The most recent edition of the Madrid International Real Estate Exhibition (SIMA08) proved that it has become one of the sector’s most important events in Spain. This is borne out by an examination of some of the figures. Firstly the number of visitors, which for the third year in a row exceeded 150,000. Those who attended had the chance to see the wide range of properties on show, most of which were residential – 116,399 homes in Spain and 42,668 in other countries.

It is worth noting that the visitors were not just prospective owner-purchasers but also real estate professionals, totaling 19,751. 2,769 were from countries other than Spain, an increase of 12.5% over the number who visited the show in 2007.

In light of these positive results and the broad public appeal of this tenth edition of SIMA, Eloy Bohúa, the Fair’s Director affirmed that: “SIMA has managed to maintain the number of visitors during a period of slowdown in the real estate business. It has also attracted high quality visitors and as a result a good proportion of these visits have been converted into sales transactions”.

These transactions were handled by 600 exhibitors from 200 countries outside Spain, particularly Latin America and Eastern Europe. Residential properties continued to take pride of place on the exhibitors’ stands, with an increase in the quantity of properties this year thanks to 42,000 overseas properties which made up 25% of the total portfolio at SIMA.

Although residential property took precedence this year, the Fair also experienced an increase in the number of non residential properties on offer. In this sector a total of 36 exhibitors showed 640 projects totaling 113.6 million square meters. This figure represents an increase over 2007 of more than 50% and is clear evidence of the exhibition’s success in the non domestic area.

The hotel sector deserves its own mention, bringing to SIMA 177 developments offering 22,461 new rooms. Some of these are already built but others are still under construction. Together they increased the size of the hotel market at SIMA by a factor of 5 when compared with 2007.

SIMA’s growth is due not only to the valuable attendance of national and overseas exhibitors, but also to the greater commercial focus of this year’s exhibition. Prospective purchasers were attracted by the presence of both Spanish and overseas commercial companies and by the various business strategies on show.

One of the most interesting commercial opportunities on show was Hábitat. According to Laura Argenté, Hábitat’s commercial director, “We put our heads together and came up with a way to help clients out when they most need help. For example, for those clients who have to sell their property, we designed a rental arrangement with the option to purchase, which has helped free up demand and encourage many purchasers to visit us to take advantage of this promotion”.

SIMA also offered some really new propositions in the real estate sector. One of these was the Elipse Building, a 13,357 square meter circular glass structure, which will be home to the new Madrid Police Court and which, according to its architects, will be the biggest legal complex in the world. Donald Trump Jr. was also there, announcing that the department store founded by his father would start operations in Spain, in the luxury towers bearing the name that graces cities like New York, Chicago, Seoul and Las Vegas. The presence of such a celebrity is ample proof of the position that SIMA has achieved, even beyond the boundaries of Spain. Year on year SIMA is confirming itself as Europe’s most important shop window for the real estate business.