Luxury Realtors in London and Israel form Powerful Alliance
Iltam Real Estate , with a head office in Tel Aviv, and London’s ultra-prime specialist Beauchamp Estates have formed an alliance to benefit from marketing opportunities, cross referral and selling in luxury property markets in Israel and Europe.
Gary Hersham, Partner at Beauchamp Estates, says, ” Iltam Real Estate are one of Israel’s finest real estate advisors in luxury residential property and commercial buildings, and we are excited to be working with them. Our association will give Iltam clients access to our instructions in London, the South of France, Tuscany and the Greek Islands, while expanding Beauchamp Estates’ association with and participation in key ultra-prime markets across Europe “.
Ilana Shimshowitz, Founder of Iltam Real Estate says, ” Beauchamp Estates is Europe’s market leader in the finest luxury property and we are delighted to be undertaking this alliance with them. The agreement will give Beauchamp Estates’ clients access to our prestigious portfolio of some of the best instructions in the region and our teams’ valuable local expertise “.
The agreement gives Beauchamp Estates access to Israel’s growing real estate market and key local knowledge, as well as providing Iltam Real Estate access to the luxury European property market and a local office support network.
The partners have also agreed to share valuable market intelligence on their local markets and prime trends, and also share and cross promote market research, reports and other thought leadership and marketing material.
The two agencies have just launched the €13m Villa Linear in Herzliya Pituach , Tel Aviv which is one of the most expensive and luxurious ultra-prime villas in the region.
With its head office on London’s Curzon Street in Mayfair, Beauchamp Estates, founded in 1979, and led by partners Gary Hersham and Penelope Court, is one of Europe’s leading real estate advisers specialising in luxury residential and commercial property. The firm has offices in central London, Cannes, Mykonos and Florence.
The firm’s instructions represent the finest mansions, townhouses and penthouses in London; villas and chateaus in the South of France; country estates, vineyards and villas in Italy; and beachfront villas on Mykonos in the Greek islands.
Iltam Real Estate was founded in 1987 by Ilana Shimshowitz and specialises in the sale and rental of exceptional homes and properties in the area. Herzliya Pituach, 15 minutes north of central Tel Aviv, where its head office is based, is home to Israel’s largest marina, offering exceptional accommodation and sea views, with many dignitaries electing to live there. Working with a portfolio of instructions that includes Ambassadorial mansions, villas, penthouses, family homes and apartments, Iltam provide clients an unprecedented choice in this prime Israeli market.
Beauchamp Estates produces an annual Ultra Prime Barometer research report on billionaire lifestyles and property portfolios across Europe together with studies that focus on particular overseas buyer groups investing in European real estate, detailed reports on local markets in London and the luxury residential market in New York.
Article by +Roxanne James on behalf of Propertyshowrooms.com
Singapore Investment Fund Steps up Real Estate Acquisition
GIC, which manages more than €95 billion of Singapore ‘s reserves, is ” underinvested ” in property and interested in transactions of scale even as it faces an increasingly difficult investment environment.
GIC has about 7% of assets in real estate, while it can invest 9% to 13%, GIC Real Estate president Goh Kok Huat said in his keynote speech at a conference organised by the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association yesterday.
Given its size, GIC is focusing on larger, deeper markets and ” gateway cities “, he said. ” The Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), plus Indonesia and Turkey, will become the single largest contributing bloc to GDP globally. Now, therefore, if your sights are set on the long term, the emerging market must be where it ought to be and you must pay attention to emerging markets. In the short term, we must deal with volatility in the emerging market as global macro forces shift as the US dollar strengthens “.
But this does not mean that it will put money in every investment that comes calling. ” We would like to put up more money across the globe, but it really depends on whether we see those transactions that are interesting, ” Mr Goh said.
” We are a disciplined investor. If we do not see transactions that are at a price point which we think is a great investment which would give us good stable long-term returns, we do not have the compulsion to push money out the door “.
The London-based Sovereign Wealth Centre puts GIC’s total holdings at €323 billion, making it the world’s sixth-biggest sovereign wealth fund.
GIC has been adding to its real estate holdings, buying a building next to Tokyo Station last year in a bet on rising property values in Japan’s capital, Bloomberg reported. It also purchased Blackstone Group’s 50% stake in London’s Broadgate office complex in 2013 and was part of a group that acquired the headquarters space of Time Warner in New York City for €1.2 billion.
However, Mr Goh also acknowledged that the investing environment is increasingly competitive.
” The environment has changed dramatically (compared to when GIC was first established). These days, there are many more (sovereign wealth funds) “.
The use of technology and data can give GIC a possible advantage. Mr Goh said: ” We also think about how we can become better at what we do, not just by thinking whether we can do larger transactions, and part of our effort is how we can use technology and data to be a real competitive edge for us in real estate “.
And to improve returns and beat the benchmark, GIC has put a ” focus on key markets that are deep, where the transactions are a lot more, because then we can get the local team to be experts in those markets “.
Article by +Roxanne James on behalf of Propertyshowrooms.com
Georgia Catches the Eye of Property Investors
It has been two decades since Georgia gained independence from the former Soviet Union during which time increasing numbers of tourists have been making inquisitive forays into the beautiful landscape of the country known as the Balcony of Europe.
Georgia is located in Eurasia, providing a link between Europe and Asia and a melting pot of cultural influences taken from its neighbours: Russia in the north, Turkey in the west, Armenia and Iran in the south and Azerbaijan in the East.
Georgia’s capital is Tbilisi, a destination that is becoming increasingly popular with tourists and property investors alike. Green Valley International Real Estate Group , one of UAE’s leading conglomerates specialised in real estate development, investment and holdings, has announced the launch of its €130m project in the up and coming capital of Georgia.
The Green Valley City project is spread over an 88,000m² expanse where 35 % is covered in lush greenery, said the company in a statement. The launch comes as part of the company’s efforts to expand and mark its presence across the country’s rapidly growing real estate segment.
The Green Valley City project is strategically located across Tbilisi’s Green Belt area, one of Georgia’s most prominent natural forest reserves. It will integrate modern architecture that is in compliance with the highest standards of environmental sustainability.
The project will be feature 10 buildings which will house 510 residential units ranging from studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments. It will also provide a private district, catering to luxury villas that are built in the form of elevated stairs to offer panoramic views to its residents, said the UAE developer.
Unveiling the project, Ali Saeed Al Salami, the general manager, Green Valley International Real Estate Group, said: ” Georgia is one of the most attractive destinations for real-estate development and investments in Europe – complete with remarkable nature areas, a secure living environment, socio-economic stability, advanced infrastructure, outstanding investment facilities and attractive incentives such as tax exemption and permanent residency “.
” Another key driver is its strategic location, which is a relatively short distance from the Arab World. This has prompted us to develop Green Valley City – aimed towards addressing the growing demand of Arab and Khaliji investors for Arab projects underway in Europe, ” he added.
” As with all of our projects, we are committed to developing Green Valley City in compliance with set international standards and guidelines. For this project, we will be providing special offerings and facilities to Arab and GCC citizens who would like to invest in it, which further reinforces our commitment to encourage Gulf investments in foreign markets, particularly in Europe where real-estate and construction industries continue to score high growth rates “.
Article by +Roxanne James on behalf of Propertyshowrooms.com
Dubai Unveils City to be Home to 9.5 Million People
Dubai urban planners have completed a blueprint for the city to house 9.5 million people – more than four times its current population.
Dubai Municipality has completed a citywide urban design plan which sets out future density and population levels across the Emirate, according to the organisation’s assistant director general Abdullah Rafia.
He told Dubai Chamber’s CEO conference earlier this week that countries across the world need to contend with rapid population growth, especially in cities, as 70% growth in the world’s urban population is expected by 2030.
” Fortunately, here in Dubai, all of the population is urban, ” he said. ” Our urban design needs to be sustainable – to have a design that limits sprawl but considers the impact [of population growth] “.
” We have already designed the urban design for the whole of Dubai. The urban area of Dubai will consist of one-third of the area of the emirate of Dubai and its maximum capacity will hold over 9.5 million people, ” he said.
He added that there is no time frame for its blueprint for the city to be reached, but said that with the urban design plan in place, ” our future can be properly implemented “.
Mr Rafia also said that the municipality is moving ahead with its plans for Desert Rose – a new, sustainable city planned to be built in Dubai that will house up to 160,000 people.
” This is at the early stage, ” he said. ” We’ve contracted the infrastructure designers, so they are engaged. We already have the concept design finished, so a lot of things are finished. It is something that can be built real fast, ” he said.
Speaking about the high degree of sustainability it plans to incorporate into the design, he said: ” Our designers told me we are very close to [achieving] zero emissions “.
Also speaking at the conference, Saeed Al Abbar, chairman of the Emirates Green Building Council, explained that sustainability standards were improving to such an extent that the most sustainable homes can now generate more energy than they consume.
” We’re going to move away from this ‘less damage’ approach to buildings with an actual positive benefit. We’re also going to see a greater focus on retrofits of existing buildings, ” he said.
” This is something that has really picked up in the past four or five years in Dubai. There’s 120,0000 buildings in Dubai. If we only focus on new builds, we miss 90% of the puzzle “.
There is a wealth of opportunity in Dubai for property investors and the massive injection of investment capital being pumped into the real estate sector provides plenty of growth potential and is set to become increasingly attractive to savvy buyers in the Emirate.
Article by +Roxanne James on behalf of Propertyshowrooms.com
Real Estate Crowdfunding Booming in Asia
In Asia, real estate crowdfunding is in its infancy and is mostly about presales and debts instead of equity investment, with regulators yet to pin down the details on how they should govern the fledging industry.
Mainland China had 128 crowdfunding platforms online as of the end of 2014, including 32 for equity, according to a report by 01caijing , which provides broader online financial services, including data and research.
Many developers have been actively using these crowdfunding platforms to reach out to potential home buyers at a much earlier stage than before, as part of their efforts to reduce inventories. Apart from that, crowdfunding is also being used to cut construction, marketing and sales costs while speeding up cash collection, said Shi Kancheng, chairman of Zhong An Real Estate .
Zhong An, like other online realtors, embraced the internet by testing crowdfunding in July when it put for sale online some units in a new project in Hangzhou. ” That enables us to find specified demand first and then make products, ” Kancheng told the South China Morning Post.
Crowdfunding, which pools funds from a large number of investors via the internet, was acknowledged by Premier Li Keqiang last year and legalised in December. Then 10 different ministries issued a joint set of guidelines in July to define it as a public small equity investment via the internet to fund start-up firms. In August, the China Securities Regulatory Commission issued a notice to check crowdfunding activities in the country.
Despite regulatory uncertainties, many mainland developers including Dalian Wanda Group and Country Garden have been raising funds and selling homes through crowdfunding websites such as Zhongchou.com and e-commerce platform Taobao’s crowdfunding channel.
In Singapore, where it is not clear whether such investment activities should come under the oversight of the city state’s monetary authority, real estate crowdfunding operator CoAssets has been operating for more than two years and got listed in Australia’s junior stock market in July as it expands across the region.
” We have observed that developers, after using our site to crowdfund, found it very effective to reach out to the crowd to also sell some of their products, ” CoAssets co-founder Getty Goh told a forum in Macau.
Most of the website’s recent listings are tagged as ” presales ” rather than ” crowdfunding “. For example, a developer called Jalin Realty International is marketing a residential project in Melbourne. Apart from introduction of the project and contact information, the website shows minimum investment is A$340,000 and that 28 investors were interested as of last Friday.
The listing on the National Stock Exchange of Australia is a step to bring itself to a larger regional audience and getting prepared for an eventual initial public offering in one or two more years.
Goh described CoAssets as a website for developers to raise bridge loan or short-term working capital at a maximum amount of S$5 million per deal. ” The hardest sum to raise is between the S$500,000 and S$2 million mark, because it is too big for friends and families to chip in, but too small to get banks interested in, ” he said.
CoAssets has raised S$40 million through over 30 successful deals, in the form of debts. But Goh is moving into equity investment in Malaysia, where the local securities regulator approved six equity crowdfunding operators in June, ahead of many other Asian nations.
The crowdfunding platform is also looking at opportunities in Indonesia and China. The current project listings on its website come from all over the world, including London and Tokyo as well as cities in China and Cambodia. ” There is a lot of demand for this kind of services here in Asia, ” Goh said, when pointing out that the number of registered investor on CoAssets’ website has soared above 26,000.
Article by +Roxanne James on behalf of Propertyshowrooms.com
Business Partners
