Spanish property sales fall by -36.1% compared to March 2007

Work starts on mixed-use development in Sofia

Commercial property prices in Europe could fall by 5-10% in 2008

Italy’s Government helps millions of home owners

Brazil’s credit rating has been upgraded

$1bn development going ahead in British Columbia

US house prices decline at a record pace

Countryside property business is booming in New Zealand

Commercial property prices in Europe could fall by 5-10% in 2008

Property funds firm Invista Real Estate recently said that commercial property prices in mainland Europe will fall by an average 5-10% this year and probably by more in Madrid and Barcelona.

Tony Smedley, who heads Invista’s stable of continental European funds, said property valuations were unlikely to tumble on the mainland as much as they had done in the UK, but they had nonetheless begun to adjust downwards.

He said there was scope for commercial buildings such as offices, malls, and industrial warehouses to fall by 5-7% in Germany, regional France, Belgium and the Netherlands, by 8-10% in Paris, and by more than 10% in Spain.

Average commercial property valuations in the UK are already down almost 17% from their peak last summer but the extent of the post-credit crunch real estate correction in the rest of Europe is less clear.

Italy’s Government helps millions of home owners

Italy’s Government has reached an agreement with banks to lower mortgage payments to their 2006 levels while converting variable-rate mortgages into fixed-rate ones.

Silvio Berlusconi, Prime Minister, said at a news conference: “We will introduce the possibility (for house-owners) to go back to the mortgage rates of 2006 with a lengthening of the time for which the mortgage will be paid.”

Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti thanked banks for their cooperation and said the measure would “bring relief to the millions of families who have found themselves in the trap of having a variable-rate mortgage but a fixed salary”.

After converting the mortgage from variable to fixed-rate, if average interest rates have risen at the end of the initially agreed mortgage duration the duration will be extended, Tremonti said, while if rates have fallen banks will reimburse the house-owner.

Tremonti said the details of the deal still had to be hammered out with banks and it was too soon to say when it would take effect.

Work starts on mixed-use development in Sofia

Nike Investment Group has started on its mixed-use development in Sofia’s Tsar Simeon Street.

The development will have 24 residential and four retail units - a total built-up space of 4,000sqm. Prices of the apartments in the development start at €1,500sqm, but the final price will be calculated separately for each unit. Each residential unit has a garage and 60% of them were already sold out, the company said in a statement.

Central Life has 14 one-bedroom apartments, nine two-bedroom apartments, two studio apartments and two penthouses. All retail parts of Central Life will be rented out as Nike Investment has no intentions to sell them so far.

Spanish property sales fall by -36.1% compared to March 2007

Property sales in Spain plummeted by -36.1% in March when compared with a year earlier, according to the National Statistics Institute (INE).

Official data in February also showed a -24.4% drop in property sales year-on-year. In March, there were 180,075 urban property transactions which is a -31.9% decline year-on-year and a -15.7% drop when compared to the previous month. INE believes that both figures could have been affected by the timing of the Easter holiday this year.

In addition, home loans declined by -41.9% in March from a year earlier to €9.975bn.

US house prices decline at a record pace

Declines in U.S. home prices accelerated in Q1 2008, falling a record 1.7% from the end of 2007, according to the house price index from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.

Also, the report said that house purchases have fallen by a record 3.1% in the quarter from a year earlier. It was only the second quarter of price declines since the index started in 1991. The price index first declined on a year-on-year basis in the final quarter of 2007, when it dropped 0.45%.

In addition, the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index has shown larger declines for major U.S. metropolitan areas, but analysts say the Government’s index provides a more comprehensive reading of nationwide housing market. That’s particularly true for midwestern states, where prices did not skyrocket and so have been less affected by the real estate downturn.

The Government index is calculated by tracking mortgage loans of $417,000 or less that are bought or backed by the government-sponsored mortgage-finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Countryside property business is booming in New Zealand

According to PGG Wrightson Real Estate, the countryside property business is booming in New Zealand.

The company recently announced that it sold $2.3bn of rural property in the 12 months to 31 st March 2008, which is an increase of 65% on the previous year. The booming dairy sector is partly behind the success of this market.

According to Stuart Cooper, general manager of PGG Wrightson Real Estate, the company sold 19 rural properties worth $10m or more during the period, as well as a further 63 properties in excess of $5m. Property sales totalled $1.813bn for the period, which is up 85.4% on the previous year.

$1bn development going ahead in British Columbia

The City of Colwood in British Columbia, Canada, has given fourth and final reading of a bylaw which will allow City Centre Colwood, a $1bn development on 12 acres of Vancouver Island, to proceed.

When completed, the project will include over 3.5m sq ft of commercial, residential and amenity space and will give the region a new city centre.

Les Bjola of the developer Turner Lane Development Corporation said: “The development will have a significant impact on economic growth in the region, attracting new companies and residents from across our country and others. We plan to achieve the highest standards in social, economic and environmental sustainability in this progressive new community.”

When completed, the development will include new office and residential buildings, a shopping, dining and entertainment district, and substantial underground parking. The on-site work/live population will have easy access to public transportation, pedestrian ways and major highways.

The development will include a mix of low and high-rise buildings which will be built in phases with construction expected to start early next year.

Brazil’s credit rating has been upgraded

According to Nubricks.com, Brazil’s credit rating has been upgraded and it expects Brazil’s economic prosperity to increase which should, in turn, lead to an improved property market.