Luxury Real Estate

Courtesy of Luxury Homes by VAPF

After a tough 2009, Spanish real estate agencies selling luxury properties are starting to see the back of the crisis with double-digit increases in sales. The luxury real estate market is enjoying a resurge and real estate agents who target luxury homes are starting to look at the crisis through the rear-view mirror. People with more buying power are taking advantage of the opportunities available on the market right now, and are also finding an alternative haven for their investments in these products.

In the case of Valencia, the city is attracting many foreign companies and managers. For second homes, classic destinations like Javea, Altea, Moraira and Denia are setting the pace. This strength against the crisis also contributes to the diverse origins of the buyers with Germans, Russians, Poles and Ukrainians being the main requestors.

And against foreign buyers, the Spanish (mainly businessmen and professionals) are reclaiming their role. There is a strong latent domestic demand. That said, negotiations between buyer and seller require a master degree in patience. If before deals in the luxury segment were closed in a month, nowadays this timeframe can extend to over half a year.

The fact is that is the raw material that these real estate companies feed on, in other words, the rich and wealthy, grows even in times of crisis. In 2009, according to the study by Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management and Capgemini, this privileged group in Spain had already reached 143,000 people or 15,900 more than in 2008. With these figures, Spain remains in the twelfth position of the global list of nations in the world with highest number of HNWIs. We’re talking about those who have a minimum of one million dollars (723,000 euros) in investment assets, excluding primary residence and consumables.

Clearly these people play in a different league. A competition which luxury real estate agents are taking advantage of. For many of the regular buyers, the big problem today obtaining loans but this is not something that happens to buyers of high level homes, as they don’t have as many difficulties in obtaining a mortgage and also tend to have their own funds to meet the full cost of the operation.