A luxurious beachfront project in Punta del Este, Uruguay recently sold one of its two penthouses for US$7.3 million to a buyer from Switzerland. The 34 unit Acqua is a new project designed by well known Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly and is his first project in his home country. The glass-walled property overlooks the beach and ocean along Uruguay’s coast and has stunning views from each...

General Growth Properties, one of the largest mall operators in the United States, filed for bankruptcy in mid April. The company has been in negotiations for months with its creditors for better terms on paying down its $25 billion debt. When those failed, it decided to reorganize through bankruptcy.   The company is based in Chicago and filed for bankruptcy in Manhattan. It indicated that its malls will...

The second version of Egypt’s Next Move real estate exhibition is getting ready to take place from April 28, 2009 through May 1, 2009. The first edition of the exhibition was a resounding success with 20,000 visitors, and the 2009 show is expecting more than 30,000 attendees. It will be held in the Cairo International Convention and Conference Center in Nasr City just minutes from the airport and...

European inflation and production data released today was generally neutral, CPI coming in exactly as analysts expected at 0.4% for March.   The Euro gained a little strength against the Pound, trading just above the 1.13 level.   This month has been positive for the currency pair, the Pound gaining around 4% in value against the single currency since April 1st. The movement has mostly been due to a...

The latest figures just released by the Spanish airport operators AENA reveal that visitor numbers to the holiday destination of Lanzarote fell by nearly 20% last month. With some of the largest percentage falls occurring in the British market – the island’s largest source of tourist arrivals.   The new AENA figures show that the total number of tourists arriving on flights to Lanzarote fell from...

The International Monetary Fund has lowered its forecast for growth in the United Arab Emirates. The latest estimate for economic growth in the UAE is 2.1 percent, down on expectations of lower oil prices and the slowing global economy. That is down from estimates that were, in some cases, over 10 percent at times throughout last year.   “The outlook for 2009 and beyond has become more clouded, as the...

The estate of Severin Wunderman has put his southern France chateau and its contents on the market for €18 million. Wundermin was former owner of luxury watch company Corum and also created the watch company Severin Montres. He passed away last year at the age of 69 and now his beloved home is to be put up for sale.   The watch entrepreneur purchased the 17th century hunting lodge in the early 1990s...

The housing market in parts of New Zealand is benefitting from the tough economic times abroad, according to a recent article in the New Zealand Herald newspaper. Expats living abroad, particularly New Zealanders in the UK, have been looking for a place to invest their money, and property back home has benefitted.   According to Brendon Skipper of Trade Me Property, expats are “looking for a job,...

The residential real estate market in Hong Kong has made a dramatic increase in recent weeks as both sales have been up and the number of homes on the market has dropped. The surge in activity in has been due to low mortgage rates and the easing of visa rules, according to analysts.   The weekly number of sales in Honk Kong hit a 62-week high in early April, and the activity in the first weekend of the...

It seems that Taiwan real estate market may be bucking the global trend with some very positive activity taking place. Property shares are on the up in Taiwan as new hope that the Taiwanese relaxation of its property laws could trigger more investments in the sector.   The main TAIEX share index had risen 61.65 points to 5,843.61 around an hour into trade, hitting its strongest intraday level since Oct....