For the second consecutive year, the number of visitors to the Madrid Real Estate Fair [SIMA] topped 150,000, receiving a total of 159,827 visitors during 2007 which showed a small increase of 1.9% over the previous year. Of this total, 138,017 visitors (0.7% up on SIMA06), were from the general public while visiting professionals made up 21,810 (showing an increase of 9.9%). “The Madrid Real Estate Fair has clearly managed to maintain both the quantity and quality of visitors this year,” said Eloy Bohúa, the fair’s director. This confirms SIMA’s clear position as the leading real estate fair in Spain, and the undoubted confidence that the public, professionals and exhibitors have in SIMA. In a year of relative slowdown in the real estate business, SIMA has demonstrated continuing growth in its main indices of net space occupied, exhibitors and visitors, which this year showed increases over the previous year of 19%, 10% and 1.9% respectively .

This year’s event, held in Madrid’s Ifema exhibition hall and which closed on 2nd June, once again confirmed the commitment of the exhibitors to an overtly commercial fair clearly aimed at fulfilling the sales objectives of its participants.

Evidence of this can be seen in the 8.2% increase in the average area of stands contracted for SIMA07 over last year and the fact that their designs were much more impressive and complex, showing a great improvement over previous fairs; this was matched by more extensive publicity campaigns and the catalogues of promotional extras designed especially for this fair. SIMA07 attracted more than 800 corporate exhibitors offering a total of 257,918 residential homes, 38% more than SIMA06. Of these, 45,003 were outside Spain, mainly in Latin America. Antonio González-Noaín, President of Grupo Planner, which organizes and promotes SIMA, highlighted the international consolidation of the show which this year presented offers from 28 countries: “SIMA has come to represent a unique business opportunity for professionals and is designed as a meeting point for agents from different international markets enabling them to make contacts among themselves through the IPP and other initiatives such as the International Business Centre (IBC)”. Mr. González-Noaín also took the opportunity to invite visitors to take in the next SIMAUSA fair, which will be held in Las Vegas from 13th to 16th November, to coincide with the Annual Convention of the NAR, the main association for real estate agents in the United States.

Once again, Panama had a high profile, offering a wide variety of projects and products for those interested in investing either in the city, at the beach or in the mountains.

Participating companies included: Activentas, Benedetti&Benedetti, Boyd Realty, Btesh&Virzi, Capital Panama, Colfax Realty Group, Credicorp Bank, Costa sur, Deago Bienes Raices, Delcura Realty, Destiny Estela´s Realty, Real Estate, Eskildsen&Eskildsen, Galindo, Arias y López, Grupo Los Pueblos, Grupo Inmoptions, Grupo Olloqui, Habitats, Morgan&Morgan, Inmobiliaria 360º, Limassol, Luxurious Panama, MDM Inmobiliaria, Pacific Developers, Panama Projects, Pancanal Realty, Quality Investment, Grupo Quat, Realtors Latin America, Regency Developers, Sanson Rosas y Asociados, Santa Maria Golf & County Club, Skyline Panama Real Estate; The Ameritas Realty, Tribaldos, Venetian Capital Realty, Ventas e Inversiones del Istmo, Ventas y Proyectos, Vista Mar, Vivir Bien.