Miami Enjoys Tourism Boost From Global Volvo Ocean Race, Only North American Stop

VOLVO OCEAN RACE, Team CAMPER entering Port Miami (Photo by Marco Oquendo)

(Miami, FL) - This week Miami welcomed the Volvo Ocean Race fleet, a global sailing event, with much fanfare. And as it turns out, Miami has a lot to be thankful for being the only North America stop-over on their global trek. Money.

Considered one of the most prestigious sail events in the world with a global following, the 14-day Volvo Ocean Race festival scheduled in downtown Miami's Bicentennial Park will be taking place from May 6th-20th, and will attract more than 200,000 visitors worldwide including tourists, locals and sailing enthusiasts alike.

Don Poole

Volvo Ocean Race Miami's board member and President Don Poole previously told World Property Channel, "Several months ago in our application to the Florida Sports Commission we indicated that we believed that our event would generate around 7,000 room nights locally. We now know that Volvo North America has booked 900 people for 4 nights, 3,600 rooms. The six Volvo Race teams have booked on average 40 rooms for 14 days and the Volvo Race Corporate organization has booked 35 rooms for at least 14 days. When you do the math you can see that we will easily reach the 7,000 room night target and that's just the booked rooms we know about now."

JW Marriott to Make Caribbean Debut

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) -- Marriott International's world-class luxury hotel brand, JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts recently announced plans to open a new 131-room JW Marriott Hotel in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, in 2014. The mixed-used residential and commercial property will be operated by Marriott under an agreement with Grupo Velutini, a Panamanian subsidiary of Fondo de Valores Inmobiliarios (FVI).

The official announcement event took place at the hotel site inside of the Blue Mall with participants including President Leonel Fernandez, Marriott International chairman J.W. Marriott, Jr., Grupo Velutini owner/president Luis Emilio Velutini, and Rob Steigerwald, chief operating officer, Americas, Marriott International.

"The Dominican Republic is a highly desirable destination for today's luxury traveler and a growing business hub in the Caribbean," said J.W. Marriott, Jr., chairman of the board, Marriott International.

"This makes it ideally suited for our JW Marriott brand, which is now in 22 countries around the world."

 Located in the Piantini area, Santo Domingo's primary business, commercial and residential district, the JW Marriott Santo Domingo will be located in the first seven floors of a 15-story mixed-use tower being built above the existing Blue Mall Santo Domingo, which opened in 2010 and features 20,000 square meters of commercial space over six floors, including high-end retail such as Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Salvatore Ferragamo and Carolina Herrera.

"We are thrilled to be bringing the JW Marriott brand of luxury to Santo Domingo," said Luis Emilio Velutini, owner and president of Grupo Velutini.  "And with its prime location above the Blue Mall and in close proximity to major businesses, we know that it will be successful."

In addition to 131 guest rooms and suites, the hotel will feature a three-meal-a-day restaurant, a lobby bar and lounge and a pool snack bar.  It will have 589 square meters of meeting space, including a ballroom and two smaller rooms; as well as a fitness center and swimming pool.

The primary architect for the project is Gomez Vasques Aldana Asociados, a well-known Mexican firm with extensive experience in the hospitality industry throughout Latin America and in Santo Domingo.

"We are fortunate to begin this partnership with Mr. Velutini and FVI, which has one of the largest real estate portfolios in Latin America," says Laurent de Kousemaeker, chief development officer for Marriott International, Inc. in the Caribbean & Latin America "We currently have two other hotels in Santo Domingo and believe that the JW Marriott luxury brand will be very well received in the city."

Currently, there are 53 JW Marriott hotels in 22 countries. By 2015 the portfolio will encompass 80 properties in 29 countries.

China Ranked World's Hottest Residential Real Estate Market Despite Slight Price Drop

Despite Beijing's efforts to rein in prices and slow development in the last three years, China remains the hottest residential real estate market in the world, according to the most recent data from Knight Frank, a 115-year-old, London-based consulting firm.  Newmark Knight Frank is the firm's North American affiliate in New York City.

The rankings are based on housing price increases from fourth quarter 2006 until the last quarter of 2011.

China

Housing prices in major cities Beijing and Shanghai have surged by over 110 percent in the past five years as the world's second biggest economy experiences rapid growth.

Knight Frank data show a home in Shanghai's prime areas costs $19,400 per square meter or $1,800 per square foot in the fourth quarter of 2011. In Beijing, the same home costs an average $17,400 per square meter or $1,600 per square foot.

Shanghai, China

The years of tightening measures China's government started showing results in the second half of last year. Home prices marked a fifth straight month-on-month drop to 0.1 percent in February.

China's average home prices are expected to fall between 10 percent and 20 percent in 2012, according to a recent Reuters survey.

The country's property developers, meanwhile, have enjoyed rising sales this year. Vanke, China's biggest developer by sales, reported March sales rising 24 percent year on year -- the second-straight month of gains.

China's  largest developer by market value, China Land Overseas, saw February sales hit $1.7 billion, up 209 percent from the same month a year ago.


Hong Kong

As a major global financial center, the city overtook London last year as the world's most expensive office rental market, according to Knight Frank.

In the fourth quarter of 2011, the average price of a home in prime areas was about $47,500 per square meter or $4,400 per square feet -- the fourth-highest in the world.

Protests from locals over high prices and foreign buying led the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to introduce a measure last year that requires buyers whose principal incomes are not in Hong Kong to pay an extra 10 percent in down payment when buying a house.

All this has led to a slowdown in recent months. Housing prices grew only 11.3 percent in 2011, compared with 20.1 percent in 2010, according to Knight Frank.

And year-to-date prices have grown by a more moderate 6.7 percent , according to market estimates. Sales of luxury homes valued over $1.29 million also decreased 23.6 percent in February following a 17.4 percent fall in January, according to Knight Frank.

Israel

Knight Frank research found high home prices in Israel led to a series of protests in 2011 with demonstrators asking the government to intervene to cool the market. Thousands of protesters made headlines last July to voice concerns over a housing shortage and high rentals. The demonstrations seem to have had an effect on property prices. They fell 1.2% in 2011.

However, after an interest rate cut from 3.25% to 2.5% in February, there appears to be resurgence in property demand, with new mortgages issued by banks jumping by more than 14% in March compared to the two pervious months.

Singapore

Singapore is the most expensive real estate market in Southeast Asia. The average price of a prime property in the city-state was $25,600 per square meter or $2,600 per square foot in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to Knight Frank.

The country also ranked as the third most expensive city to rent high-end property in Asia last year after Hong Kong and Tokyo, according to research firm ECA International. Low interest rates and a wave of immigration in recent years have boosted demand for homes.

A regional financial hub, Singapore has a large foreign population that's helping to drive home prices. Foreigners make up more than one-third of Singapore's 5.2 million people and accounted for 18 percent of new homes sold in the third quarter of 2011, according to Citigroup.

Among foreign buyers, mainland Chinese are the largest group, accounting for 30.6 percent of foreign sales in the third quarter of 2011, according to real estate firm DTZ.

Colombia

Colombia is the only South American country to make the list.

Rapid economic expansion, with GDP growth of nearly 6 percent in 2011 - its highest in four years - has led to an increase in house buying, especially among the growing middle-class.

Plus a decade-long military offensive against illegal armed groups has made it safer to do business in the country, attracting a flood of foreign investment, which has in turn boosted property prices. Foreign direct investment jumped more than 30 percent in the first quarter of 2012 to $4.2 billion compared to the period last year.

Property prices went up 3.2 percent year on year in 2011, while new home sales were up 19 percent in the first half of last year compared to the period a year earlier, according to government figures.

Eurozone Debt Concerns Dragging on Europe's Office Rents, First Rate Softening Since 2009

London, UK

According to Jones Lang LaSalle European Office Index, Europe is now recording slight reductions in office rents for the first time since Q4 2009. Prime office rents fell by 0.3% in Q1 2012.

The net reduction masked both rises and falls across several prime office rental markets. Falls were recorded in Brussels (-5.0%), Madrid (-1.9%), Barcelona (-1.4%) and Paris (-1.2%) whilst rental increases were recorded in Luxembourg (+5.3%), Stockholm (+2.4%) and Hamburg (+2.1%).

Stable rental markets to continue

In the wake of the adjusted economic outlook for the region as a whole, growth forecasts for 2012 have been revised downwards. Markets with more robust economic conditions such as the UK and Germany are likely to perform well, while struggling economies such as Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy will see on-going strains in occupational markets and rents. The Jones Lang LaSalle office clock shows the spread between markets across the region, with the first market (Amsterdam) reaching 12 o'clock, indicating its next move will be rental reductions, whereas 14 markets still remain at or before 6 o'clock, indicating that rents still bottom out or stabilize.

Steady leasing volumes but 2012 to be down on 2011

Office occupiers are expected to remain cautious in the short term and current expectations are for leasing volumes over 2012 to be slightly lower then 2011 - but in line with long term averages. Take-up in Q1 2012 totaled 2.3 million sq m, 15% below Q1 2011 with leasing volumes in Germany decreasing from the high levels of last year and an 18% reduction in Paris.

Absorption down 16% on Q1 2011

Annual net absorption, representing the change in occupied stock, totaled 3.1 million sq m which is 16% lower than in Q1 2011. Levels in Western Europe increased driven by strong performance in the German markets whereas absorption slowed in the CEE region.