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April
2005
Croatian Fund
Accolade Property has launched Croatia’s first
real estate fund. The Croatian Residential Growth Fund will
focus on residential and holiday property investments on the
Dalmatian coast. “We are responding to investor demand
by introducing a new product which allows the larger investor
to access the very attractive Croatian real estate market
in an efficient way,” says Jonathan Campbell, a former
Goldman Sachs investment banker and Accolade’s Croatian
based CEO. “By managing the whole investment process
from sourcing opportunities, arranging purchase or construction
through to sale, we take away the biggest current obstacles
to direct investment in Croatia, that is, the complicated
and time consuming administrative burdens and the absence
of an efficient property services industry.” Accolade
expects this market to benefit from both the convergence of
Croatia’s economy with that of the EU and the growth
of Croatia’s booming tourist sector. Minimum investment
is E400,000 Contact www.accoladeproperty.com
China View
Hong Kong’s real estate sector showed strong
growth last year, particularly from July to December when
residential sales rose 40 per cent by value and 12.6 per cent
in volume compared to the same period in 2003. Analysts expect
this trend to continue through 2005.
International Real Estate Handbook
A new and indispensable resource on international
property has just been published by Wiley in the UK. The International
Real Estate Handbook is a comprehensive tome that covers general
information about acquisition, ownership, or selling real
estate across the globe. Sixteen key countries are explored
in depth. An extensive contacts list includes lawyers, tax
advisors, real-estate brokers, banks etc for each country.
Various comparative tables examine topics such as purchase
costs, tax rates and inheritance laws relating to real estate.
Written by Christian H. Kalin, lawyer and partner at Henley
& Partners in Zurich with contributions by leading property
lawyers. Price £95. Available through www.wiley.com
(ISBN 047009 4567)
Portugal
Bom Sucesso is a new high spec, high tech resort
development, set amidst eucalyptus and fir forests 80 kilometres
north of Lisbon, near the medieval town of Obidos. The modernist
design team is lead by Portugal’s greatest living architect
Alvaro Siza Vieira, along with Eduardo Souto Moura and Briton’s
David Chipperfield. Homes will be individually designed to
take full advantage of the environment and natural light.
“At Bom Sucesso, we are selling art,” says Jonathan
Salsbury, head of International New Developments at Hamptons
International. “Each home is like a Limited Edition.”
One to three bedroom townhouses start around E165,000 and
three to five bedroom villas cost from E320,000 to E660,000.
Villas have individual swimming pools.
The resort features an 18-hole Donald Steel golf course, a
tennis club run by former Portuguese tennis champion Bernado
Mota and an 80 room ‘designer’ hotel. Extras include
a doctor and pharmacy service. Obidos Lagoon, a short walk
away, features a residents beach.
All properties are freehold and if owners so wish they may
take up two investment options: ‘vacation investment’
with 10 weeks use by the owner and the remaining 42 managed
by the resort; or ‘hotel managed investment’,
with six weeks owner use and 46 managed by the hotel including
a guaranteed 5 per cent net for the first three years. Completion
is expected in five years with the first owners to take up
residency in the summer of 2006.
At a glance:
Cost – E159,000 to E660,000; description –
one to three bedroom townhouses, three to five bedroom villas
on an exclusive resort development; location – one hour’s
drive north of Lisbon, near historic town of Obidos; contact
– Hamptons International www.hamptons-int.com Australia
With sweeping ocean views, a luxurious beachfront mansion
has just been completed in Queensland. For the busy executive
there is a fully equipped boardroom, state of the art movie
theatre, billiard room and bar, fully equipped gymnasium,
two swimming pools (one indoor) and garaging for 10 cars.
There is a gourmet kitchen, numerous formal and informal living
and dining areas, and a multitude of bedrooms span the two
wings of the house.
At a glance:
Cost – AU$12m; description – massive
beachfront mansion featuring everything from two pools to
extensive garaging.; location – Kewarra Beach, Cairns
in Queensland; contact – Knight Frank www.knightfrank.com
UK
Infinity Homes is offering buyers a free holiday when they
buy a property at their new South Hampton city centre Vespasian
Road development. On offer are 17 two bedroom apartments and
one duplex. Many have views across the River Itchen and all
have balconies and a private car parking space.
At a glance:
Cost – from £159,950; description –
two bedroom apartments; location – Vespasian Road, Bitterne,
South Hampton; contact – Infinity Homes www.infinityhomes.co.uk
Florida
A massive new development in Naples in south west
Florida – perhaps less well known than the Orlando area
to foreign buyers – will feature on completion in 2020
6,000 homes in more than 100 district neighbourhoods, set
around the fairways and 72 holes of four private golf courses.
Fiddler’s Creek sits on 1,620 hectares of land of which
only one third is zoned for building. Nature conservation
is integral to the development. Prices range from US$400,000
upwards, including custom-designed homes.
At a glance:
Cost – US$400,000 to US$4m; description –
spacious houses; location – south west Florida; contact
– Ultra Villas www.ultravillas.com
Italy
A spacious three bedroom, two story apartment of
100sqm metres and a 20 sqm terrace with panoramic views overlooking
Lake Maggiore, near Lake Como is on offer for E350,000. The
interior features a wood burning fireplace. Included in the
price is private boat moorage and a garage. The complex has
two tennis courts and a swimming pool.
At a glance:
Cost – E350,000; description – large
apartment on two floors; location – Ghiffa, Lake Magiore;
contact – Giorgio Viganò Srl www.italian-network.it
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