5th December 2007
OPP Live 2007
The Excel exhibition centre in London's Docklands was the home to this years OPP Live, the venue for property Developers from all corners of the world to show their latest projects. The exhibition took place on the 4th & 5th December and there was a marked contrast with last year in that that there were many unsold stands and others which had clearly been reserved but where the exhibitors had simply not turned up. The most notable 'no show' were the Superior Group who had reserved one of the biggest stands in the show.
The reason for the reduced numbers is undoubtedly the downturn in the property market both in the UK and overseas although some countries were definately bucking the trend and creating a lot of interest from Investors and agents alike.
Among these were countries like Canada, Brazil, Antigua and Portugal's North Coast but the most notable of the emerging markets was undoubtedly Egypt with many new Developers promoting projects in Hurghada, Marsa Alam and Sharm el Sheik. In fact the best stand in the show was that of Resort Alliance A.G. who are the worldwide promoters of the amazing Resort of Sahl Hasheesh on Egypt's Red Sea coast.
Sahl Hasheesh is built on 32 million m2 of land with 13 kms of private sandy beaches within an exclusive gated community just 15km from Hurghada airport. Within the resort there will be a 640 berth world class marina, 8 championship golf courses, 22 five star hotels, 300 designer shops, restaurants, bars, a casino and a central meeting area known as Central Piazza big enough to hold Wembley stadium! This will be a beautifully landscaped area with water features and huge open areas big enough to stage outdoor concerts and to accommodate craft markets, coffee shops and many other fascinating events. The bay of Sahl Hasheesh has its own coral reef protecting the beautiful beaches from erosion and the Egyptian Resort Company are constructing a replica of the Temple of Horus, partially submerged, to provide an underwater paradise for Red Sea divers.
All in all the show was a great success with the companies exhibiting recording good quality leads and considerable interest.
The empty spaces however were a warning to companies not to be complacent and to continually review the quality of the projects on offer; constantly seeking better and more beneficial payment terms for Investors and lifestyle buyers who are faced with a vast array of options in which to invest their hard earned cash.
It is no longer an option to build blocks of apartments with no thought to who will buy them. The progressive Developer must provide added value facilities for the ever more astute buyer who demands better quality of constuction and more 'bells and whistles' to maximise the likelihood of generating high levels of rental income or increase the chances of an exit route when the time comes to sell on.
Review by: Peter Mitry, Chief Executive of The Property Shop International
12th December 2007
Encouraging Trends for Overseas Property Sales
Research carried out by Datamonitor shows that the market for overseas homes amongst British and Irish buyers is set to grow dramatically. The total number of overseas properties currently owned by Brits is already 3.81 million with the market valued at 44.4 billion GBP in 2006. This figure is expected to reach in excess of 90 billion GBP in the next five years.
Spain is still the number one destination for British & Irish buyers and the Datamonitor survey showed that 48% of those surveyed had bought from cash savings with only 26% remortgaging their existing property to raise the cash. This suggests that the current difficulties in world financial markets may have little impact on the trend.
Launch of Egypt Real
27th December 2007
Since establishing the Egypt Section on the Totally Property Forum our business in Egypt has gone from strength to strength. Despite the problems of expensive flights, land registry issues and the lack of mortgage finance Egypt continues to grow in popularity with investors continually seeking new markets and disillusioned Northern Europeans trying to escape from beaurocracy to find a new home in the sun where their savings or money from property in their home country can provide financial security in Egypt.
In February 2007 The Property Shop International was granted the sole selling rights for the premium resort of Sahl Hasheesh, on Egypt's Red Sea Coast, by Resort Alliance, the worldwide promotors. Initially this was for the South of Spain in Andalucia and Murcia. A month later this was extended to the management of agents in the UK & Ireland. Under the guidance of Peter Mitry, Opal Events were appointed to manage the exhibition programme in the UK for Resort Alliance and the business began to grow.
However, by December it became clear that whilst Property Shop were catering for individuals with the necessary budget to buy in to this high end project, there were many more people buying into the more affordable properties in the nearby town of Hurghada. Here it was still possible to buy a studio for 15,000 GBP and a whole new market was emerging. In October 2007 a young Englishman, Nick Pendrell visited Hurghada and compiled a dossier on the various projects available in the Hurghada area and this provided the basis for Propertastics Guide to Hurghada Property and the Red Sea Riviera. This online publication proved so popular that in early December Amazon books offered to publish it and Nick was propelled to the dizzy heights of being the recognised expert on property purchase in the area!
Immediately after Christmas Peter Mitry and Nick Pendrell formed a joint venture company called Egypt Real with the objective of becoming a 'one stop shop' for those wishing to buy property in this area of the Red Sea. This combined Nick's 14 years experience in Real Estate in Eastern Europe with Peter's established presence in Western Europe where The Property Shop International had already assembled an impressive array of agents wishing to send clients to Hurghada.
Nick's expertise in web design enabled the launch of the Egypt Real website in less than a week and very quickly this evolved to be a complete selling tool for agents. The website features an agents download area where all necessary materials from e-brochures to current prices and availability can be accessed and downloaded by collaborating agents. On the 1st February 2008 a permanent presence was established in Hurghada with Nick Pendrell on hand to personally meet and greet clients from Eastern & Western Europe who were flying in daily to look for property.
Egypt Real Update...
2nd March 2008
In the first month the team have sold 32 properties to 24 clients, establishing a closing rate of 133%! So successful have they been that agents are rushing now to use this new service rather than sending their clients unaccompanied to visit just one or two Developments. Egypt Real pay 80% of the commissions received to the agents who introduce the clients which means that the 20% of revenues retained is far less than it would cost an agent to employ his own sales resource in Hurghada.
Peter Mitry & Nick Pendrell are two guys who saw the impending popularity of the Egyptian market a year before it happened and are now reaping the rewards of being in the right place at exactly the right time!
Within the coming months Egypt Real are planning to expand their operation to hotspots like Sharm el Sheik and Marsa Alam and have already ordered vehicles with the prominent 'Egypt Real' livery which will become evident to all visiting property buyers.
We will publish further updates as the business in Egypt develops.
For more information on property availability in Hurghada and the Red Sea Riviera visit www.egypt-real.com .
