Madeira Real Estate Blog

Madeira - spreading the word! Palheiro Real Estate in London

Dixie — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:26:55 +0000

At the end of March, Palheiro Real Estate attended two events in London linked to the residential tourism market in Portugal.

The first of these was the 6th Annual Property Conference, organised by the UK Portuguese Chamber of Commerce. Held at the new Pestana Chelsea Bridge Hotel, the conference brought together key figures in the Portuguese leisure property market. Delegates heard from a number of distinguished speakers on topics ranging from the outlook for the Portuguese economy; Portugal as a residential tourism destination; how Portugal’s residential tourism developers are responding to changed market conditions; real estate regulation in Portugal and the placement of residential property into UK investment structures.

The Moderator for the second half of the conference was Jonathan Fletcher Blandy, President of the real estate, hotel and golf operations at the Palheiro Estate in Madeira.

The conference was followed by A Place in the Sun overseas property show held at Earls Court. Palheiro Real Estate was one of eight companies which combined to form the Portuguese Pavilion, organised under the auspices of the UK Portuguese Chamber. The Portuguese stand stood out in the national colours and attracted considerable attention over the 3-days of the show. The presenters of A Place in the Sun TV programme - Amanda Lamb, Jasmine Harmen and Jonnie Irwin - were present at the show and took part in a number of seminars giving general advice on buying property overseas.

At the end of the 3-day show, the general opinion of those taking part was that attendance and enquiry levels indicated a return to a healthier market, particularly in the more traditional and better established locations. Under the heading `Lifestyle Buyers Get Serious´, an article published by the Overseas Property Professional organization on 31 March commented that “A Place in the Sun in London this year offered a seemingly busier crowd and a more positive atmosphere than at the 2009 show. Many exhibitors reporting an increase in leads.”

Jasmine Harman, presenter of A Place in the Sun TV programme visits the Portuguese Pavilion at A Place in the Sun show in London on 28 March – pictured here with Roger Still of Palheiro Real Estate.

Christina Hippisley, General Manager of the UK Portuguese Chamber of Commerce with Roger Still of Palheiro Estate on the Portuguese Pavilion at A Place in the Sun show, in London on 28 March. Note the beautiful orchids, which were specially delivered to the show from the Palheiro Estate, Madeira Island.

Christina Hippisley and Luis Delgado of the UK Portuguese Chamber of Commerce visit the Palheiro Estate display at the Portuguese Pavilion; 28 March.

Fractional holiday homes in Madeira

Dixie — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:27:59 +0000

With the onset of the credit crunch, fractional ownership of holiday homes has been increasing in popularity as a more affordable and practical way of owning a home abroad.

Portugal has long been a leading fractional freehold destination and Madeira provides a great option for fractional purchasers, as highlighted in an article in the Daily Mail last week.

The journalist Xanthe Whittaker states that fractional ownership allows “for holiday homes, once the exclusive domain of the ultra-rich, to become available to people with considerably smaller bank accounts.”

Palheiro Village is given as an example of one such luxury location that offers value for money. The article highlights though that fractional is often attractive to people who could afford to own a whole property outright, but “would rather part-own than make the financial commitment of full-freehold ownership.”

For the full article, click on this link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk

Innovative new CMS website solution for Real Estate Agents

Dixie — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 10:41:39 +0000

All too often Real Estate agencies complain about the costs involved in running their sites. Many agencies run expensive web solutions that require the purchase of a license and incorporate monthly or annual payments, maintenance costs and setup fees.

CMS Real Estate has been developed specifically for the property market and has been crafted around the award winning CMS Joomla framework.

Chris Szabo, MD of Navega Bem explained “We specialize in the the design and development of quality CMS websites. That means we create websites that you can update yourself without any technical experience whatsoever and without our help.”

“Utilizing the award winning Joomla 1.5 as the framework of your web site in conjunction with our ‘CMS Real Estate‘ component, you can run a multilingual CMS Real Estate Agency website that you can manage from anywhere in the world. All you need is an internet connection and a standard browser.

We provide a complete, ready to launch website that includes a unique design (we don’t use templates), initial search engine optimization and pre-launch marketing. All you have to do is add or import your properties and off you go. It’s that easy! And there are no license fees, no monthly fees, no maintenance fees or set-up fees.

Additionally, all our sites are professionally optimized and marketed to rank high in the search engines - because regardless of how attractive your web site looks or how much you paid for it, if it can’t be found, it won’t be getting any visitors.”

CMS Real Estate can be seen in demonstration at: http://www.cms-realestate.net/

‘Navega Bem - Web Design‘ is a highly reputable web design and development company based on the sub-tropical island of Madeira, 535 miles (861 km) from Lisbon - Portugal.

MADEIRA, THE “NEW ALGARVE”

Dixie — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 09:13:20 +0000

In Madeira, developers have completed the island’s first set of purpose-built holiday homes, and two more projects are on the way.

Making these schemes possible has been huge investment in the Portuguese island’s air, road and sea connections over the past decade which have made visiting the island a good deal easier and raised its profile in the world.

Located in the Atlantic 350 miles off the west coast of Morocco, Madeira is a tourist island that has traditionally appealed to older holidaymakers from northern Europe, particularly Britain, because of its warm climate and easy pace of life. Famous visitors have included Sir Winston Churchill and Baroness Thatcher.

Tourism was given a boost earlier this decade when TAP, the Portuguese national airline, lost its monopoly on flights to the island. With the arrival of easyJet, British Airways and other operators, the number of destinations served by the airport has grown to 50. The airport has been rebuilt to cater for this increased traffic, and new motorways, bridges and tunnels created to make getting about this mountainous island a good deal easier.

Yachts sailing between Europe and the Caribbean have been restocking at a marina built at the Quinto do Lorde estate in 2002, and rumours are circulating that a new liner terminal will be created, so the harbour at Madeira’s capital, Funchal, can accommodate super-yachts.

Tight planning laws aimed at avoiding overcrowding mean the maximum height of new buildings in Funchal’s historic city centre is seven floors, although this is stretched to twelve in exceptional cases. In the countryside it is three floors. A new hotel can be built on the island only if it has at least four stars.

In addition to Madeira’s two existing golf courses, two more will be created on the island and a third on the smaller, outlying island of Porto Santo.

These moves are consolidating Madeira’s high-end tourism business and have encouraged hoteliers to build its first two designer hotels, The Vine Hotel and the Choupana Hills Resort and Spa.

Following hot on their heels are developers specialising in the construction of purpose-built holiday homes. At newly completed Palheiro Village, high in the hills above Funchal, are 48 villas and 37 apartments painted in warm reds, pinks, yellows and oranges.

Half of Palheiro Village’s homes have been sold, 70 per cent to British and Irish buyers, most of the rest to other Europeans. Prices for freehold homes range from euro325,000 to euro1.8 million, and fractional ownership options start at euro120,000 for a quarter share of a one bed-apartment. Most properties have terraces and some have pools. Village facilities include a communal swimming pool.

The village is located on the lower slopes of the Palheiro Estate where residents have access to a modern spa at hotel, Casa Velha do Palheiro, and an 18-hole golf course.

Two more upmarket, holiday home developments are on the way. Sixty contemporary-looking villas and 112 apartments are scheduled for completion at Azulara, west of Funchal, in late 2012. Prices for apartments start at Euro281,000. Early buyers have come from as far afield as Barbados and the Middle East. At Quinta do Lorde, 127 traditional-style dwellings are under construction.

The completion of the Palheiro Village is significant for Madeira’s tourism industry and property market, Anne Marchington, sales manager at Palheiro Village, believes.

“Madeira can be seen as “a late starter” for this type of resort development compared to the Algarve in mainland Portugal, and islands such as Mallorca,” she says, “but with necessary conditions all now in place, the development of residential tourism on a small scale and aiming for the high-quality end of the market, is likely to become well-established.”

The global economic downturn has been cruel to Madeira. No sooner had its spanking new roads, hotels and holiday homes been built, then tourist numbers were decimated by the credit crunch – the British have found Madeira, which is part of the Eurozone, a little expensive since Sterling plummeted on international currency exchanges last year. Combined with an oversupply of homes in some parts of Funchal, this has been bad news for property prices.

Tony de Nobrega, proprietor of Funchal estate agency, Nobrega Realty, said prices had dropped 30 per cent for ordinary residential property over the past 12 months and demand for holiday homes had “decreased substantially”.

He considers it unlikely an upturn will happen any time soon.

“I think 12 months is too soon to forecast even if any positive improvement in the world economy takes place,” he says, “it will still take time to filter into the local market.”

Even so, despite these cyclical problems, Madeira’s structural improvements bode well for its property market in the longer term. Now, could be exactly the right time to buy on the island.

(All The World’s a Home : Global Property News)

Madeira is a children’s paradise…

Dixie — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:31:50 +0000

Frequent visitors to our garden isle are well aware that Madeira is a children’s paradise…and the rest of the world is waking up to this fact too! Homes Overseas, the UK’s leading property website, features Palheiro Estate in an article about the delights available for children on Madeira.

The story starts by stating that “Thanks to the appealing climate and increasing range of year-round outdoor activities, property in Madeira and the island itself has been expanding its appeal to families in recent years.” It goes on to list some of the great opportunities for children, including the water and land sports, festivals that “are a highlight for families” and attractions that can be visited.

Read all about it here: HomeOverseas

Madeira island - a great place to own a home

Dixie — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:08:04 +0000

Coast magazine, the UK’s premier magazine celebrating the best of coastal living, includes Madeira as great place to own a home. It states that “there is a great choice for homebuyers” on the island, and the Palheiro Estate is recommended.

With a view of the coast like this, we’re not surprised by their choice!