands; and by 25.8% in Aragón, which saw the highest increases. By contrast, La Rioja, País Vasco and Galicia recorded the lowest increases.

In total, the number of properties (rural and urban) registered as sold in the property registries during the month of November stood at 143,470, up by 6.8% compared to the same month in 2015.

In the case of property sales recorded, the increase amounted to 15.6%.

Original story: Diario de Ibiza

Translation: Carmel Drake

Emilio Cuatrecasa Launches Rural Hotel Chain In El Ampurdán

28 July 2016 – Expansión

Emilio Cuatrecasa has launched a proposal to make the most of the beautiful landscape in El Ampurdán and the Costa Brava.

Yesterday, the lawyer and businessman announced the launch of a new hotel chain, which will specialise in managing small high-end hotels located in the region of Baix Empordà, which groups together idyllic landscapes in the imaginary triangle bordered by the towns of Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Girona and Torroella de Montgrí, in the central part of the Costa Brava.

Through his holding company Emesa Corporación, Cuatrecasas has just acquired Palau de Ullastret, a farmhouse with large arches rising above the medieval walls of this inland town, close to La Bisbal d’Empordà, famous for the archaeological remains of its Iberian settlement.

Emesa plans to invest €7 million – a figure that include the purchase price – in transforming this historical building into a luxury hotel, whose opening date is yet to be determined. The small palace, which will undergo an extensive restoration, is located on a 2,500 sqm estate, known locally as Can Romaguera.

The project represents the cornerstone of a much more ambitious initiative, which involves weaving a network of ten luxury hotels over the next three years, in this coastal region, dotted with hundreds of farmhouses and ancient buildings.

The new chain owned by Cuatrecasas does not have a name yet and will be forged through the purchase of new unique properties, as well as the integration of hotels already in operation that will be adapted to the philosophy of the project. “With this initiative, we are trying to professionalise hotel activity in El Ampurdán, which is currently very fragmented and in the hands of individuals”, explained Ferran Forrellad, CEO of Emesa.

According to the director, the project has been inspired by regions such as Tuscany in Italy, “where there is more organisation and, therefore, much greater international promotion and awareness of the region”.

The new chain will focus on offering rest and comfort to its clients with facilities and rooms equipped with the latest technology and with a modern design, but “without the interferences of a hotel service”. Thus, gastronomic, health and gym services will only be offered on-demand and will be subcontracted to specialist companies.

Original story: Expansión (by Sergi Saborit)

Translation: Carmel Drake

RTVE Seeks RE Agent To Help It Sell 32 Buildings For €85M

7 June 2016 – Voz Pópuli

Spain’s national broadcaster, Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE), wants to sell 32 plots of land and properties, distributed across Spain, for which it hopes to obtain proceeds of €85.6 million. The corporation has launched a competition, with a budget of €3.1 million, which aims to find an estate agent in the market of these buildings, which in several cases are empty or offer services that could be carried out in another one of its work centres. The so-called “idle assets”.

The jewel in the crown of this package of public goods is the plot of land measuring 245,000 sqm that RTVE owns in the Madrilenian suburb of Las Rozas, which is valued at €49.3 million and which is currently used as the broadcasting centre for Radio 1 and Radio 5 MW. The corporation plans to move these facilities (including the antennae, which are approximately 200 metres tall) to a cheaper, less densely populated area, which would allow it to generate profits from this real estate operation.

The real estate portfolio that will go up for sale also includes the headquarters of Radio Nacional de España, located in Calle de Roc Boronat in Barcelona, and inaugurated in 2007, when Luis Fernández was President (of RTVE) and the PSOE was in Government in Moncloa. The idea is to transfer this media centre to TVE’s studios in Sant Cugat del Vallès – which will cost €3.5 million – and sell off the headquarters.

The Directors of the corporation want the estate agent who ends up being awarded the contract to take care of the necessary legal procedures to change the urban classification of this estate to obtain higher revenues from the operation, according to details specified in the competition tender document.

Buildings all over Spain

The list of properties that RTVE wants to get rid off also includes a 26,000 sqm plot of land in the Madrilenian suburb of Majadahonda (€5.3 million), a building on Calle de Colón in Valencia (€4.57 million), another on Calle de la Albareda in Zaragoza (€3.4 million) and another on Avenida Ranillas, also in the Aragonese capital, which has been valued at €4.57 million.

The following assets in the portfolio also have prices that exceed the one million euro threshold: the RNE headquarters in Valladolid (€1.02 million), the corporation’s facilities at the Edificio Venus in Murcia (€1.47 million) and the office in Santa Cruz de Tenerife (€1.46 million). The portfolio due to be sold also includes buildings and plots of land in Alicante, Mérida (Badajoz), Cádiz, Gerona, Granada, Jaén, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Lérida, Monforte de Lemos (Lugo), Palma de Mallorca, Pamplona, Pontevedra (Vigo), Santander, Tarragona, Teruel and Talavera de la Reina (Toledo). (…).

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Rubén Arranz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

INE: Mortgage Lending Rose By Just 7.1% In October

22 December 2015 – Cinco Días

The signing of new mortgages to purchase homes increased by just 7.1% YoY in October, down from 20.2% a month earlier, with 19,195 new mortgage loans constituted in total.

According to data published yesterday by Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE), the signing of mortgages decreased by 19.4% compared with the month of September, which affected the YoY statistics.

The total amount of mortgages granted to purchase homes in October amounted to €2,144.2 million, up by 18.7% compared with the same month in 2014 and down by 18% compared with the previous month.

Moreover, in October, 28,989 mortgages were signed for all kinds of properties, including both rural and urban buildings, up by almost 5% compared with a year earlier, but down by 19.5% compared with the previous month.

The amount of capital loaned by Spanish institutions to constitute these loans amounted to €4,040 million, 12.5% more than in October 2014 and 15.6% less than in September.

More than half of all of the mortgages constituted in October, specifically, 53.1%, involved homes, according to INE’s data, which also revealed that 90.3% of the loans had variable interest rates, versus 9.7% which had fixed interest rates.

Euribor was the preferred reference rate for the constitution of variable rate mortgages, specifically it was used in 92% of all new variable rate contracts. The average interest rate, at the beginning of the mortgage terms, for home loans was 3.30%, which was 8.2% lower than during the same period in 2014.

In total, changes to the conditions of 12,457 mortgages were recorded in the property registers, down by 18% compared with last year. For homes, the number of mortgages whose conditions were modified decreased by 19.4%. (…).

By autonomous region, the areas that recorded the highest number of new mortgage constitutions over homes in October were: Andalucía (3,551); Cataluña (3,138) and the Community of Madrid (3,033).

The autonomous regions that recorded the highest YoY rates of change were the Balearic Islands (61.8%), País Vasco (43.7%) and the Canary Islands (32.8%).

The autonomous regions that loaned the most capital for the constitution of mortgages over homes were the Community of Madrid (€513.0 million); Cataluña (€388.5 million) and Andalucía (€335.0 million).

The autonomous regions with the highest month on month positive rates of change in the number of home loan mortgages were La Rioja (19.1%); Murcia (12.1%) and the Canary Islands (9.7%).

Meanwhile, the autonomous regions that recorded the highest MoM decreases were the Community of Madrid (38.7%); Navarra (36.2%) and Aragón (30.4%).

Original story: Cinco Días

Translation: Carmel Drake

Housing: 319,389 Homes Were Sold In 2014, Up By 2.2%

11 February 2015 – Expansión

After three years in decline, INE confirms that the residential sector is on the road to recovery. The greater increases in the number of transactions were recorded in the Balearic Islands (18.5%), Navarra (13.9%) and the Canary Islands (12%).

The National Institute of Statistics (el Instituto Nacional de Estadística or INE) confirmed yesterday that house sales have turned the corner around Cape Horn. The crisis is not behind us yet, by any means, but the sector has begun its long road to recovery, and that is the best news to come out of the property sector in over six years. Residential property transactions increased by 2.2% in 2014.

Last year, 319,389 homes were sold, compared with 312,600 in 2013 and 318,534 in 2012. This represented the first annual statistical increase since 2010, although that year was clearly affected by the termination of the tax relief for first home purchases for individuals earning more than €24,107, which caused numerous families to bring forward their house purchases so as not to miss out on the tax incentive of up to €1,350 per year.

“The year-end figure reflects a rise that, although timid, is a symptom of a significant change in the pace of operations. It is an encouraging piece of data that emphasises the stabilisation of the sector and it is based on the return of financial institutions to the field of finance and on the price adjustments undergone in the market”, said Manuel Gandarias, Head of Research at pisos.com.

In reality, 2014 was the first year since 2007 in which demand grew by itself, without tax incentives or other decisive policies. The worst years of the crisis for the property sector were 2008 and 2009, when residential sales decreased by -28.8% and -25.1%, respectively. In 2010, sales increased by 6.3%. The decline then slowed down gradually in 2011 (-18.1%), 2012 (-11.5%) and 2013 (-1.9%, when tax relief ended completely).

The expected upturn in purchases in due solely and exclusively to the strong sentiment in the second hand market, the real thermometer of the residential sector at a time when new homes are still somewhat mummified, in an over-inflated stock.

Sales of used homes increased to 199,943 in 2014, i.e. 18.4% more than a year earlier. Second hand homes now account for two out of every three transactions (62.6% of the total). These sales had increased by 3.8% in 2013.

Meanwhile, sales of new homes in 2014 amounted to 119,446 (down -6.9% with respect to 2013) and now accumulate four consecutive years of decline.

“This superiority of used homes over new builds is not only based on the larger volume and leeway afforded by the prices of such homes, it is also due to the scarcity of new developments and the effect caused when the banks dumped the new developments they held on their balance sheets, which effectively converted these properties into second hand homes for tax purposes”, said Gandarias.

The number of unsubsidised homes sold increased by 3.2% with respect to 2013, whilst the number of subsidised house sales decreased by 6.2%.

By autonomous region

The autonomous communities that experienced the greatest increases in the number of house sales in 2014 were the Balearic Islands (18.5%), Navarra (13.9%) and the Canary Islands (12%). The largest decreases were recorded in La Rioja (-25.1%), Castilla-La Mancha (-12.6%) and Murcia (-6.3%).

The regions that recorded the most transactions per 100,000 inhabitants in 2014 were Valencia (1,182), the Balearic Islands (1,043) and the Canary Islands (1,015).

83.0% of the sales recorded in 2014 related to urban properties and 17% to rural properties. In the case of urban properties, 55% corresponded to homes. Sales of rural properties increased by 7.3% and sales of urban properties rose by 0.9%. Within this second group, housing was the property type that experienced the highest growth.

The experts expect the improvement in house sales to extend into 2015. The 21st Edition of the Real Estate Heart Rate Monitor (la XXI edición del Pulsímetro Inmobiliario) published by the Institute of Business Practices (el Instituto de Práctica Empresarial or IPE) last week, forecasts that sales will grow by 7.5% this year.

According to the IPE, house prices will grow by 2.5% in 2015. In addition, mortgage lending will increase by 2.5% and the construction of new builds will grow by 7.5%.

Sales have already increased. Will prices rise too? We will know on 9 March, when INE publishes data abour the average house price at the end of 2014.

Original story: Expansión (by Juanma Lamet)

Translation: Carmel Drake