PENINSULA | WHAT THE MEDIA SAYSBARCELONA MEETING POINT

Carrafiel pours optimism and

strength. His opinions about the real

estate market are considered bullish

(aggressive). The Spanish real estate

and economic boom makes sense and

it is not unique. It follows the U.S. model.

In the U.S. we have always believed that

ownership of a home is an engine for

personal ambi t ion . That i s why

ownership has grown at the same pace

as large immigrations in modern history.

And Spain is experimenting its first major

immigration movement in modern history.

Carrafiell differs from those who

foresee all types of problems for the

Spanish economy. He believes that the

real estate sector makes the economy

stronger and not weaker. The investments

in the Spanish real estate sector have

created wealth for the medium class.

By increasing the value of their homes,

owners have consumed at a rate not

seen even in Germany. Most of Germans

live in rented houses and they fear the

future, so they save instead of consuming.

Meanwhile, Spanish feel more secure

every day and some even mortgage

their houses to obtain cheap money

for consumption.

The possibility of a real estate

bubble burst and the volatilization of

this new wealth is rejected by this young

financier who is convinced that interest

rates will stay low in the coming years.

Regarding the price stability, you must

know that all major American investments

banks have a 6% of its reserves invested

in real estate. Moreover, our purpose

is to increase this percentage up to a

10%. This means billions and billions of

dollars that will be invested in Europe.

The demand in Spain grows and i t wi l l keep growing. Millions of North Europeans save to buy a house in Spain and retire there

The demand in Spain grows and

it will keep growing. In the U.K., Germany,

Holland or Scandinavia there are full

newspaper sec t ions exc lus i ve ly

dedicated to explain their citizens how

to move to Spain. Millions of these

North Europeans save to buy a house

in Spain and retire there.

John CarrafiellT h e P h i l o s o p h e r o f P r o s p e r i t y

BARCELONA MEETING POINT 2005

The immigration is for Mr. Carrafiell

one key factor for the Spanish real estate

boom: Spain has a capacity to absorb

immigrants for the next ten years. Spain

is still cheap; the average price for a

home is 300.000,00. This is not much

comparing to the rest of the euro zone.

That is why Spanish boom has space to

grow. The high immigration rate

explains why despite the low birth rate,

the real estat demand is still robust.