JANUARY 2012 |
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to Christine Petersen, Head of Referrals and International Relocation at Sotheby’s International Realty, based in the UK.
“While northern Europeans are
active in the London market, we do not see them so often, compared to say Americans, Russians or Arabs,” she said. However: “Given the extensive network of Sotheby’s International Realty with 130 offi ces across Europe, we are able to analyse markets across Europe that attract buyers from all nationalities.” “Our southern European offi ces in particular our offi ces on the Costa del Sol in Spain are seeing a large increase of buyers from northern Europe including Scandinavia, The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.” Petersen adds that German buyers are indeed changing their habits, and are not looking for renovation jobs. “Germany is an interesting one, because they are historically a nation of renters, but that is changing as the Mediterranean sunshine proves to be an increasingly attractive draw,” she says. “These buyers are mostly in
their forties, and they are buying contemporary homes in mint condition rather than older properties requiring work.” “As the fi gures indicate, Northern Europeans are buying but the areas they are currently focusing on tend to have warmer climates than London.” So how can you attract them? Julian Houchin, commercial director at iO Adria’s Dubrovnik Sun Gardens resort, is currently implementing a variety of methods. “Given that our resort attracts guests from over 92 international markets it will come as no surprise that Scandinavia and the northern European markets continue to grow and we are seeing continued interest from these markets for our real estate offering,” he told OPP. “We have a very detailed in resort marketing plan to attract all in-house resort guests during their stay and more and more Scandinavians and northern Europeans are registering interest in our offering.” “We have defi ned our key target markets, many of which are based in and around northern Europe and we have detailed activity plans per geographic source market including continuing to build our broker network in each of these markets.” “We have also developed several
BUSINESS
lead gen programmes now starting to generate some strong interest as well as gaining some very positive press in these markets.” “We shall work with our key partners to create marketing collateral in relevant languages to support their key activities and our in-resort team speak a variety of languages including: German, Dutch and Swedish.”
Getting wide press coverage and on-the-ground agent networks is also key for Houchin. “For the so called DACH countries, consisting of Germany, Switzerland and Austria, the Benelux countries, as well as for Sweden, we have established a good network of branded and high-image real estate brokers and have established co-operative marketing initiatives,
Developer profi le
our B2B agent network in this region. We already know that a growing percentage of our resort guests come from Scandinavia and we are starting to see more and more interest for our real estate offering.”
“If you want to understand your customer, you need to visit and meet them on their turf”
And in the Benelux countries? “For the Dutch broker network, covering also Belgium, personalised broker support has been produced and a series of events has been planned for January in southern Netherlands, with Dutch and Belgian second homes investors,
Danish buyers’ profi le
At Bolig i Udlandet’s September show in Fredericia, the organisers carried out interviews to determine what the Danish buyer
wants...and where. Here’s what they found:
- Average household income: Danish Krone (DKK) 888,000 (€119,000); - 83% said they were planning to buy property abroad, with 15% undecided; - 44% of respondents were looking to buy overseas property within one year, while 29% were looking to strike a deal within two and 17% had a timeframe of three years. In terms of property type, Villas and condos are equally popu- lar (39% each). 15% of respondents wanted to buy fractional property; - The average price level respondents looking to spend was DKK 1,492,000 (€220,000); - The majority (31%) were looking to finance their purchase through bank/ credit institutions, while 26% were prepared to pay cash; - Preferred destinations include; Spain, France, Thailand, Italy, Turkey, USA, Cyrpus, Greece, Egypt, Austria and Portugal; Based on 225 at the fair. Analysis not representative of Denmark as a whole.
offering the Dubrovnik Sun Gardens product to their clients, and potential clients through their various marketing platforms, and activities.”
“The German speaking markets are covered additionally with a cooperation with Germany’s successful Engel & Völkers agency, and all of this will be underpinned by a press blitz in German speaking Europe in January/February.” “Austria and selected parts of Germany, such as the Munich region, is defi ned as one of our fi ve main target markets, and additional activities there will include documents in German language, personalized broker collateral, and a very personal approach to each of our key broker partners.” “We believe there is a strong appetite from the Northern European market and we are now starting to develop
and a campaign around the event for attracting our target audience.” So what is it that these buyers want…and where? “If we were to consider the core product for most northern European buyers that we’ve met, then it’s the obvious: sunshine, good food and local facilities, and ease of access,” says Ravin Maharajah, partner in Albanian resort Lalzit Bay. “Product-wise, it is probably fair to say that younger buyers prefer studios, and that older couples may buy a villa. But that’s more to do with affordability and stage of life rather than whether they’re from Gothenburg, Brussels or Helsinki. What is useful to know before you try and promote and sell into a certain geographical region are the prevailing tourist patterns. If you go to a property show in Helsinki, you’ll
NORTH EUROPEAN BUYERS | 63
see that Finnish buyers like Spain, and Swedes may prefer Turkey.” However, knowing your buyer’s profi le inside out will mean nothing unless you make the effort to go to them.
Be proactive, says Maharajah. “If you want to understand your customer, you need to visit and meet them on their own turf. There are plenty of property shows on offer in these areas so it’s worth trying them out and seeing what works for you.” “We get results from our partners in Scandinavia and Benelux because they can provide us with a local presence at events, travel fairs and on local media. But if we don’t have a partner, we have the resources to visit independently and learn about the market directly. It’s also a good way to meet potential agents and see what they can offer.” In Spain, one of the world’s biggest
overseas property destinations, there has been a marked change in the buyer profi le. A report out this year by the College of Registrars revealed that the number of Norwegian buyers entering the Spanish property market has shot up by 52%. The jump in Swedish buyers is even more eye opening: 102% year-on-year.
Bjorn Simonsson, managing director of Scandinavian property exhibitions company Fair Media - which hosts overseas property shows in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmo and Helsinki - the fact that the Scandinavian buyer is now in a better position fi nancially than investors in traditional buyer markets is causing a stir. “We can see from our exhibitions that there is a tremendous increase in interest abroad, especially Spain,” he says.
“The Swedish economy is very strong. People are making lots of money. And, of course, the currency (Swedish Krona) is also very strong, as well as interest rates being low.” “In that sense everything seems to be good for buying property.” So why Spain now? “Before 2009
there was a feeling that prices went very high in Spain,” says Simonsson. “But since 2009 prices have come down.” “It’s a classic destination for all sorts of buyers.” But where are the Scandinavians buying? “We see many going for places like Marbella and further up the coastline,” Simonsson adds. “You also see interest in islands like Mallorca and Ibiza.”
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