FEBRUARY 2011 |
www.opp.org.uk
INDUSTRY Paramount commissions By Geoff Hadwick
A major new sales opportunity is opening up in Murcia in south-eastern Spain, close to the site of the proposed Paramount Studios theme park. Called “The Lake Argos Residential Development ,” the scheme has already got planning permission to become a residential complex of 500 low density, detached holiday homes … each with its own 288 square metre garden plot. Maurice O’Sullivan of Pine Tree
Invest Ltd and Prime Terrain Ltd said: “We are looking for good quality sales agents and sales partners right now, with what we know is an excellent proposition.” Located about a 30-minute to 40-minute drive from the forthcoming Paramount theme park and the local airport, O’Sullivan believes that early investors in the development will be attracted “by the sheer affordability of what we are doing.” He is clear that “the key benefi ts of
this project are the land prices, which are very reasonable at £100 per square metre when the average in that part of
Sun, sea and cinema | Paramount’s new Murcia park aims to rival Disneyland Paris
Spain is £300 per square metre; the fact that Paramount is investing millions just up the road in what is going to be one of Europe’s biggest theme parks; the affordable nature of the villas we plan to build; and the 133% guaranteed buy- back option we are offering.” Villa prices start from £64,000, with
the top of the range villa slated for about £90,000, less than half the price of similar properties on the open market. Initially, O’Sullivan wants to get
50 new buyers to invest in the Lake Argos development as landowners and
he thinks that the low-risk, low-price threshold will generate interest. “Also, I think that we are at the
bottom of the market here in Spain,” he says. “We are getting a lot of interest from potential buyers in the Middle East and, once we have got a minimum of 50 owners, we can go ahead and set up the community.” “We know that we are a good bet,”
says O”Sullivan. The company is also offering sales agents excellent commission rates to sell Lake Argos and full marketing support packages.
Record breaking lead-gen year
A “heavy focus” on online lead generation and a “very international strategy” helped London-based overseas property agency Colordarcy to achieve a record-breaking year in 2010. The fi rm sold more than $60 million
of property last year, and attributes its success to fi nding the right sort of bargain hunters snapping up heavily discounted properties in the right sort of markets - places like Florida, Atlanta, Brazil, Egypt and Turkey. Colordarcy managing director
Loxley McKenzie told OPP: “We use our online lead generation approach to fi nd buyers no matter where they come from and then match them to places they fi nd attractive.” For instance, he says, “We worked
with lots of Russian investors last year, all very interested in Turkey. And when they buy, they tend to buy big and take a whole fl oor of an apartment
block. Indeed, McKenzie feels that Colordarcy is still trying to “catch up” with demand in Turkey, not least because “the potential there is huge. We fi nd that 70% LTV mortgages are easy to get and the average transaction price is about £60,000.” Other countries that performed well
were driven by bargain hunters looking to take advantage of 70% discounts in distressed markets like Florida. Colordarcy saw a 100% increase in
like-for-like sales on Florida villas with pools close to Disney and on tenanted apartments in Orlando. “The data in North America is so
good we can prove to the buyer that he is getting a price which has reached an historic low,” McKenzie told OPP. “The deals on offer are unbelievably good and you just can’t argue with the facts and the fi gures. “It really is a case of ‘cash is King’ and for those that are prepared to play
the waiting game the rewards will be high,” he adds. The company’s approach in Brazil is different. “We look for business-intensive areas where business people need to rent and for areas that the internal tourists like to visit. The company will continue to
work hard on maintaining its high google rankings (especially in North America) and on developing more online strategic alliances. “We work with credit card sites,
property bloggers and anyone else building an online community” says McKenzie.
INDUSTRY News | 11
NEWS IN BRIEF Thai land tax bill delayed
PLANS for a new land and building tax bill in Thailand are being postponed until the next government, according to a report in the Bangkok Post newspaper last month. Finance minister Korn Chatikavanij has admitted that his target to start tax collection on land and property by June could not be achieved. The bill is designed to reduce social inequality in Thailand.
Turkey discriminates
THE Turkish government has drawn up a new piece of draft legislation that is designed to deny Israeli and Greek overseas home-buyers the right to own property in the country. The Turkish government is, however, using the move to propose to its parliament that it should grant new unlimited rights for Iranians, Syrians and the citizens of the Gulf countries to purchase real estate in Turkey.
South Koreans look away
THE number of overseas properties bought by investors from South Korea more than doubled last year thanks to the country’s faster-than-expected economic recovery, offi cial government data revealed this week. According to data from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, South Koreans purchased more than US $583.2 million worth of overseas real estate during 2010, compared with $203.6 million in 2009.
German market popular THE number of overseas property buyers investing in large-scale German residential portfolios increased signifi cantly last year. According to Karsten Nemecek, managing director of corporate fi nance and valuation at Savills Germany, “every fi fth buyer of residential portfolios in 2010 came from abroad.” And “this refl ects the trend we have seen in the commercial real estate market over the past few months.”
Macau set to grow more
Macau’s property market will continue to grow in 2011, agency Jones Lang LaSalle reported this week in its Macau Annual Property Review. According to JLL, the value of the high-end residential market rose by 9.6% in 2010.
A global focus | helped Colordarcy
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