Luxury Real Estate & Home

One thing above all others is very clear in Spain amongst a plethora of other countries, that is that the real estate sector has suffered horrendously in the last couple of years. The market can be segmented though and some areas have responded better than others of course. The better areas were cushioned from the recession and the areas of individual luxury Spanish villas and luxury real estate in Spain have fared a lot better than the areas where there are an oversupply of similar properties aiming at the middle or lower ends of the Spanish property market.

In Spain the luxury real estate market is now looking reasonably healthy. Prices have certainly dropped but they were the first to stabilise as soon as the excess stock was absorbed. Many people who had overstretched themselves got into trouble as interest rates rose to levels they hadn’t been before and others in that area were bankers, lawyers and other professionals etc… whose industries disappeared almost overnight and they were unable to pay the large mortgage repayments that came with the territory.

The now famous distressed sale market grew and virtually disappeared quite quickly as this excess was soaked up by those who had previously wanted to buy in the luxury areas but the price was slightly out of their range. As distressed sales appeared and were comparatively cheap they dragged the market down with them of course. Now they are largely gone the anchor on the market has gone too of course.

Not that I am suggesting price rises but with low interest rates in all of Europe, where many of the luxury property buyers come from, and the fact that those counties are slowly coming out of recession, many people now looking to buy in Spain at good prices. It is unlikely that in this particular sector at least there will be any further price falls. As there are limits on the number of luxury Spanish properties on sale the scarcity principle should come into play and maintain prices long and medium term.

So where are the luxury properties? Spain has many areas that are havens for the super rich, the obvious candidates are Marbella, Andratx in Mallorca, Catalunya, sprawling city centre pads in Madrid and Barcelona, the more exclusive golf resorts dotted around the country and the Canary Islands noted for their weather all year round are also popular in this field.

Valencia, where I am based, also has its luxury areas where the professionals, football players, and those with a lot of spare money have set up home. The areas of Monasterios and Alfinach near to Puzol nestle into the mountainside overlooking the Mediterranean while Campolivar has probably the largest agglomeration of ego homes in the area being just five minutes from the. Rocafort and Santa Barbara tend to be the favourites of the Politicial class and the area around the two golf courses at Betera and El Bosque near Chiva are packed with million Euro homes with beautiful views over green fairways and manicured lawns.

For more information on the properties available in these areas, where there is still an overhang of bargains available then click on the links in the author box below.

Managing your personal or company luxury brand, that is, managing how you are perceived by your target market over time, is mission critical. You can certainly elevate your game as a luxury real estate marketing professional by studying how the market leaders in luxury consumer brands manage or mismanage their brands. The Art of Shaving is one luxury brand that has recently made a major branding mistake, in our opinion, and has tarnished their otherwise sterling reputation.

When you think of men’s shaving, what it the first brand of disposable razor that comes to mind? Gillette is by far the market leader in this category. Their most expensive, top of the line model, the Fusion, has five blades in a single cartridge and promises the smoothest possible shave. Top of the Gillette line of disposable razors will never constitute a luxury brand because Gillette is not perceived as a luxury brand.

The Lexus is perceived as a luxury brand on par with Mercedes Benz and BMW in the minds of many consumers. Did you know that Lexus is made by Toyota? They did not call their top of the line car the “Toyota Lexus”. Instead they created a separate brand name for this relatively expensive luxury car.

Recently, we were strolling through Century City Shopping Center in Los Angeles. There we found a store called the Art of Shaving. The Art of Shaving products are the best selling men’s brand in upscale department stores. It is clearly a luxury brand based on its extensive product line including a sterling silver razor and shaving soap brush that sell for hundreds of dollars.

We were stunned to see a huge photo of the Gillette Fusion in their store window. Why were they diluting this luxury brand by aligning with Gillette? Later in Nordstroms, here in Santa Barbara, we noticed that a new package of the Art of Shaving products had a Fusion razor right on the outside of the box. You could not see the other products in the box. What were they thinking? This completely reduced the Art of Shaving to the level of a non-exclusive brand. You can buy the Fusion along with the entire Gillette line of cheaper razors in any discount drug store.

With some research we discovered that Proctor & Gamble purchased both Gillette and The Art of Shaving. The intent was obviously to use The Art of Shaving to create a perception of “class” for the razor. Instead, The Art of Shaving was rendered déclassé–reduced to having a lower class in the minds of its target market.

Managing your personal or company brand is primarily about managing perception in the realm of luxury real estate marketing. If you also want to sell properties in the lower price range you may want to consider creating a separate sub-brand so that you do not confuse your target market in both categories