Spain sees increase in residential property sales of +16%

French property viewings on the increase

Q1 2010 sees global hotel investment market rise by +53%

Belize to see increase in property sales to foreign buyers

Spain sees increase in residential property sales of +16%

The Spanish property market saw an increase in residential property sales of +16% in February 2010 compared to February 2009, according to the National Institute of Statistics.

There were 35,720 home sales in February 2010, of which 21,368 of them were newly built and 19,665 being re-sales. There was a +79% increase in transactions from just two regions. Catalonia saw a +43% rise and Madrid saw an increase of +36%, however the market continued to shrink or stagnate in many coastal areas popular with foreign buyers.

Malaga and Alicante saw year-on-year increases of +3% and +3.8% respectively and Andalucia saw a +7% rise. Granada and Cadiz were both up +14% and Valencia saw +23% growth.

Since the peaks of December 2007, average prices are down -16.2% nationally, -22.5% on the Mediterranean coast, and -13.6% in the Canaries and the Balearics.

Analysts predict that the market has touched bottom and is starting to recover after two years of decline, however the improvement is patchy and volumes are still -47% below what they were in 2007.

French property viewings on the increase

There was an increase in interest for French property during February 2010, according to Francepropertyshop.

The company saw an increase of +30% in ‘unique’ visitors viewing properties on the site whilst page impressions rose by +65% compared to a year ago.

Chris Bishop of Latitudes French Property Agents said: “We’ve also definitely seen an increase in viewings for April. In fact, they’ve doubled for this month and enquiries have also increased. People are realising that now is a good time to buy due to the availability of euro mortgages and because, when the exchange rate improves and they pay back the mortgage, they will ultimately reduce the price they paid for the property. So now it is a question of looking at better financing packages for the purchase and not looking to the exchange rate to give them the bargain they were looking for.”

In March, it recorded the highest ever number of properties advertised for sale, having gone above the 6,000 mark.

Q1 2010 sees global hotel investment market rise by +53%

The global hotel investment market saw a +53% increase in transaction volumes during Q1 2010 as they reached $2.8bn compared to the $1.8bn transacted in Q1 2009, according to Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).

Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) remained the most active region as it recorded $1.1bn of hotel sales, a +46% increase for the same period in 2009, whilst the Americas region recorded Q1 2010 sales worth $991m, a +70% increase with the Asia Pacific region seeing $736m in sales, giving a rise of +43%.

Arthur de Haast, global CEO of JLL Hotels, said: “With a more positive investor sentiment for hotel real estate assets, transactional activity has accelerated significantly since the start of the year. As the global credit markets have begun to ease there is a greater weight of capital targeting the market for acquisition opportunities. We have also witnessed a noticeable increase in stock being offered to the market with increased sale activity from banks and other lenders who have taken control of more assets over the last year in an attempt to reduce their hotel loan portfolios.”

Institutional investors remained the most prolific investors across EMEA in line with 2009, as they sought assets in secure Western European markets with stable incomes, and were responsible for more than a third of buying activity in the region. In the Americas investor interest remains strong from domestic buyers but also international groups, which accounted for 34% of all transaction during Q1 2010.

De Haast said: “The global hotel investment market during 2009 was plagued by a deficient debt market and a lack of quality stock, but the start of 2010 is already showing healthy signs for transactional activity, which should set the tone for the remainder of the year.  While buyers and lenders remain cautious, funding is increasingly available for the right deals and coveted prime assets in key gateway cities are becoming more available driven partly by the sale of individual hotels by the banking industry, but also a better balance between buyer and vendor expectations on pricing.”

Residential property in Belize, Central America, will see a huge increase in sales to foreign buyers in 2010, according to Property Frontiers.

Due to a revival of Latin American economies and an increase in international tourism in the region, the country is predicted to become popular amongst international investors especially as real estate values grew by +15% per year inland, and by up to +30% in coastal locations.

David Cox, Property Frontiers’ director, said: "Although local agents claim that only a slight fall in Belize real estate prices took place in 2008, the Coldwell Banker Index says the average price of four-bedroom houses in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, was -50% lower in 2008 than in 2007. While this figure is not representative of all markets, it does give an indication as to the bargains available to foreign buyers.”