Retail investment up

European retail investment up

European retail real estate investment is up 38% quarter on quarter to €6.7 billion with demand for prime retail to remain relatively strong during the last quarter of the year, according to a new report.

The third quarter report from Jones Lang LaSalle says that 2011 year end volumes are likely to exceed €28 billion, up by 35% on last year and significantly above the €12.3 billion recorded in 2009.

It reports that retail real estate investment remained strong throughout the summer, despite the volatile European recovery and economic headwinds that continued to face the sector. Direct investment in retail real estate in Europe during the third quarter of 2011 reached €6.7 billion, up from €4.9 billion in the second quarter of 2011 and significantly up on the €3.8 billion transacted in the third quarter of 2010.

Total investment volumes for the year to date now stand at €20.4 billion, up by 45% over the same period last year, almost on a par with total 2010 volumes and far exceeding full year volumes of €12.3 billion in 2009.

Source: Property Wire

Buyers looking at Spain once more

Buyers looking to return to Sapin and Tenerife

Buyers looking to return to Spain and Tenerife

Spain was last at the top in June and it returned victorious in August, claiming first place in  a monthly snapshot of the most popular countries, July’s winner, the USA,  was second. Despite being the subject of more bad publicity than virtually any other country during the credit crunch, buyers are starting to look to Spain once again.

Favouring traditionally popular destinations, international buyers are looking once more to markets such as Spain and France and Brits are proving that the love affair with Spain is far from over.

International mortgage firm Conti revealed that interest in Spanish properties accounted for 22 per cent of the total information requests so far this year, second only to France and up from 14 per cent in 2008.

Assessing the prospects for British buyers in Spain, the company said, “Buyers are in a strong position due to the number of homes available, low interest rates and the opportunity to negotiate price reductions from motivated vendors. “Sensible investments carried out on a long-term basis have a good chance of bringing in healthy returns.”

Prospective buyers are now chasing long term gains and as it had been hit so hard by the global recession, prices could remain low and offer good bargain potential for years to come. Cash buyers have been tipped as the ones most likely to be able to pick up a real bargain in the country as they don’t have to worry about mortgage financing, can bargain hard with struggling developers and can move the transaction quickly along.

The TINSA survey, which prides itself on being ‘Spain’s most reliable guide to property values,’ has found that the decline in prices has stabilized.

Spanish cities are tipped for a brighter future over the next few years, with the Assures Financieros Internacionales (AFI), suggesting that property prices in cities may rise to previous levels during 2010.

Once the glut of unsold properties in Spain is shifted, this will help to aid the recovery and push the market back up in 2010. This of course will also help the market in Tenerife too.