COSTA BRAVAREAL ESTATE MARKET Q1 & Q2 2013

Tom MaidmentDirector Lucas Fox Costa Brava

www.lucasfox.comCOSTA BRAVA REAL ESTATE MARKET Q1 & Q2 2013

COSTA BRAVA REAL ESTATE MARKET: OVERVIEW

• The property market in the Costa Brava has seen the strongest two quarters of trading since the property crash of 2006/7, with property transactions in the first six month period of 2013 up to 40% higher than the number of sales recorded during the peak summer months of 2012

• Strong demand at the high end of the market is being driven by Northern European and Eastern European buyers

• International interest in Costa Brava properties is growing at a fast rate. Unique international visits to the Costa Brava property pages of the Lucas Fox website jumped 82% in the first half of 2013, with visitors from the Netherlands, Switzerland and Russia increasing the fastest

COSTA BRAVA REAL ESTATE MARKET: SUMMARY

Property transactions in the Costa Brava experienced a higher-than-usual surge in January 2013 with the level of transactions up to 30% higher than in January 2012 and up to 40% higher than the number of sales recorded during the peak summer months of 2012.

According to Spain’s Office of National Statistics, property transactions in Spain’s Costa Brava increased significantly in the first two quarters of 2013 compared to the same period in 2012, peaking with a 30% increase during the month of January.

“We have seen a marked increase in the level of property transactions in the opening two quarters of 2013 compared to the same period last year,” comments Tom Maidment, Director of

As we predicted in our previous market report, the level of real estate transactions in the Costa Brava has continued to rise in 2013 and there are strong indications that we may now have turned the corner.

www.lucasfox.comCOSTA BRAVA REAL ESTATE MARKET Q1 & Q2 2013

Lucas Fox’s Costa Brava office. “Indeed the level of movement in the market is now noticeably higher than at any time since the start of the property crash in 2006/7. Buyer confidence appears to have reached a new high and property owners are increasingly prepared to offer attractive discounts in order to achieve a sale, creating a far more active market than we have seen in recent years.”

“There has been strong demand at the higher end of the market – specifically for luxury properties priced at 1.5m euros and above, and strong demand from clients – particularly northern European buyers - looking to invest around half a million Euros.”

“In general, investors entering the higher end of the market are doing so with a long-term view, sensing that prices are now bottoming out, whilst clients at the lower end are principally looking for distressed sales and significantly discounted opportunities”

COSTA BRAVA PROPERTY SALES TRANSACTIONS

Following the surge in property transactions in January 2013, the level of sales in the Costa Brava remained consistently higher than during the same period in 2012 with April and May seeing levels of property sales equivalent to those achieved in peak summer 2012.

COSTA BRAVA AVERAGE SALES PRICES

According to real estate web portal Idealista, average property prices in key areas of the Costa Brava experienced a slight drop. The coastal area of Lloret de Mar reduced the least in price in the first half of the year, dropping on average €57/m2 and ending the second quarter

on €2,032/m2.

SHORT-TERM RENTAL DEMAND

According to the Spanish Tourism Data agency Frontur, in the first half of 2013, 26.1 million tourists visited Spain overall, an increase of 4.2% over last year. Catalunya (which includes Northern Spain’s Costa Brava region) and the Balearic Islands are the principal destination for the majority of tourists. While the UK, Russia and France remained the principal tourist markets, it was the Russian and American tourists that grew the largest in visiting numbers in the first half of 2013.

Holiday accommodation rentals have remained in strong demand during the first two quarters of 2013, replicating patterns from the past two years. While figures are for all of Catalunya, this includes holiday properties located in the Costa Brava. 9% of all international tourists stay in rented properties while visiting Spain, and this is particularly often the case for luxury visitors to the Costa Brava. In all but one month of Q1 and Q2 2013, more foreign travellers stayed in holiday accommodations than for the same months in 2012 or 2011. In May 2013, 46,329 foreign travellers stayed in non-hotel holiday accommodation in Catalunya.

FOREIGN INVESTMENT INTEREST

The first six months of 2013 have seen a substantial increase in the number of Lucas Fox website visitors searching for property in the Costa Brava. Overall visits have jumped by 91%, with many of these viewing pages several times over the last six month period. Unique visits looking at Costa Brava properties also jumped 82% in the first half of 2013.

Property Sales Transactions for Girona, Spain 2012 – 2013 which includes the Costa Brava region / Source: ine.es

Average Sales Prices for Costa Brava properties (selected areas): Q3 2010 – Q2 2013Source: idealista.com

€ per Square Meter

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Alexander VaughanFounding Partner

Tom MaidmentDirector Lucas Fox Costa Brava

For more information contact us:

E info@lucasfox.com / T (+34) 933 562 989www.lucasfox.com

Foreign residents staying in holiday apartments in Catalunya(‘000): 2011 – Q2 2013Source: Ine.es

Foreign website visitors to Lucas Fox Costa Brava property pages: Q1 & Q2 2013 / Source: Google Analytics for Lucas Fox website

Website visits from clients from the Netherlands, Switzerland and Russia saw the sharpest increase.

LUCAS FOX ANALYSIS AND

PREDICTIONS FOR 2013

“As we predicted in our previous market report, the level of real estate transactions in the Costa Brava has continued to rise in 2013 and there are strong indications that we may now have turned the corner,” commented Mr Maidment.

“The Costa Brava’s international appeal as an exclusive and highly desirable holiday destination continues to rise. In El Celler de Can Roca, the region now boasts the number one restaurant in the world and in the PGA de Catalunya’s

‘Stadium Course’, we are also acknowledged as having the number one golf course in Spain.”

“The opening in January of the new AVE high speed rail link has also further enhanced the region’s accessibility to northern Europe – a key selling point for many Lucas Fox clients and one which we expect to have an significant impact on our business.”

“With the introduction of new residency laws planned for Autumn 2013, we expect a sustained increase in trading in the second half of the year and a rise in demand from non-EU buyers looking to take advantage of the attractive incentive of Spanish residency in return for a real estate investment of over 500,000 Euros.”