Tavira multi-million euro shopping centre

 

In what appears to be part of a shopping centre boom in the Algarve the Sonae Group has lent a significant financial boost to the eastern part of the region by inaugurating a €15 million shopping centre in Tavira that has directly created 273 jobs. Owned by Matifer and managed by the Sonae Group the Tavira Gran Plaza comprises four of the Group’s key base retail brands (Continente, Área Saúde, Bom Bocado and Book.It) as well as five specialist brands (Sport Zone, Worten, Worten Mobile, Modalfa and the Zippy Kidstore).

This recent opening is evidence that the Group continues to invest heavily in high-value projects that have the potential to stimulate local economy.

Sonae’s presence in the Algarve is now firmly established, with 65 shops (10 Worten, eight Worten Mobile, eight Modalfa, seven Sport Zone, six Área Saúde, six Modelo, five Continente, four Star Travel Agencies, three Maxmat DIY stores, two Bom Bocado, two Book.it, two Zippy, one Loop and one Vobis), as well as three shopping centres; Guia’s AlgarveShopping, Continente Shopping Centre in Portimão and the Modelo Shopping Centre in Albufeira. Altogether, the ventures have created more than 2,200 jobs across the region.

Pedro Salazar, Public Relations Manager for Sonae, said “With these new units we have increased our closeness to all Algarvean families and tourists who, year after year, seek this region and to whom we continue to offer the best value, found in our variety and quality of products, with the lowest prices on the market”.

Tavira Gran-Plaza was opened on June 5th and aims to serve the areas of Tavira, Vila Real Santo António, São Brás de Alportel and Olhão, offering 1,045 car parking spaces.

source: the-news.net

Tavira multi-million euro shopping centre

 

In what appears to be part of a shopping centre boom in the Algarve the Sonae Group has lent a significant financial boost to the eastern part of the region by inaugurating a €15 million shopping centre in Tavira that has directly created 273 jobs. Owned by Matifer and managed by the Sonae Group the Tavira Gran Plaza comprises four of the Group’s key base retail brands (Continente, Área Saúde, Bom Bocado and Book.It) as well as five specialist brands (Sport Zone, Worten, Worten Mobile, Modalfa and the Zippy Kidstore).

This recent opening is evidence that the Group continues to invest heavily in high-value projects that have the potential to stimulate local economy.

Sonae’s presence in the Algarve is now firmly established, with 65 shops (10 Worten, eight Worten Mobile, eight Modalfa, seven Sport Zone, six Área Saúde, six Modelo, five Continente, four Star Travel Agencies, three Maxmat DIY stores, two Bom Bocado, two Book.it, two Zippy, one Loop and one Vobis), as well as three shopping centres; Guia’s AlgarveShopping, Continente Shopping Centre in Portimão and the Modelo Shopping Centre in Albufeira. Altogether, the ventures have created more than 2,200 jobs across the region.

Pedro Salazar, Public Relations Manager for Sonae, said “With these new units we have increased our closeness to all Algarvean families and tourists who, year after year, seek this region and to whom we continue to offer the best value, found in our variety and quality of products, with the lowest prices on the market”.

Tavira Gran-Plaza was opened on June 5th and aims to serve the areas of Tavira, Vila Real Santo António, São Brás de Alportel and Olhão, offering 1,045 car parking spaces.

source: the-news.net

Tax breaks for second home owners

 

Owners of second homes in Europe may be able to benefit from some new tax exemptions – but for one year only. One of the surprise measures in the recent Budget was an extension of tax breaks on furnished holiday lettings in the UK to similar properties in the rest of Europe. The government decided to make this change because it was worried that having different treatment of holiday lets in UK and the rest of the EU was a breach of European law, but at the same time it said it would be too expensive to offer the tax breaks indefinitely, so they will be abolished altogether in April 2010.

The benefits apply to properties that meet a set of qualifying conditions, which are basically that the property must be available for letting as holiday accommodation for at least 140 days during a 12-month period; and it has to actually be let for at least 70 days, with each letting shorter than 31 days.

So what exactly are the benefits? The most attractive one is that, if you make a loss on the property once you have offset all your outgoings against your rental income, that loss can itself be offset against your other income, including your salary. So if you’re a 40 per cent taxpayer then 40 per cent of any loss is effectively recovered through a reduced tax bill. Alternatively, the loss can be carried forward and offset against future letting profits.

Another benefit is that if you have owned the property for more than 10 years, and you decide to sell it in the current tax year, you are liable for capital gains tax on only one quarter of the profit. So for the 40 per cent taxpayer, that means you are only liable for CGT at an effective rate of 10 per cent (40 per cent x 25 per cent of profit). If you were thinking of selling your property, and there’s potentially a big profit since you bought it, now is definitely the time to act. What’s even better is that the exemptions are retrospective over the last five years, so you may be able to reclaim tax already paid.

Mark Tuckwell, tax director with Target Chartered Accountants, said: "This will be a surprise windfall for overseas holiday home owners, and one that could save them a significant sum in tax. A higher rate taxpayer who has been making a loss of £5,000 a year for the past five years would be entitled to reclaim £10,000, while someone who sold their property and paid £30,000 capital gains tax may now be able to claim back as much as £28,000."

On the minus side, taxes paid overseas are not affected by this, and you may find it difficult to prove that your property meets all the criteria to qualify.

Alexander Garrett is a freelance property writer who contributes regularly to The Observer and British Airways’ Business Life.

Source primelocation.com

Tax breaks for second home owners

 

Owners of second homes in Europe may be able to benefit from some new tax exemptions – but for one year only. One of the surprise measures in the recent Budget was an extension of tax breaks on furnished holiday lettings in the UK to similar properties in the rest of Europe. The government decided to make this change because it was worried that having different treatment of holiday lets in UK and the rest of the EU was a breach of European law, but at the same time it said it would be too expensive to offer the tax breaks indefinitely, so they will be abolished altogether in April 2010.

The benefits apply to properties that meet a set of qualifying conditions, which are basically that the property must be available for letting as holiday accommodation for at least 140 days during a 12-month period; and it has to actually be let for at least 70 days, with each letting shorter than 31 days.

So what exactly are the benefits? The most attractive one is that, if you make a loss on the property once you have offset all your outgoings against your rental income, that loss can itself be offset against your other income, including your salary. So if you’re a 40 per cent taxpayer then 40 per cent of any loss is effectively recovered through a reduced tax bill. Alternatively, the loss can be carried forward and offset against future letting profits.

Another benefit is that if you have owned the property for more than 10 years, and you decide to sell it in the current tax year, you are liable for capital gains tax on only one quarter of the profit. So for the 40 per cent taxpayer, that means you are only liable for CGT at an effective rate of 10 per cent (40 per cent x 25 per cent of profit). If you were thinking of selling your property, and there’s potentially a big profit since you bought it, now is definitely the time to act. What’s even better is that the exemptions are retrospective over the last five years, so you may be able to reclaim tax already paid.

Mark Tuckwell, tax director with Target Chartered Accountants, said: "This will be a surprise windfall for overseas holiday home owners, and one that could save them a significant sum in tax. A higher rate taxpayer who has been making a loss of £5,000 a year for the past five years would be entitled to reclaim £10,000, while someone who sold their property and paid £30,000 capital gains tax may now be able to claim back as much as £28,000."

On the minus side, taxes paid overseas are not affected by this, and you may find it difficult to prove that your property meets all the criteria to qualify.

Alexander Garrett is a freelance property writer who contributes regularly to The Observer and British Airways’ Business Life.

Source primelocation.com

UK Housing market bottoming out

Interest in property ‘up again’

Various surveys have suggested some stabilisation in the market

Rising interest from potential buyers coupled with falling numbers of sellers is stabilising UK house prices, according to surveyors.

New buyer inquiries increased for the seventh month in a row in May – at the fastest rate since 1999, said the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

But there were fewer sellers, continuing a trend of the last two years, the survey found.

Two other surveys recently reported a rise in house prices in May.

Survey

The Rics survey, which has been running since 1978, takes a snapshot of the degree of confidence in the market from surveyors and estate agents across the UK.

[There are] definite signs of early recovery but we are hoping the usual summer seasonal downturn does not now occur

Ian Shaw, Lincolnshire estate agent

UK house prices ‘up 2.6% in May’

They reported that average sales were at their highest level since August last year.

However, at 11.8 properties sold per surveyor in the last three months, this remained 31% down on the same period a year earlier.

The Rics members did again suggest a further increase in potential new buyers window shopping for property, most notably in Scotland, London and the South East of England.

Alongside this, there were fewer people asking agents to sell their homes in May, which was having a logical effect on house prices.

"On the face of it, the housing market does appear to be close to bottoming out with activity picking up in a material way and prices at last stabilising," said Rics spokesman Ian Perry.

"However, it is important to remember that the lack of supply has been as important in underpinning prices as the rise in demand."

‘Obstacles’

Some 11% more surveyors were now expecting property prices to fall rather than rise, the survey found. In addition, 40% more were predicting sales to increase than fall.

Yet, Mr Perry stressed that the troubled state of the economy could still constrain any housing market recovery.

"With the economic backdrop still quite uncertain, unemployment is set to continue increasing sharply and finance for first time buyers is still in short supply, there are a number of significant obstacles for the market to overcome over the coming months," he said.

Some surveyors pointed to the seasonal nature of property sales.

"[There are] definite signs of early recovery but we are hoping the usual summer seasonal downturn does not now occur," said Ian Shaw, who operates in Lincolnshire.

On 4 June, a survey by the Halifax said that UK house prices rose by 2.6% in May compared with April but activity remained low in the market.

This came shortly after the Nationwide building society reported a 1.2% rise in prices in May compared with April – the second rise in three months.

Source http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8090028.stm

Technorati Tags: housing market,bottom,economical recession,economical recovery,recovery housing market,invest property,property investor,property investments

Exclusive Algarve Villas – Newsletter 2009

Анжелина Джоли ищет недвижимость в Португалии без Бреда Пита

Анжелина Джоли ищет недвижимость в Португалии без Бреда Пита Американская актриса Анжелина Джоли собирается расширить свое портфолио, купив недвижимость на одном из пляжей Португалии. Недавно Джоли просила своего агента поискать ей недвижимость на юге района Португалии Algarve. Агент говорит, что Анжелина любит эту страну и хотела бы, чтобы ее дети росли там. ЕЕ внимание привлекла уникальная деревня Lagos, и она собирается совершить сделку как можно скорее. Интересным фактом является то, что приобретать дом она собирается самостоятельно без Бреда Пита.