Tag: second homes

Brexit Deters Brits from Buying Homes in Andalucía

17 March 2019 – ABC Sevilla

The residential market in Andalucían is booming, despite the slowdown in demand from British buyers. The regional market is split into two clear segments – the market for second-hand homes for holiday use along the Costa del Sol, centred around Marbella and Estepona – and the market for primary residences across the rest of the autonomous region, where Málaga, Córdoba and Sevilla stand out with the most activity.

In the former, despite the decrease in demand from British purchasers due to Brexit, there has been a notable increase in buyers from the north of Europe, especially from Belgium and the Nordic countries.

In the latter, the local population, which primarily comprises families aged between 45 and 55 years old, with savings and stable incomes, is driving demand. For example, house sales in Córdoba grew by 16% in 2018, according to INE.

Original story: ABC Sevilla (by E. Freire)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Taylor Wimpey to Invest €70M in 8 Developments in 2019

22 January 2019 – Eje Prime

Taylor Wimpey is setting out its roadmap for 2019. The Spanish subsidiary of the British real estate group is going to launch eight developments with an initial investment of €71 million during the course of this year, according to comments made by Javier Ballester, the CEO of the company, speak to Eje Prime.

The company is planning to build between 350 and 400 homes in several parts of the country. Specifically, Taylor Wimpey has opted for areas where it already has a presence, namely: the Costa del Sol, Alicante, Mallorca and Ibiza. Moreover, according to the executive, “it is possible that, if we obtain the building permits in 2019, the group will launch three more developments, one in Marbella and two more in Mallorca”.

Taylor Wimpey is whereby reaffirming its commitment to the Spanish second home market, where it has been operating for more than seventy years. In fact, the company is currently one of the main property developers in the country that is building assets on beach fronts and overlooking golf courses,

In 2018, the company handed over 342 homes, 14% more than in 2017. It is currently marketing four developments in Alicante, in the municipalities of Torrevieja, Villajoyosa and Elche (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by Berta Seijo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Taylor Wimpey España will Launch 6 New Developments in H1 2019

7 December 2018 – Eje Prime

Taylor Wimpey is going to continue betting on second homes in Spain. The British property developer is going to launch six new developments in the country during the first half of 2019. The projects will contain 330 homes in total and will be located in three main areas: the Balearic Islands, the Costa del Sol and the Costa Blanca.

The real estate company, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, will start work on the three projects in the Balearic Islands, two on the Costa del Sol and a sixth on the Costa Blanca next year. “As always, our priority is to look for locations on the beachfront with access to golf facilities”, explained the company in a statement.

Specialising in international buyers, Taylor Wimpey España has received reservations from 37 different nationalities this year. Of all the countries, Germany stands out, where 27% of its clients have come from, and the United Kingdom, which has accounted for 12% of all the reservations made.

With more than 6,000 homes constructed over its six-decade history, the property developer is listed on the London Stock Exchange and undertakes its developments using own funds, a fact that “influences” buyers, according to Marc Pritchard, the company’s sales director. “For buyers, it is a guarantee of the development’s success since the investment is not affected by possible fluctuations in the market”, said the executive.

In 2018, Taylor Wimpey arrived in Sotogrande as an extension of its presence on the Costa del Sol, as revealed by Eje Prime. In the four months since its project Pier Sotogrande has been on the market, the property developer has managed to obtained reservations for 30% of the 56 homes that will make up the promotion.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

The Province of Málaga is Surfing the Crest of the Residential Investment Wave

16 November 2018 – Eje Prime

Málaga is no longer all about the Costa del Sol when it comes to the housing market. The provincial capital has emerged as a benchmark in the province, becoming a new magnet for primary residences, in partnership with the Costa del Sol, where demand for holiday and beach homes has been reactivated. The Mediterranean Real Estate Fair (Simed), which is opening today in Málaga, is a good pulse meter for that growth. In total, more than 160 real estate companies are going to market more than 22,000 homes during the course of the weekend at Málaga’s Palace of Conferences and Fairs (‘Palacio de Ferias y Congresos de Málaga’ or Fycma).

The increase in the number of exhibitors in the room, which are going to occupy 9,000 m2 of surface area, is a reflection of the current climate in Málaga in this new real estate cycle. The 70% increase in space leased by real estate firms since the last edition goes hand in hand with the rise of more than 10% in house prices in the Malagan residential market.

Some data, such as that from the proptech firm Urban Data Analytics, indicate an increase of 19.4% in house prices in Málaga during the first quarter of the year, whilst the Ministry of Development reported that the rise amounted to 10.8%. The public ministry estimated that the price per square metre in the capital amounted to more than €1,500/m2, a value that has not depreciated in the subsequent months.

According to the real estate consultancy Savills Aguirre Newman, which has just opened a regional office on the iconic Calle Marqués de Larios, Málaga is growing from its epicentre. The provincial capital saw its supply of residential new build properties rise by 23.8% in 2017, with more than 4,000 homes planned, and that has repositioned it as the main city in the south of Spain for real estate, surpassing even Sevilla.

The new developments that are being constructed and the high demand in the city, which is undergoing a “metamorphosis”, are going to allow the province of Málaga to exceed the 19,464 homes sold in 2007, its best performance to date, according to the report by Savills Aguirre Newman. Nowadays, property developers and funds who want to acquire land are investing in the capital in light of the demand that exists. “That did not happen before, the residential motor was almost always focused 90% on the Costa del Sol”, says the director of the consultancy firm in Málaga, José Félix Pérez-Peña, in the same report.

The prime area of the capital is its central zone. There, the most expensive square metres are for multi-family homes, which amount to €3,000/m2, whilst in the East of Málaga, the reference area for local buyers, the price of single-family homes amounts to around €2,600/m2.

The large property developers are investing heavily in Málaga

None of the major property developers want to miss out on the opportunity that investing in Málaga represents. Neinor Homes, Aedas Homes and Metrovacesa, amongst others, have projects underway in the area and their intention is to establish themselves with more investments.

Aedas has landed in the capital with 87 homes in Teatinos, the fashionable neighbourhood in the Málagan residential sector, which has great potential for growth. Meanwhile, Metrovacesa has put four projects on the Costa del Sol up for sale and has announced an investment of €175 million in a 250-home development in Torre del Río.

Meanwhile, Neinor Homes is planning 1,500 homes in a dozen developments, comprising both primary residences and second homes in Málaga Capital as well as in several towns along the Costa del Sol, including Estepona, Marbella and Benahavís, amongst others.

Original story: Eje Prime (by J. Izquierdo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Taylor Wimpey España Invests €68M in Several Developments on the Costa del Sol

30 October 2018 – Eje Prime

Taylor Wimpey España is going for gold on the Costa del Sol. The Spanish subsidiary of the British real estate group, which specialises in second homes for foreigners, has invested €68 million in the launch of several residential developments along the coast of Málaga.

The company has started construction of projects such as Horizon Golf, a complex comprising 55 terraced houses in Mijas; Grandview, a complex comprising sixty lofts and apartments, also in Mijas; Green Golf, a residential development comprising 48 terraced houses in Estepona; and Pier Sotogrande, a residential complex comprising 64 apartments in Sotogrande, in Cádiz.

Taylor Wimpey España’s developments are mainly aimed at British buyers looking for second homes right by golf courses. In fact, Málaga and Cádiz account for more than 71% of all the golf courses in Andalucía, according to a report from New Trends in Golf Tourism: vision to 2020, compiled by the Confederation of Entrepreneurs of Andalucía (CEA), in collaboration with the Ministry for Tourism and Sport.

Spain is still the preferred destination for Brits to buy a home, as highlighted by the UK embassy. There are around 300,000 British people in the whole of Spain and “they are still the main overseas buyers of homes, accounting for 15% of the total”, said Marc Pritchard, Director of Sales and Marketing at Taylor Wimpey España.

In the ranking of overseas nationalities who purchase homes in Spain, the British outrank the French, who account for 8.64%; the Germans (7.77%); the Belgians (6.39%); and the Swedish, who remain as historical investors, accounting for 6.38%.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Neinor Backs Costa del Sol with Construction of 1,500 Homes

2 July 2018 – Eje Prime

Neinor Homes is joining the wave along the Costa del Sol. The residential property developer has plans to construct a dozen promotions in the area, comprising 1,504 homes, which will be built over the next few months.

Estepona will be the nerve centre of the commitment on the Costa del Sol made by the listed real estate company led by Juan Velayos. With a mix plan, which will see the firm promote first and second homes for mainly international clients, Neinor will build up to 486 homes in the Estepona municipality.

Casares, with 134 homes; Vélez-Málaga, with 104 homes; Marbella, with 49 homes; and Benahavis, with 45 homes, are the other towns where Neinor Homes will be active along the Costa del Sol. Moreover, the property developer will build 558 new primary residence homes in the capital, Málaga, spread over three projects, according to Cinco Días.

Beyond the Málagan province, the real estate company led by Velayos will build another second residence project in Mojácar (Almería), where it will construct 96 homes. The director, who recently expressed his optimism about the future of the Spanish residential market, has the Israeli fund Adar Capita as its main shareholder, with 28.7% of the shares.

Neinor Homes has a plan underway to hand over 1,000 homes this year; another 2,000 in 2019; 4,000 homes in 2020 and another 8,000 between 2021 and 2022. In total, it will invest more than €1.5 billion in the purchase of land, as revealed by Eje Prime. Through its offices in Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Valencia, Málaga and Córdoba, the property developer has 48 projects under construction at the moment.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Taylor Wimpey Invests €95M in Costa del Sol to Meet Demand from Brits

14 June 2018 – Eje Prime

Taylor Wimpey España is going to invest €95 million in seven of the developments that it has up for sale on the Costa del Sol. The property developer is strengthening its commitment to the Malagan coast after verifying that Brits, one of its main client cohorts, have doubled their investment in housing in Spain.

“Demand is increasing in general”, explained the Director of Sales and Marketing at  Taylor Wimpey España, Marc Pritchard. The executive also added that “although the Brexit effect caused Brits to buy less in 2017, the fear is disappearing”.

Another important factor in the evolution of house purchases by Brits is the devaluation of the pound, which last year made investment in Spanish housing more expensive for buyers from the islands.

Nevertheless, Spain is still the preferred destination for Brits looking to buy a home, something that is reiterated by the British Embassy in the country. Across the whole of Spain, there are around 300,000 British citizens and “they are still the main overseas buyers of homes, accounting for 15% of the total”, says Pritchard.

In the ranking of foreign nationalities who buy homes in Spain, the Brits exceed the French, who account for 8.64% of the total; the Germans, with 7.77%; the Belgians, with 6.39%; and the Swedes, who continue as a historical investor, accounting for 6.38% of the total.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Taylor Wimpey Enters Sotogrande & Strengthens its Presence in Ibiza

28 May 2018 – Eje Prime

Taylor Wimpey España is entering one of the most luxurious urbanisations in Spain. The Spanish subsidiary of the British real estate group is backing Sotogrande, synonymous with luxury housing, in its business plan for 2018, which also includes the launch of around twenty developments in the Balearic Islands, Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca, the three markets where it already has a presence and “in which we will continue working”, says Reyes Coll, Marketing Director at Taylor Wimpey in Spain, speaking to Eje Prime.

So far this year, the real estate company has launched eight new projects. Four of them are located on the Costa del Sol, three in Mallorca and the eighth is in Alicante. The aim of the company is to “launch between five and ten more promotions before the end of the year”, says Coll.

Taylor Wimpey’s main business in Spain is second homes for foreigners, which account for more than 90% of the company’s housing reservations.

In the Balearic Islands, where land is scarce and prices are growing rapidly, the company is finalising the requirements necessary to bring three new projects onto the market: Cala Lliteras, Cala Vinyes and Cala Gració. The latter is located in Ibiza, an island on which the real estate only has 22 homes to date, in Can Misses. The other developments in the Balearic region are located in Mallorca (…).

Almost twenty developments on the market

Without taking into account the aforementioned projects and those in the pipeline, the real estate company already has 19 developments up for sale in the country. Mallorca and the Costa del Sol are the two regions where most of its developments are located, with seven residential projects up for sale, whilst the company has five urbanisations on the market on the Costa Blanca.

Taylor Wimpey España’s business depends on foreigners interested in buying a second home in the country. This profile of buyer is growing again in line with the recovery of the economy. Indeed, the company recorded a 10% increase in its portfolio of international clients. “German, Scandinavian, British, Russian and Belgian buyers all stood out”, explains Coll. The General Council of Notaries explained recently in a report that those nationalities account for the fact that 20% of the homes purchased in Spain are acquired by foreigners. In 2017 alone, the company completed operations involving new homes with buyers from 32 different countries.

In the case of buyers from the United Kingdom, players in the Spanish residential market were fearful of the consequences that Brexit might have on sales. Nevertheless, sources at Taylor Wimpey explain that reservations from Brits have increased over the last nine months.

40% growth in post-crisis reserves

The end of the real estate crisis has also arrived for Taylor Wimpey España, whose reservations grew by 40% in 2015 and have continued to increase ever since (…).

According to its roadmap, the company is not planning any changes to the line of business that it has operated for sixty years. The property developer will continue to specialise in the construction of apartments and terraced homes in the most touristy areas of the country and will finance them solely using own funds.

Original story: Eje Prime (by J. Izquierdo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Lar Launches Fund to Coinvest in Residential Segment in Spain & Latam

12 March 2018 – Expansión

Founded in 1975 by Felipe Pereda, the real estate developer Lar was one of the few high-profile companies during the boom that survived the subsequent crash. Having become the manager of one of the largest real estate companies on the stock market, Socimi Lar España, the company owned by the Pereda family has not been neglecting its house building activity. “We are currently working on residential projects in seven countries. At the global level, we are working on projects involving 18,000 units”, explains Miguel Amo, Director General of the Lar Group.

This extensive portfolio also includes the Spanish market, where the company has focused on the residential business, after years of investing in shopping centres (it has a clause not to invest in commercial assets beyond the Socimi). “The first thing we did when we saw the signs of recovery in the market in 2013 was to team up with Fortress to acquire a portfolio containing almost 1,400 homes and plots of land spread all over Spain from Sareb. With that batch, we created a FAB (banking asset fund), which expires this year, with the delivery of the final homes. Next, we entered the luxury business, with Lagasca 99, a project that we are managing and in which we also hold a stake through the Socimi. And, with the market recovering, we saw the opportunity for new build projects”, said Amo.

First fund

Last year, after selecting several plots of land, Lar opted to create a fund, called Acacias Inmuebles, to promote seven projects with 450 homes in total. “The vehicle was created in July 2017 with €35 million and we have now invested 100%. We manage it and we own 30% of the vehicle (…) and the rest is owned by investors from Spain and Peru (…), explains the head of Lar.

In total, Acacias Inmuebles is going to promote five primary residence projects over the next three years in Madrid, Valencia, Málaga, Torremolinos and Sevilla, and two other second-home developments in the Malaga towns of Benalmádena and Mijas (…).

The success of that first vehicle has caused the real estate company to launch a second fund. “We are asking for a minimum capital investment of €500,000. It is a fund without any intermediary liquidity, but which will distribute dividends when the projects are handed over and the investments will be recovered within a period of between three and five years, with an approximate annual return of 12%”.

Besides Acacias and Lagasca, Lar owns other plots for the development of an additional 400 homes. “They are located in Móstoles (Madrid) and Valladolid; in the case of the latter, we will likely sell off some of the land to be developed by third parties”, said Amo. In addition to its activity in Spain, the majority of Lar’s developments are based abroad, primarily in Latin America.

Specifically, Lar, which was one of the first Spanish real estate companies to branch out overseas (in 1998) has 9,000 homes under construction in Mexico, another 5,000 in Peru and 1,300 in Colombia (…) “We are also building in Romania. We always do it by ourselves, in conjunction with a local team, and we are very happy with the results so far”.

Revenues

Thanks to all of these projects, Lar had forecast revenues of between €400 million and €450 million in 2017, which would be added to the fees received for the management of the Socimi. “2017 was a good year in all areas, we sold 1,500 homes in private contracts and 1,300 were notarised. This year, we will hand over 1,500 homes, of which between 200 and 300 will be in Spain”, highlights Amo.

Lar is also committed to buying land for its subsequent management. “In Spain, we are also going to intensify our investment in land. We think that developable land is running out all over Spain, after 10 years with no investment and, so there is a need to “manufacture” land. We want to acquire plots for at least 1,000 homes and if we can buy land for 3,000 units, then even better”.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Quabit Buys Land In Málaga For €23.7M To Build 674 Homes

6 September 2017 – El Economista

Quabit is pushing ahead with its plans to purchase land by signing of a major operation in Málaga, where it has acquired several plots of land for €23.7 million, with the capacity to build 674 homes.

30% of the operation will be paid for using shares through a non-monetary capital increase and the remaining 70% will be financed through support from funds advised by the investment firm Avenue Capital Group.

The US company granted Quabit a financing line of up to €60 million for the acquisition of buildable land, which represented a major boost for the property developer, one of the few entities that managed to survive the severe crisis that hit the sector.

Altogether, the new plots have a buildable surface area of 79,000 m2, which will allow Quabit to construct 674 homes (147 detached family homes, 91 terraced family homes and 436 homes in “city garden” type blocks), according to a statement issued by the real estate company chaired by Félix Abánades.

Quabit’s new plots of residential land, which also include a retail plot, account for the majority of the Las Lomas del Flamenco sector, where urbanisation work has already started.

The product that the firm will construct in this area will focus mainly on second homes, aimed at foreigners for the most part, the star segment of the growth in the real estate sector in the province of Málaga, according to the most recent statistics published.

Las Lomas del Flamenco is located in the Malagan municipality of Mijas, 30 km away from Málaga capital, with views over the Mediterranean Sea and the Bay of Málaga towards Marbella and very close to Mijas Golf, one of the most popular and prestigious golf complexes on the Costa del Sol.

This operation follows a wave of purchases already carried out by the company during the first half of this year. In this way, between January and June, Quabit acquired residential land worth €39.1 million, with a buildable surface area of 119,518 m2 to construct 1,097 homes.

2017 is proving to be a key year in the expansion process of the company, which plans to construct 4,000 homes in total between now and 2021, to fulfill its business plan. For the time being, the evolution of the company’s sales rate is supporting the execution of its plan, given that at the end of June, it was selling between 40 and 60 homes per month, which represents a pre-sales figure that is more than 20% higher than the total commercial portfolio.

Original story: El Economista (by Alba Brualla)

Translation: Carmel Drake