APRIL 2010 | www.opp.org.uk
EXHIBITION
Residential investors return to MIPIM
An increased sense of confi dence pervaded this year’s MIPIM property exhibition in Cannes, France, with investors showing a greater eagerness to enter the residential sector. By the end of what is widely regarded
as the world’s premier property investment show, 17,984 participants had registered at and fi nal numbers are expected to be around 18,300 – at least not down on last year, which was MIPIM’s worst, but far from its peak of 28,500 in 2008. However, the hallmarks of a great MIPIM are usually the ‘Big Deal Announcements’, of which there were none this year The mood of participants was one
of cautious optimism. Gone was the paralyzing uncertainty that prevailed the year before and a sense of realism prevailed. “The market is subdued but realistic,” said Bob Vincent of Bahrain Bay Development BSC. “Whilst last year there was no idea what to do, there is now a sound understanding of exposure and a more professional approach to risk and
PORTALS
Web fi rm promises instant portal access
A property web design fi rm is promising to make it easier for agents to build a network of international portals with a new website management system. UK-based Property Website Designers
(PWD) creates and manages individual websites that allow agents to manage their property details online and instantly update this information with their partner portals. “Clients still have to sign up for
accounts with the portals, but once they do they can just select the properties on their website they want to update and hit
a button to send the details,” said director Stuart Sermon. PWD’s websites can currently link
to around 30 websites including international site Enormo, Rightmove and Primelocation in the UK, Canada- based Holprop, and Dutch sites HodakRealEstate and MySecondHome. Nick West, owner of Lanzarote agent
Lanzacasas, uses the service and said: “The added bonus is that I can now market my properties to multiple portals in minutes rather than days, enabling me to generate quality leads quickly.”
bond, the audience was told. Real fears of infl ation across Europe in particular are driving demand for city apartments there and there. But investor uncertainty remained a problem. With tenant failures and distress still on the cards, and no debt available to fi nance developments, there was a sense that the going will be slow into 2011. On the positive side, investor
Renewed enthusiasm | Investor num- bers at MIPIM were up to around 3,500.
off setting that risk.” The focus certainly seemed to be away
from the emerging markets and back to the old faithfuls like Paris, London and even Germany, despite revelations of a massive fall in investment there last year. Thursday afternoon’s Emerging Trends 2010 presentation had the panel agreeing that both institutional and private investors were decidedly more keen to invest in the residential sector. A residential investment at 4.5% is more attractive than a government
numbers at the show were up 10% on last year (3,500 investors from 1,118 investing companies) and two of the 180 newcomers were major sovereign wealth funds: China Investment Corporation and Mubadala Development Company (Abu Dhabi). International bankers were the real
attraction, however, having chosen MIPIM to discuss and evaluate their strategy for releasing the properties from their books on to the market. They achieved almost celebrity status as queues of private equity investors and brokers lined up to persuade them to part with their problem properties.
stephen.h@opp.org.uk | 23
NEWS IN BRIEF
KF joins iPhone race
Knight Frank has become the latest company to launch an international property search application for the iPhone. The app allows iPhone users to search through the agent’s portfolio of over 6,000 international homes by location or by lifestyle category, such as golf, ski or beach property. It was developed by the company’s in-house IT team and so incurred minimal costs. Users can view images, fl oor plans and full brochures of each property through the app. It can also determine the nearest properties to a user’s location through the iPhone’s global positioning satellite (GPS) funcion. Knight Frank’s launch follows hot on the heels of Hamptons International, who last month became the fi rst UK-based agent to off er an overseas search iPhone application.
Golf show to lure Russians
Russian property exhibition company aiGroup hopes to target the country’s high net worth individuals by combining its luxury property and golf shows. The company had planned to launch the fi rst Moscow Golf Show and Moscow Luxury Property Show this year, following the success of its golf and luxury travel reception evenings over the last few years. Instead, it is bringing the two exhibitions together to take advantage of the high cost of golf within Russia. “The average cost of a golf club membership in Russia is $100,000,” said aiGroup’s CEO Kim Waddoup . “The infrastructure for playing golf in the country is also developing very slowly, so more people are looking to go overseas where they can play golf for much less money.”
REA Group boosts revenue
Rapid response | Lanzacasas can now update property details instantly
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International property portal fi rm REA Group has posted strong results for the last six months. The company recorded a 42% in gross earnings and a 13% increase in turnover for the fi rst half of fi nancial year 2010. The company has maintained a substantial presence in Australia, where it holds approximately 95% of the market share with over 9,300 agents and is testing a revamped version of realestate. com.au. The fi rm saw growth in Italy, where it increased its agent numbers by over 1,000 to 9,140.
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