MarbellaVistaHermosa

It’s downs:

We might just as well start with the bad news and get it out of the way. Last year the Supreme Court gave a lot of homeowners in Marbella a terrible shock by annulling the zoning plan (PGOU) of 2010. In that plan more than 16.500 illegally constructed houses were retroactively legalised.

Back in 2010 Town Hal was convinced that the new zoning plan would take care of all the “loose ends” related to the urbanistic irregularities from the Gil y Gil era. Not everybody agreed with the chosen methods however and contested the new plan in court. Now 5 years later they were proven right and all over sudden 16.500 homeowners have trouble falling asleep at night. Their houses are considered illegal again and would be up for demolishing!

Moreover, new building permissions/plans based on the 2010 zoning will be under scrutiny and most likely will be shelved for the time being. All in all, a lot of uncertainty for investors.

It’s ups:

Before we all get gloomy and discard Marbella as an attractive place for investing (and dwelling!) all together, we should keep in mind that these problems are not new and certainly not unsolvable.

First of all, nobody will demolish 16.500 houses. That would bankrupt Marbella and probably the rest of Andalucia, as they are responsible. There would also be the small matter of the real estate tax (IBI) on the illegal houses they have been collecting for the last 5 years! This means that they will come up with a new plan to legalize the houses. There is simply no alternative, so a new plan will come, hopefully within 2 years.

With regard to the urbanistic paralysis caused by the Court’s decision, townhal has decided to adapt the old zoning plan (PGOU ’86) to “la Ley de Ordenación Urbanística de Andalucía (LOUA)”. By doing that they will be able to provide investors and homeowners with sufficient guaranties. The necessary paperwork should be ready by the end of this year.

All this fuss hasn’t prevented investors to do their job. According to El DiarioSur more than 100 million euros have changed hands for the acquisition of building in the month of november of last year. In december Platinum Estates Group from Hong Kong bought 170.000 m2 beach property in Las Chapas, to build a 5 star hotel. Total investment has been estimated to be 200 million euros.

All these investments were related to plots however, that were considered building land under the old zoning plan of 1984. If this is a taste of what is to come, once the new zoning plan will be in place (probably by the end of 2018), real estate in Marbella will definitely be in the centre of the investment community for many years into the future.

More and more real estate pros are planning to use drones professionally to promote their business. It’s a great way to take photos or video of a property you’re trying to sell.
So offers drone manufacturing company Parrot a sneak peek at its upcoming MiniDrone, which can be controlled by a smartphone or tablet to shoot photos and video while flying up to 50 meters high. It is expected to be cheaper than the company’s upgraded $300 A.R. Drone. Also, global drone manufacturer DJI’s Phantom 2 Vision, going for about € 900,-, can shoot 14-megapixel images and record high-definition video. Continue reading →

As interest in global hotspots like London, Hong Kong, Singapure and New York seems to be waning of late, overseas investors show renewed appetite for real estate in coastal areas and prime City.

The latest data from the Bank of Spain showed that foreign purchases in 2013 exceeded €6bn for the first time since 2004. That represents more than a fifth of all Spanish residential sales. Moreover online searches for properties in Spain increased by 29% over the first three months of 2014 according to Knight Frank’s Global Property Search. Continue reading →

Apparently the “smart money” thinks that real estate prices have dropped enough and have shown a keen interest in distressed properties lately.

As we already mentioned in our post of April 16th , not only big investors like Blackstone have been pouring money into Spanish (commercial) real estate, but also billionaires George Soros and John Paulson have recently invested $127 million apiece in Hispania, a real estate investment trust (Reit), which will shortly list on the Madrid stock market. Continue reading →

Multi-purpose building plot in Marbella

Tucked away between two luxury residential area’s there is a prime peace of real estate available for:

• Promoters who want to develop this building plot into a high end residential area, either by building top of the range villa’s or apartments.
• Insurance companies and pension funds who want to establish a full service urbanization for wealthy pensioners.
• Long term investors who want to protect their wealth by buying a valuable property with no maintenance costs or taxes. They will not have to worry about insolvent banks and/or inflation anymore.
• Wealthy individuals who want a prime peace of property under the Andalusian sun with optimal privacy.

In conclusion therefore you might say that the building plot is suitable for long- and shortterm optimists, companies in search of solutions for their stakeholders, shortterm pessimists looking for protection and individuals in need of privacy.

Unique characteristics of the plot

• Situated in one of the most prestigious cities of the world. Marbella is known as a first class luxury resort with a vibrant international community.
• At 25 minutes drive from Malaga international airport
• Surrounded by golf courses and luxury hotels.
• In the direct neighborhood international schools, high quality restaurants en shops.
• Excellent seaview
• Natural barrier at the back of the plot against noise from the tollroad
• Shaped in the form of a horseshoe, with the open end pointing at sea, making it a secluded area.

For more information click here

(Google auteur)

Bad assets weighing on bank

Spanish banks are stuck with as much as 40 billion euros of repossessed real estate are under increasing pressure to sell as prices fall and investors return to the market. High maintenance costs and complicated squatting rules form an important incentive to get rid of 180,000 units of foreclosed properties, more than 50,000 parking spaces, 10,500 retail outlets and more than 6,000 storage units.(acc. to a report of Aura Ree) Continue reading →