During the past month of March we could witness the purchase of ‘España Building’ in Madrid by Wang Jianlin, a property tycoon. The building, which used to belong to Banco Santander, has been bought by this businessman, one of the richest men in China for 265 billion €, and which means around a 30% less than what Emilio Botín paid to Metrovacesa, which was the former owner.
Jianlin has set his eyes on Madrid and, after buying the 20% of the football team Atlético de Madrid, he has had some other meetings looking to invest somewhat 3,000 billion euros in Campamento, an area in the Southwest of Madrid where the Ministry of Defence’s facilities were formerly located. In this ground of over 2 billion square meters, the owner of the Wanda Group (specialized in leisure and commercial centres) could build a big leisure, commercial and office complex.
The investment of the Wanda Group has created a pull effect amongst Chinese investors, who are currently the ones with a higher percentage of investment in the total foreign capital that is coming into the Spanish property market.
And now what we wonder is if these Chinese investors will bring with them their superstitions. In China, the number 8 is the lucky number by excellence. SIM cards’ price are directly proportional to the amount of eights they have, licence plates with eights are highly valued and, in the property sector, offices located on the 8th floor or those containing an 8 (18th, 28th, 38th…) are much more expensive than the ones located on other floors. Will these apartments’ or offices’ prices also rise in Spain due to the potential demand?
It is likewise necessary to take into account that there are other less fortunate numbers and 4th floors or the ones containing a 4 are the ones less wanted, since 4 is pronounced in Chinese like the word ‘death’.
For Hong Kong citizens it is inconceivable to buy an apartment where a non-natural death has occurred (murders or suicides), but property speculators and people from different cultures buy these properties at low prices, thinking that the value will rise in the future.
Hong Kong Real Estate agents have established a ranking to show this characteristic in their ads. Four skulls mean that the apartment has an extremely macabre history and that it has been released to the media. Three skulls mean that the apartment has been the scene of a crime but it has not had media exposure. Two skulls mean that there has been a suicide that has not been on the media and, finally, one skull means that there has been a home accident with a fatal outcome in that apartment.
Of course, superstitions are not only found in China. Currently New York buildings are being built where you go straight from the 12th to the 14th floor. According to a study developed by CityRealty on 650 buildings in NY, floor numbering is accurate in less than 10% of them. This is an acquired habit due to marketing reasons; they don’t want to reduce their potential buyers for superstition reasons.
Will the Spanish property market adapt to new investors?
Photo by: Cirofono http://bit.ly/18Gg4Qt
