Wednesday 27 August 2008

Airline announces new Spanish flights

A Spanish airline has announced that it is to extend its range of services to Scotland next year.
Clickair stated that following a successful trial run of flights between Barcelona and Edinburgh, it will open up new routes to business and leisure travellers.
Although the move is primarily designed to encourage Spaniards to take holidays in Spain, the new services are likely to have the reverse effect as well, potentially adding to the country's appeal among overseas property investors (new flats, houses, villas...)
Alex Cruz, founder of Clickair, commented: "We were taken aback by the great response to this particular route. It has definitely caught our attention."
The new Edinburgh to Barcelona service will begin operating four times a week before the end of the year, although this is expected to increase to a daily route in 2008.
Meanwhile, Clickair stated that it was considering introducing another flight to Spain from Glasgow International Airport.
14 per cent of those who were thinking of buying a second home abroad had considered the Spanish market.

Cheers mates!

Tuesday 26 August 2008

Australia: House the poor by taxing sales

The 2020 summit held by the Prime Minister last weekend debated Australia's future economic and social directions, including social and community housing and affordability.
World Vision chief executive Reverend Tim Costello said we need more public funding for housing saying only about 6% of the nation's housing is publicly provided compared to a much higher level in other countries. Given this low level of public housing, the increasing rates of homelessness and historically low rental vacancy rates there is obviously a need for the Government to take action.
And with the historically high revenues from stamp duties in the states, Mr Costello suggested that 0.5% of the sale price of every flats should go into a national foundation to contribute to public and social housing and to deal with homelessness. On a median-priced Melbourne house this would be about $2500.
All states and territories provide community housing in different ways, however, the idea of linking property tax directly to providing social and community housing holds merit and is worthy of greater investigation.
A key recommendation from the summit is for the Federal Government to review state and federal taxes with the aim of simplifying them, reducing inefficient taxes and harmonising them. It would enable the collection and use of stamp duty to be examined in the tax mix.
The REIV looks forward to the Government accepting this recommendation and initiating a program to increase funding for public housing.

Cheers mates, best wishes!

Friday 22 August 2008

Domestic hotel chains increasing footprint

The continued growth of the tourism sector has led three of the leading domestic hotel chains — The Indian Hotels Co Ltd (which owns the Taj brand), ITC Ltd (with its Welcomgroup chain) and EIH Ltd (Trident brand) — to confidently increase their footprint.
These three companies are developing properties or have signed management contracts for hotels that will open in the next year or two. They are also refurbishing some of their existing hotels. Indian Hotels Company said that in 2007-08 it made commitments by way of acquiring properties on lease, entering into tie-ups for equipping hotels being built by partners and executing a number of management and technical services contracts.
ITC has said that construction is progressing as scheduled on super luxury hotels in Bangalore and Chennai. Six blocks of flats are under development under the Welcom Heritage brand. In its annual report, EIH has said that in the next three years, at least 10 hotels will be opened in India and abroad. Construction on a 440-room Trident in Bandra-Kurla in Mumbai was underway and the hotel would open in the third quarter of this financial year. Construction on an Oberoi luxury hotel at Gurgaon, which EIH would manage, was on schedule and this would open in 2009.
According to their annual reports, foreign tourist arrivals went up 12 per cent to close to 5 million in 2007-08. The first four months of 2008, according to Indian Hotels Company’s annual report, recorded an 11.9 per cent growth in tourist arrivals at just over two million, over the corresponding period in 2007. Thanks to this growth in the tourism industry, the hospitality industry benefited with occupancy rates in hotels at close to 80 per cent and room rates going up by 22-25 per cent, in 2007-08.

Cheerio!

Wednesday 20 August 2008

Spain still popular with holiday home owners

Spain is one of the most popular destinations for overseas property buyers, according to experts.
Barclays stated that consumers were increasingly showing interest in entering the Spanish market, while Italy was also named as a highly sought-after destination.
The firm highlighted many of the benefits of owning property in these countries, such as using it as a holiday home and lending it out to friends and relatives.
Research by Barclays found that two-fifths of Britons had taken a holiday at flats or houses abroad that was owned by someone they knew.
Brits are realising the savings that can be made on holidays by purchasing property abroad.
The overseas property market was "flourishing" and that buying abroad was now "easier than ever before".
The Spanish property market was "booming" and experiencing very high demand from overseas investors.

Keep it going! Do not surrender!!!

Cheers!

Monday 11 August 2008

Tips 4 Brits

Prospective investors in overseas property have been advised to consult a specialist before entering into a transaction.
It was often assumed that property owned abroad was not subject to the British tax regime.
However, as an asset owned by a registered UK citizen, it could still form part of a person's estate and therefore make them liable to pay inheritance tax.
Taking professional advice can help to minimise the impact of these taxes.
Many factors had contributed to the surge in the number of Britons moving overseas, such as rapid flats price inflation in the UK and the weather.
The comments follow the release of official figures showing that during the year to July 2006, 385,000 people left the UK to live in countries such as Spain.

Cheerio!

Flatiron lov€$ you!

Sunday 10 August 2008

Agreement between Spaniards and Brits: Costa Blanca

The Costa Blanca region is the most popular domestic holiday spot with Spanish nationals, official statistics have shown.
The area has overtaken the Costa del Sol as the first-choice holiday option for the country's residents.
The news provider added that the number of Spanish tourists staying in hotels in Costa Blanca was higher than the amount that had booked in both Barcelona and Madrid combined.
This could represent good news for overseas property investors, as they could offer accommodation to holidaymakers as flats, houses, villas, etc.
Furthermore, the region was also said to be highly popular with British tourists, as the Typically Spanish website highlighted a "recovery" in the number of people coming from the UK.
Specifically, the figures showed that more Britons were visiting the Costa Blanca out of season.

Costa Blanca is waiting 4 you Brits!

Spain a lifestyle destination with affordable properties

Overseas property investors have been advised that Spain offers a wide choice of flats at affordable prices.
Spain is ideal for different types of buyers, such as those purchasing a holiday home and people who wanted an investment property.
He highlighted many of the attractions of the Spanish market, such as its good climate for 12 months of the year and outstanding natural beauty.
In addition, he said that Spain also had much to recommend it to city dwellers, as its major urban settlements were some of the most "sophisticated" cities in the world.
Although the vast majority of tourists and residents come to Spain to laze about on the beach, there's much more to the country than the coastal resorts and island entertainment.
This comes after Spain was recently praised by UK newspaper the Telegraph, which said that it had become a "lifestyle destination" for British property buyers.

Cheers!

Tuesday 5 August 2008

Spanish investors should pick a good location

People planning to invest in Spanish property have been advised to pick flats in a viable location.
Brittney Jackline, author and real estate expert, said that investors had to pick a property that was located in an accessible area.
In addition, she stated that overseas investors also needed to consider other issues including how near the property was to important amenities, such as shops and hospitals.
She commented: "Spain has a number of unique locations to choose from and the investor/buyer will have a variety of option to consider before finally investing."
Ms Jackline added that the Spanish property market was currently "booming" and experiencing very high demand from overseas investors.
She partly attributed this to the country's global international prominence in the sporting world, as next year's European Grand Prix is being staged in Valencia, therefore raising the profile of the area.

I'm still waiting 4 your advices and commentaries...

Cheers!