4 ★ FTWeekend 17 August/18 August 2019House Home
Jumping to the Latin American beat
Spain propertyMadrid is
enjoying growth thanks to
overseas buyers who wantto gain a fashionable
foothold in Europe.ByZoe Dare Hall
S
ummer may be Madrid’s low
season for business, but the
heat will be on again for estate
agents in September when
buyers return to town.
After years of decline in the aftermath
of the financial crisis, Madrid’s prime
residential market is recovering, thanks
in large part to buyers from Latin Amer-
ica seeking a base in Europe.
“For Latin American investors,
Madrid is a status symbol,”says Rod
Jamieson of Lucas Fox. “Manyspend
three to six months a year here.
There are no language barriers, it has
great cultural appeal and it’s the gate-
way to Europe.”
Overseas interest comesmainly from
Venezuela, Colombia and, increasingly,
Mexico. They are settling in thebarrioof
Salamanca, the city’s most upmarket
district that skirtsRetiro Park.
“Madridhas had to reinvent itself.
Now foreign investors are seeing its
potential,”addsJamieson.“The rejuve-
nation of city centre areas such as Justi-
cia — the equivalent of London’s Soho —
has made it fashionable.”
Underpinning Madrid’s resurgence is
the expansion of the Spanish economy,
which grew2.5 per cent in 2018 — the
fastest growth rate of all big eurozoneeconomies.Spanish employment has
been rising by about 3 per cent a year for
four years. That means more disposable
income and consumer demand.
In Madrid, prime house prices rose 8.1
per cent last year, according to Knight
Frank.The city’s turnround, says Carlos
Zamora, head of Knight Frank Madrid’s
residential department, is down to its
strengthening commercial sector and
focus on finance, tech, logistics and
communications. Knight Frank ranks
Madrid, alongside Berlin and Paris,at
the top of its prime residential forecast
for global cities this year. But Madrid
offers greater value for money than the
others, with prime prices of €8,000 per
sq m, compared with around €12,000 in
Berlin and nearly €20,000 in Paris,
according to Zamora.
Lucas Fox puts price rises in the
Madrid prime market — properties
costing €900,000-plus — at between 12
and 15 per cent, with sales up by 75 percent between the first half of 2018 and
the same time this year.
Wealthy buyers are tempted by
amenity-rich apartments. “Wine
cellars, gyms and concierges, which
were hard to find until recently, are now
high on buyers’ wish lists,” says Arturo
Diaz, Savills Spain’s head of residential.The agent is marketing Castellana 76, a
scheme of nine flats priced from €2.45m
set behind a period façade.Knight
Frank is selling the triplex penthouse in
Montalbán 11 developmentfffor €14.6m.or €14.6m.
“It’s probably the most expensive flat on
the market,” says Zamora.
Close to the financial district,
Chamartín is another hotspot, accord-
ing to Knight Frank,thanks to the
Nuevo Norte project that will include
10,000homes and shift the city’s centre
northward. Demand is likely to come
from international students, young pro-
fessionals and families. Resale proper-
ties in Chamartín range from one-bed-
room flatsat €285,000 to €8.7m for a
five-bedroom house with a pool.
“Sophisticated city buyers” with
budgets of around €500,000 are also
looking for holiday rental investments
in Madrid, says Jamieson.
“It’s an easy process to get a licence —
we’ve never been refused one— andSALAMANCASALAMANCASALAMANCASALAMANCASALAMANCASALAMANCASALAMANCASALAMANCASALAMANCASALAMANCASALAMANCASALAMANCASALAMANCASALAMANCASALAMANCASALAMANCASALAMANCASALAMANCASALAMANCASALAMANCASALAMANCASALAMANCASALAMANCASALAMANCASALAMANCACHAMARTÍNCHAMARTÍNCHAMARTÍNCHAMARTÍNCHAMARTÍNCHAMARTÍNCHAMARTÍNCHAMARTÍNCHAMARTÍNCHAMARTÍNCHAMARTÍNCHAMARTÍNCHAMARTÍNCHAMARTÍNCHAMARTÍNCHAMARTÍNCHAMARTÍNCHAMARTÍNCHAMARTÍNCHAMARTÍNCHAMARTÍNCHAMARTÍNCHAMARTÍNParqueParqueParqueParqueParqueParqueParqueParqueParqueParqueParqueParqueParqueParqueParque
El RetiroEl RetiroEl RetiroEl RetiroEl RetiroEl RetiroEl RetiroEl RetiroEl RetiroEl RetiroEl Retiromaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREmaps news.com/©HEREMADRID
SPAIN
km km km km km km km km kmcosts less than €100,” says Nakul
Sharma, founder of Hostmaker, an let-
tings management agency, which
designs, furnishes and rents outproper-
ties on behalf of owners for a fee of about
20 per cent per booking.
Licensed flats with a good “Airbnb
track record” in the most soughtafter
areas, such as those close to the Retiro
Park, carry a price premium of around
3-5 per cent, according to Jamieson. A
law introduced in Madrid in March
gives communities of owners in individ-
ual buildings the power to decide if they
want to allow Airbnb-style lets.
“Unless there is a high demand for
short lets, it’s unlikely that neighbours
will want to bear the inconvenience,”
says Jamieson, who haslicensedproper-
ties in central locations on his books
ranging from one-bedroom flats in
historic buildings for €650,000 to
a five-bedroom apartment in Almagro
for €1.25m.
Jamieson says short-term lets are
more fruitful than long-term. “Demand
for short lets is stable year-round.
There’s a big business traveller segment,
sports tourism and people come for the
culture and gastronomy.” Next month,
they will be back for business — and in
property-buying mode.i/BUYING GUIDE
Average Madrid prices fell 30 per cent
during the financial crisis but are now 46
per cent above the market low reached in
the third quarter of 2012
Madrid’s cost of living is low compared
with other European cities, but its quality
of life is high, ranked 46th out of 231 cities,
according to Mercer
Foreign buyers — notably Mexicans —
are buying more properties — around 65
per cent — than 10 years ago when 90 per
cent of buyers were Spanish
Source: Knight FrankWhat you can buy for...
€300,000A one-bedroom flat needing
modernisation in Chueca
€1mAn open-plan loft in Justicia
€5mA penthouse on a prime city
centre street
More at propertylistings.ft.com(Above) Skyline of
Madrid’s historic centre;
(below) two-bedroom flat
in Castellana 76, €2.45m
Getty ImagesРЕ
ЛИЗЗПОДГОТТООВВИИЛАГРУППА"What's "What's "What's "What's "What's "What's "What's "What'sNews" News" News"VK.COM/WSNWSVK.COM/WSNWSVK.COM/WSNWSVK.COM/WSNWSVK.COM/WSNWSVK.COM/WSNWSVK.COM/WSNWSVK.COM/WSNWSVK.COM/WSNWSVK.COM/WSNWSVK.COM/WSNWSVK.COM/WSNWSVK.COM/WSNWSVK.COM/WSNWS