July 27th, 2007 by Ines
Indirect taxes levied on the transfer of real estate can sometimes make a real difference on the profitability of the transaction. In Spain, transfers of real estate may be subject to VAT in the case of entrepreneurial transactions (which is normally recoverable) or to non-recoverable transfer tax (6% or 7% depending on the Autonomous Community where the real estate is located) in the case of non-entrepreneurial transactions or where the transaction is VAT exempt (such as second transfers of real estate or the sale of rural land). Under certain circumstances, the VAT exemption can be waived so that recoverable VAT applies instead of unrecoverable transfer tax.
To read the whole text, click here.
July 19th, 2007 by Ines
Spain’s love affair with property could damage a healthy economy
When Europe’s overheated stock markets collapsed, few in Spain suffered huge losses in their investment portfolios. Never big on buying equities, most Spaniards avoided the worst of the fallout. Instead, they tucked their euros into tangible assets — especially real estate.To read the whole text. click here.
July 19th, 2007 by Ines
MADRID — Spain’s real-estate sector continued to consolidate with the announcement of two deals Friday.
Reyal Grupo SA said it agreed to buy a 50.3% stake in rival Inmobiliaria Urbis SA for €1.67 billion ($2.13 billion) and launched an offer for the remainder of Urbis in a deal that values the company at €3.32 billion.
Reyal is buying the stake in Urbis from the company’s majority shareholder, Spanish bank Banco Español de Crédito SA, known as Banesto. Banesto said the deal with Reyal is binding, and that it won’t accept any competing offer. The bank said it will book a €1.2 billion capital gain from the deal.To read the whole text, click here.
July 19th, 2007 by Ines
The Spanish real-estate market is a lot like Madrid in the summertime: getting hotter by the minute and threatening to explode. While most experts are still reluctant to compare the current market with Spain’s famous late-1980s boom, sale prices for office space in the capital have risen 35% over the past 12 months, while prices for new homes have risen 10% nationwide over the last year. Meanwhile, inflation is running at a mere 2% annualized rate.To read the whole text, click here.
July 19th, 2007 by Ines
Mogul Joaquín Rivero sets his sights on the rest of Europe. Is he overreaching?
In 1997, two years before the debut of the euro, few Europeans figured Spain had much chance of cutting its budget deficit enough to join the single currency on time. But one Spanish businessman disagreed. Joaquín Rivero, then a little-known property developer, acted on his belief by buying a controlling stake in Bami, an unprofitable real estate company.To read the whole text, click here.
July 19th, 2007 by Ines
1. Introduction.
Over the last few years, the Spanish real estate market has been very dynamic. Among other reasons, foreign investors have made important investments in the acquisition of real estate in Spain, both in housing and commercial premises. Analysts believe that this level of investment will continue over the next few years. Detailed below are the main issues from a Spanish tax point of view that non-residents, both private individuals and companies, should bear in mind when investing in Spanish real estate.To read the whole text, click here.
July 19th, 2007 by Ines
This is a good time to get in on the ground floor of an expected rally in Spanish real estate stocks, in the opinion of Juan Carlos Calvo, who follows the sector for Merrill Lynch & Co. Prospects for the industry are sound, he said, and share prices are cheap after a plunge in the last year, the result in large part of investor fascination with technology and other stocks of the moment.To read the whole text, click here.
July 15th, 2007 by Dino
Confidence in the Spanish market could be increased due to a new law, according to reports.
It is hoped that the new law will help to manage the land more easily and help out in terms of sprawl and sustainability, reports Homes Worldwide.
To read the whole text, click here.
July 15th, 2007 by Dino
Since the start of the year, the Spanish economy has felt like a huge party on the Titanic, cruising heedlessly onto an iceberg of corporate debt.
The danger signs were there for all to see: a real estate bubble; corporate borrowing up 37 per cent in a year; frenzied merger snf acquisition activity, and last but not least a current account deficit that has ballooned to become the second largest in the world in absolute terms after the US.
By and large, these are all symptoms of the same phenomenon: Spain is having the mother of all fiestas, paid for with other people’s money. Real estate and construction groups are on a debt-financed acquisition spree, offering overvalued assets as collateral for borrowed funds.
To read the whole text, click here.
July 12th, 2007 by Ines
The present trend of the Spain real estate is entirely different from those days. In those days, only a few would be interested in purchasing homes and commercial complexes. Since the arrival of many science and technology related companies, many companies are very much interested in establishing their businesses in various countries including Spain. (To read complete text click here)