Ukraine “resistant” to outside advice
The Ukrainian office market is the “biggest surprise”, said one of the big five European agents at Expo Real last week. While most other CEE markets are keeping down vacancy rates and curbing overdevelopment, it seems some “very rich Ukrainians are resistant to advice” and keep on building property for which there is no demand. They will lose “an awful lot of money”, says our agent.
99c store comes to Rodeo Drive
A US discount store that sells all items for just 99 cents is looking to take a unit on Beverly Hills’ ultra-prime shopping way Rodeo Drive. It wants to open a flagship store alongside the likes of Gucci, Chanel and Versace to take advantage of the demand for discount goods. The 99 Cents Only chain says its best-performing outlet in the US is just outside Beverly Hills and made $12m in sales last year. Americans love a bargain…
Home is where the hard choices are
Much of the debate at Expo Real centred on the increased cautiousness of institutional investors, particularly those in Germany, where the definition of “core” assets is becoming more closely defined. However, some investors could be getting a little edgier in their investment decisions. As one researcher pointed out, “German investors are happy to take risks as long as it’s at home.”
Portuguese avoid the pain in Spain
As Spain goes through one of the worst economic crises ever, Portuguese agents could not resist a wry smile. Despite budget cuts, the smaller country looks like meeting its bail-out commitments and, for once, Portugal’s property market is not doing much worse than its bigger neighbour. “Remember how they laughed at us last year? Look at them now,” said one.
