Rumours of bid for Rightmove as agent numbers tumble
Friday 14th November 2008

Amid rumours that Rightmove has become a buying target, the portal has said that 500 agents departed the site in July, and that between 250 and 300 have been going each month since.

Nearly 2,000 agents have gone from the site over the year as a whole, said Rightmove in an interim statement yesterday that covered the period from July 1 to November 13.

Rightmove blamed low housing transactions for a “significant number of estate agents” leaving the market.

The falls brings agency membership down from 12,600 to 10,700. The portal last month announced it was cutting 20% of its workforce in an effort to make £5m cost savings.

Its simultaneous announcement – that it would be upping the spend on marketing by £1m – did nothing to appease agents, who wanted to see a cut in their membership fees rather than money spent on advertising.

In yesterday’s interim statement, Rightmove said most of the agents that have quit have either gone bust or were removed because they failed to keep up with their membership fees.

It said: “At least three out of every four estate agents who have left Rightmove over the last year have either gone out of business or were removed for non-payment, which in practice is frequently a precursor to going out of business.”

Rightmove also said its new homes listings had been affected because of a decision by two major developers not to advertise on the portal.

The total number of its advertisers is now down 9% on this time a year ago, although falls have been slightly offset by an increase in lettings. Lettings agents only on the site have risen by a quarter to 2,900. Rightmove is charging 30% more for letting agents than it did a year ago, thanks to a recent price hike.

Despite saying it remains on track to meet expectations, the portal continues to face further challenges. According to an Estate Agent Today poll, 75% of agents would leave Rightmove when their contracts come up for renewal, whilst around 1,500 have joined a buying group to try and reduce their membership costs.

The mystery buyer now rumoured to be looking hard at Rightmove is thought to be a high-profile American hedge fund owner, already a shareholder and who appears to have been building up shares and voting rights.

A Rightmove spokeswoman declined to comment.

In the Palma your hand
Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Catherine Deshayes

The volume of property sales and mortgages issued in Mallorca, Spain, continued to plummet in August, according to new data released by the Instituto Nacional de Statistica...

Mallorca property sales dropped by 44 per cent, compared to a national average decline of 37 per cent (23 per cent in new home sales and 47 per cent in the second hand market), while the number of new mortgages reduced by almost 50 per cent. A lack of available credit has been cited as the main reason for these falls.

The fall in residential sales and in turn property prices looks set to continue over the next few months, which is bad news for existing owners of homes in Spain, but presents good buying opportunities, particularly for people looking to buy property in Mallorca.

Source: www.homesoverseas.co.uk

Spanish subsidised housing
Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Catherine Deshayes

The Spanish Government is to invest 2.87 billion euros in buying land for building subsidised housing...

The plan is to buy land in towns with populations above 20,000 to build apartments of 30 sq.m. per person in order to boost the construction industry and provide economic housing for young people and low income families.

Eco Casa is providing energy saving data with very favourable quotations rivalling all other construction businesses on a performance and value per euro basis.

Source: Casa Topical News Digest

Auction with no sales on the night and only three bids
Friday 31st October 2008

Results from the latest auction sales are showing that purchasers continue to sit on their hands as they wait to do deals outside the room.

At Edward Mellor’s auction on October 23, just five properties sold under the hammer out of a total of 52 on offer. However, 12 properties had sold prior to the auction and a further 15 offers made on properties afterwards. Auction director Louise McDonald said: "This equates to a success rate of about 61%. However, it is true that a lot of people are sitting on their hands during the actual sale, obviously hoping to get a property afterwards at a knock-down price. But this isn't always the case. We have sold some properties afterwards at a price higher than reserve."

In Cardiff on Tuesday, things were particularly quiet at Peter Alan’s auction, where not one of the 74 lots sold and there were only three bids all told. This was despite a packed audience, with over 100 people registering as potential purchasers.

One landlord who was at the auction described it as “the most extraordinary auction I’ve ever been to”.

A spokeswoman for Peter Alan said: “Things were very quiet on the night and we have been trying to analyse why. However, after the sale seven properties were sold, a further 22 offers were made and there were 20 more expressions of interest. In other words, there was active buyer interest in around 60% of the lots.”

It was the first auction sale for Peter Alan, which has just announced the closure of two branches with the loss of some 30 jobs. It is owned by the Principality building society.

In September, 61% of residential property lots were sold, according to EIG Group which provides information about auctions. EIG is also reporting that 20% of all properties going to auction are repossessions – up 100% on a year ago.

Famous faces, famous places
Friday, October 24, 2008

Catherine Deshayes

endorsing aftershave and sports bags is one thing, but putting their name to a property development is quite another. In the light of the failure of the Steffi Graf/Andre Agassi venture in Idaho - they have cut all ties with the project - TheMoveChannel takes a look at whether celebrities and property ever make a successful match...

This time last year, tennis star Andre Agassi was playing the property game. He launched Fairmont Tamarack, a 300-unit residential project in Idaho, USA, aimed at family friendly sporting holidays.

It was the first property venture for Agassi and his on and off court match, Steffi Graf, who formed Agassi Graf Developments in order to provide them with a life after tennis.

Fairmont Tamarack is 90 minutes from Idaho's capital, Boise, and boasts excellent snowfall for winter sports and the 21-mile long Lake Cascade for summer hiking, golfing and sightseeing. The units range in price from £450,000 to more than £3.2 million.

Agassi said at the time, "Tamarack is a privately owned resort and numbers will be restricted to 2,500 properties. You will feel like you own the mountain."

Despite all the publicity a celebrity endorsement brings, it was not enough to stop this development from floundering financially.

The departure of the high impact names was just the latest in a list of bad news plaguing the Tamarack ski, golf and lakefront destination, which first hit the headlines when President Bush took to the slopes in 2005.

It has been hurt by the collapsing demand for luxury Rocky Mountain properties, and construction on a centerpiece village has now been halted.

Banks have begun foreclosure proceedings on two properties inside Tamarack Resort and also threatened to remove two ski lifts, further signs of financial woes at the central Idaho vacation development.

Agassi Graf Developments doesn't seem to be having much luck. This year, in light of the credit crunch, the emerging property market in Costa Rica has been hit hard with a number of development projects being put on hold.

A top of the range tennis facility designed by Agassi and Graf, is now unlikely to start until 2010 at the earliest, even though construction was scheduled to start this year.

A month before his final appearance at the 2006 U.S. Open, Agassi met with AOL co-founder Steve Case, who is with Exclusive Resorts, which operates luxury vacation homes.

Agassi Graf Development signed on with Case to build the 650-acre, £400 million development in Cacique, Costa Rica, and the tennis stars were to design the fitness and tennis centres.

The development was also to include two boutique hotels, a spa and a handful of high-end home sites.

However, because many large hotel projects in Costa Rica are financed by US banks, much of the construction taking place is in jeopardy as the financial markets continue to walk the tightrope.

Jorge Cornick, Spokesman for the Cacique project, said, "In the current environment, we do not consider it prudent to start construction, but as soon as the market goes back to normal, the project will proceed, as planned," he added.

A St Regis Hotel planned for the central coast and Manzanillo's Mandarin Oriental Hotel, both of which were being financed by Lehman Brothers, have now been put on hold.

Still, the thing about celebrities' ventures falling though is that they have the money and the inclination to move onto the next one, something which can't be said for the average Joe, taking a leap into property developing for the first time.

Agassi has some savings to fall back on- throughout his 20 year tennis career, he raked in an estimated £130 million from product endorsements, including Nike, Adidas and American Express.

Graf still earns millions a year endorsing Adidas, Head, Barilla (the Italian pasta maker), Mrs. Sporty (a European health and fitness chain) and Teekanne (a tea company).

The couple has also partnered with manufacturer Kreiss to create a line of high-end furniture and they have been featured in Louis Vuitton TV adverts, along with former Soviet Union head Michael Gorbachev.

Other celebrities sealing the deal in property include former England Football Manager Terry Venables, who launched a 222-hectare luxury residential resort near Valencia in 2006 and Arsenal football club, who endorsed the Football Village at Pueblo Real Golf in Spain.

Boris Becker made a break from the broom cupboard to turn developer by agreeing to put his name onto the Boris Becker Tower in Dubai.

Forget million dollar baby; Hollywood actress Hillary Swank became a million dollar lady when she signed on to endorse The World in Dubai.

Last but not least, Donald Trump took a break from his boardroom to endorse the Palm Trump International Tower in Dubai, which will be the centerpiece of the Palm Golden Mile.

How the other half live...

Anthea's hubbie loses his imagination
Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Grant Bovey, who once claimed his company Imagine Homes was Britain's largest buy to let business, has lost control of the company...

The Daily Mail reported recently that the 47 year old, who is the husband of television celebrity Anthea Turner, has had to let HBOS take over the business. Bovey no longer has a financial stake.

He is now a consultant for Imagine Homes UK which looks after the selling and marketing of properties.

It was reported that Bovey's property empire had been hit by the credit crunch and that he was forced to let the business go for strategic reasons.

Just six months ago, Bovey was quoted as saying, "I will sue anyone who says that Imagine Homes is in financial difficulty."

The warning followed media speculation that he and Ms Turner, 48, cancelled their annual summer charity ball because the business was struggling financially.

The Imagine Homes business model was to buy properties from developers and then sell them on to investors with guaranteed rental income. The company charged a management fee of 10 percent of the rent for a period of two years.

The business is said to have generated a turnover of £53 million in its financial year that ended in 2007, but records show it still made a loss of £6,429,926.

The recent fall in house prices is believed to be behind the decision by Bovey to let HBOS take over the business.

Source: Residential Landlord

St. Pancras scoops property 'Oscar'
Monday, October 20, 2008

The ‘cathedral of railways' has snapped up a prestigious property prize honouring the £800 million architectural restoration and extension of a unique London landmark...

One of the great feats of Victorian engineering, the St Pancras Barlow train shed arch was designed in 1863 by Midland Railway's William Barlow. At more than 100 foot high, it was the largest enclosed space in the world on its opening in 1868.

But despite its Grade 1 listed status, St. Pancras International, dubbed the ‘cathedral of the railways', had fallen into neglect by the 1980's as the King's Cross area declined from a busy industrial district to a derelict area notorious for crime, prostitution and drugs.

As part of the restoration, the Barlow Shed has been completely reglazed and the paint work taken back to its intended pale sky blue. Where possible the building was restored by recycling the brick work from the original building or sourcing clay from the original clay sources in the Midlands.

The ridge and furrow glazing of the Barlow shed contains 14,080 glass panels, giving a total glassed area of nearly 10,000 square metres, which is equivalent to almost two football pitches.

The bottom third of the roof is finished with 300,000 slates hand crafted and supplied from Wales.

The station has also been extended, with the masterplan for the extension originally created by Sir Norman Foster and then developed by RLE's Chief Architect Alistair Lansley.

The glass extension has been designed to house the extra long Eurostar trains in their new home.

The completion of St Pancras is just one small part of the £6 billion project High Speed 1 and just the beginning of redevelopment and regeneration of the King's Cross area.

Now, this epic restoration which has turned St. Pancras International into one of the largest passenger interchanges in Europe and the London Gateway for Eurostar, has been awarded the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors' (RICS) Project of the Year Award.


Regarded as the ‘Oscars' of the built and natural environment, the RICS Awards recognise excellence, value for money and a commitment to sustainability. The Project of the Year award is given to any entry that is judged to have excelled in any, or all of the main categories.

St Pancras is not only a gateway to the rest of the country and to Europe, it is also now a destination in its own right, offering high class shopping, restaurants and bars.

The station is now home to fifteen platforms and in the future it will accommodate high speed links with Kent and the Olympic site in 2012. As part of the redevelopment, the owners, London and Continental Railways, wanted to restore the glamour of rail travel.

Working closely with English Heritage and London Borough of Camden they were able to retain the charm and original features of the station whilst delivering a fitting environment for the 21st Century traveller.

The regeneration of St Pancras has inspired other developments which have helped to revitalize the kings Cross area, including Regent Quarter, which lies to the east of the station.

A mix of new and refurbished commercial space, homes, a hotel, and retail space, Regent Quarter is set to kick off further improvements in the area. This planned development will be joined by the Kings Cross Central scheme, which is an eight million square foot mixed-use development.

Simon Pott, Chairman of Judges comments, "This project is a remarkable example of a carefully designed and completed building project that is delivering powerful regeneration in the surrounding area.

"St. Pancras International delivers not only excellent functionality, but a stylish and beautiful destination that loses none of its original charm. It is a truly exceptional project."

Some of the other 294 entries to the competition include Beeleigh Abbey in Essex, which scooped the building conservation prize.

The Orchard in Northern Ireland, which is built on previously demolished prefabricated buildings at Stranmillis University College, won the sustainability award, as its design minimizes the impact on the existing mature trees surrounding the site.

Simon Pott said, "The work by Stranmillis University College to adopt sustainable principles is truly reflected in The Orchard.

"This is good news for the short-term environmental impact. The University's relationship with the local schools is ensuring that the next generation of children consider the implications of buildings and the environment," he added.

Past winners of the property ‘Oscar' have included the Eden Project in Cornwall and the site of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

With 294 entries from around the globe, the full spectrum of organisations and projects worldwide were represented - from small schemes, to extensively funded, globally recognised developments.

Renting pays off
With the credit crunch raging on and property transactions at an all time low, more and more people are turning to rental - either renting their properties out if they are proving hard to sell in the current market, or renting a property themselves instead of buying...

Traditionally, renting has been largely associated with student digs or overpriced house shares in your twenties when you never know who you are going to find on your sofa the next morning.

Many people see rent money as dead money- flushing away their hard earned cash to pay off someone else's mortgage. It is also seen as a temporary fix, living in a property you can't make your own - a house you can't turn into a home.

Now, thanks to the current market conditions, experts are predicting that the desire to own a home of one's own may fade and renting will become the preferred option.

That way, it is far less responsibility-you don't have to worry about market conditions as you are not responsible for selling the place or for maintaining it.

It is also likely that you could get a nicer property for your monthly rent than you could if you were looking to buy.

The credit crunch has forced many who were looking to sell their home to hold back until the financial climate improves and those looking to buy are finding it hard to get the necessary credit.

As a result, the number of rental properties available on the market has increased dramatically, as has the number of prospective tenants.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said instructions to let properties increased at their fastest pace since its survey began during the middle of this year.

Almost half of surveyors polled reported seeing a rise in the number of new landlord instructions, compared to just 30 per cent last year.

Private renting was already growing in popularity back in 2005 to 2006, when the Department for Communities and Local Government found that there were 2.5 million people renting from a private landlord at the time.

This year has seen tenant demand rise at its fastest rate for a decade, with the demand for family homes particularly strong.

This could be attributed to the new breed of tenants - less student or young professionals and more families - who may have sold their home and are looking to rent whilst they sit out the credit crunch.

Rents also continued to rise this year, but still remain cheaper than buying, with the typical mortgage rate sitting at 6.25 per cent and the typical rental yield at 4.5 per cent.

As a result of rising yields, increasing numbers of landlords are opting to stay in the market, with just 2.1 per cent selling their properties when rental agreements ended, the lowest level since records began in 2003.

RICS Spokesperson James Scott-Lee said, "The lettings market is booming with many vendors opting to rent their property."

"Becoming a landlord was now an increasingly profitable option with rising rents and yields offering good returns," added Mr Scott-Lee.

However, landlords are finding that as the number of rentals available is rising, higher standards of presentation are required in order to let their property. This may mean they are forced to spend money renovating or redecorating in order to rent it for the price they wish to achieve.

This could be another benefit for prospective tenants as they get more style and less shabby chic for their money.