Property Prices!

JEEZ¬!   134k, you could have bought a 3 bed, 3bath villa with a pool here and also got a 2 bed, 1 bath with a solarium for your family to stay in when they visited.  Just 15 minutes away from 18 blue flag beaches as well!

God, I'd hate to be an estate agent, constantly hearing people tell me what their money can buy them somewhere else! Or, for that matter, a punter constantly hearing state agents telling them what their money would buy them somewhere other than where they want to buy.

Having said that, I have always wondered why there is such a huge differential in property prices CDS / CB? It's not like southern Spain ever was a wealthy part of the country. Anyone know?

Roberto

This link is quite INTERESTING http://www.andalucia-andalusia.com/Andalucia-Travel-Costa-del-Sol.html

Hope this helps to ANSWER your question

I BOUGHT my property without an AGENT and thank GOD I did

We nearly paid !00,000 euros more for a SMALLER place with no views if we had taken that IDIOTS so calle expert ADVICE

Rod

Zena,

Thanks for that, it really struck a chord. We are looking for somewhere nice to enjoy our retirement and whilst we don't want to feel ripped off, we aren't looking for something thats going to make us money. We are coming to Calahonda in March and will have a walk around as you suggest. Calahonda suits because of it's proximity to the airport and we don't like driving. Maybe there are many other areas that meet this criteria, any suggestions will be appreciated

Thanks

I had decided on a resale penthouse at 38,000,000 ptas, and just the day before I would have put down the deposit, I asked a builder on the second phase if there were any still for sale. A penthouse had just come back on the market.

It was in a better situation (facing south east, the other one was north west) and the lay out was better too.  I was also able to change some things inside, including position of some walls, A/C pre-installation, coving more power and phone points etc to improve it further.  The extra cost was negligible.   It took 4 months to complete and I paid 26,000,000 ptas.

I guess I was very lucky.

ZENA.

I would suggest that when you look at Calahonda you bear in mind the train from Malaga, at present ends at Fuengirola.

Rod - thanks for the link, interesting stuff although nothing we don't already know about (history of Torrie etc.,) but doesn't explain differential in properrty prices between Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca in the 21st century

Mrpidman - as John points out, the train doesn't reach Calahonda. It's not the flattest of areas to walk about either, and isn't exactly well endowed with facilities. It may seem a nice place for holidays, but living there you would soon find yourself car-dependent. If it's little England you're after, go to Arroyo de la Miel (on the train), or if you prefer closer to the beach, hop off at either Torremolinos or Fuengirola. You may find cheaper properties in Calahonda. There is a reason.

Thanks for the feedback chaps, appreciated

CDS or C.Blanca.

We were told to look at C,B.as it was possible to get twice the size for the same money.

But quality of the area in C.B is no match for CDS.

Mijas to Marbella has it all !

If you want the best you pay for it.

Mr Pidman

A further point - which has been expressed - the train line only runs from Malaga to Fuengirola - and then terminates and taxis over here are more expensive than London!    If you do not wish to drive then that leaves you the bus and I believe that runs every half hour along the coast between Fuengirola and Marbella.   If you look when you leave Malaga airport in March, you will see the train line is spitting distance from the Airport and at roughly 2-3 euros per person to get to Fuengirola is very cheap as opposed to anything between 35 and 50 euros by taxi (depends on whether you have a rogue cabbie - as in any country!)

Where we are - in central Fuengirola - we are 10 minutes walking distance to the Train station - ten minutes walking to the Bus Station (you can travel to just about anywhere from the bus station - Madrid, Gibralter, Sevilla, etc. etc) - we are 12 minutes from the main square where there are recognisable shops (Zara Mango La Costa) both designer and local.  There is a street called by tourists "Fish Alley" where every conceivable form of restaurante has set up there, Indian, Cypriot, Turkish, Spanish, Argentinian, Chinese, Tapas, International cuisuine ............ and all in one street brings a whole new price to menu del dia (three courses for approximately 8 - 14 euros depending on the nationality and cuisine on offer!) 

We have local bus stops every 200 yards and you jump on for one euro around the town, there is a beach line (akin to Southend on Sea without the yobbish mix) that is 7 kilometres long, the best healthiest walk you will ever experience.  Go as far as the Castle or as far as Carvajaal the other way, bars and restaurants along every step.  We are five minutes from the harbour, where there are another line of little bars/restaurants offering food of all descriptions, and music in some.   Here (or from the beach road) you can watch the fishing boats coming into the harbour late afternoon, with thousands of sea gulls swooping over head - magical scene.  Sometimes you can experience the sea mist that rolls off the sea and invades the town - very rarely but last time it appeared on Halloween night - really spooky that night!

You can buy in apartments that are completely spanish, apartments that are almost European or you can buy a mixture which is where we are, so that you try to learn Spanish to be neighbourly but also ask your English neighbours for advice.   You can also buy villas as well but they are more expensive if into the centre of town, you can also buy little spanish fishing cottages too. 

Also remember Fuengirola is so flat, at the front it is completely level that whole 7Kms no worries about heart attacks and you might even consider buying bikes (fraid we did !) what with walking and cycling we are keeping the weight down as we eat far too much when we are here!  To sum up to us Fuengirola is still a fairly small spanish fishing village, yes it has its touristic features but overall it is a lovely place to live in and learn about the Spanish customs and cultures. 

Cheers Zena, Much appreciated.

Actually the Mazarron that   DonLochnagar   was referring to is in Costa Calida 

As he mentions it is a good place to invest what with Paramount coming and the new international airport (Corvera), what's more it's very diverse both landscape wise (two seas, historic buildings, city life, country life, village life, golf complexes, town life, nature reserves) and living wise (i.e extremely Spanish in many parts but large ex-pat communties in other parts).  

That said not all areas across the province offer property that cheap.

The real bargains in the province are the repossesions or golf complex villas and apartments especially on the former Polaris World complexes 

Actually not quite true, Jazil.   There are many properties on Camposol with a great community aspct very cheap.  Fill your boots!

Zena. I love Fuengirola for all the things you mention but it was just too built up for me to actually live there full time and being a bustling holiday resort was not for me.

La Cala de Mijas with being a small village suits me better and whilst I agree Calahonda is like Little Britain, one reason I didn't like there, you are totally wrong about the same in La Cala.

Maybe you are getting mixed up with Rivera del Sol, which is inbetween the 2 as it's sort of like Little Britain to me as well.  Karen

My recommendation to Zena will have to be Torre de la Horadada, at the southernmost end of Costa Blanca, near Costa Calida. this is a sizeable sea side village inhabitated mainly by Spanish people (approx. 60%). The rest is a nice cosmopolitan mix of predominantly Northern Europeans.

The main reasons for this are:

- Very flat area tucked away from the main road (N332), with plenty of pavement space and cyclopahts.

Easy access to the motorway (AP7)

- Lots of beautiful mediterranean-style parks (more than 10 on my last count).

- Building hight restriction to 3 storeys.

- Plenty of amenities and facilities, including promenades, several bars and restaurants, supermarket, marina, sports center, spa and some of the best beaches in the area.

- Only 15 minutes from Murcia airport, so no need for car hire (airport transfer costs 20 Euros).

I own two properties in Torre de la Horadada and some of my renters have gone back to either buy or rent long term.

Hi Honeywater, It is not Zena looking as they already have an apartment in Fuengirola. It is Mr Pidman & myself.

Thank you for the recommendation as I am  open to options as to where to move to. Will have a look at Torre de la Horadada.

I believe Murcia airport is closing when the new one opens, so how far away will it be from the new one. Thanks Karen

Hi Karen

Thank you for the correction.

You may be right about Murcia airport, although it's not known for certain if it will be closed. Corbera is half an hour away, which (for us anyway) is not too bad. I expect that, once Corbera  has established itself as an important regional airport, there will be public transport servicing the surrounding towns and villages.

We have a Scandinvian couple in our two-bedroom property on a long term winter contract and they love the area.

Hi , My husband and I have been thinking of selling up and moving to Spain to live, we've been wondering why it seem so many people are returning to th UK? With so many homes up for sale we presume that is what's happening, we would not be looking for work if we came so that's not a problem, but can any-one tell us we there are are so many empty houses,

Thanks  Carol

Hi Carol,

I think you will find there are many reasons why people return to the UK, death, divorce, health, etc.   One of the main reasons I think there are so many empty properties is that a huge amount were bought as ours was as a holiday home, also an investment and with the economic situation both in the UK and Spain, many people are now finding it hard to keep a second home so are offloading them.   Also prices of everything, food, utilities, eating out, fuel, etc. has shot up in price due to the balancing out of the EU countries to bring them up to a level with each other.    So keeping two properties is no longer an option for many people.

We are having to sell as we bought our apartment initially both as an investment for our retirement but also with the idea of retiring there and selling our house in the UK, but as our daughter who we are very close to is buying on the Costa Del Sol, it didn't seem practical to be living on two different areas in Spain, and we then needed to sell our apartment in Spain for economic reasons now that property prices have been driven so far down in the UK and in Spain.  Firstly we had to sell off our house in the UK to pay off the mortgage which we used to part finance our apartment.   We have done that but we still cannot afford to run two properties any longer and so it makes sense to sell it off.

Carol,

the simple answer is an over supply of units built when economic times were different.

You may not need employment but a majority do, and as things are difficult in Spain people move else where or don't come.

The problem as you look round many developments is the lack of people, what was very stricking to me was the lack of youndsters.

There are good proerties at good prices as long as you are cash buyers.

Lots of good advise available from EoS forum members.

Me I have left Europe for good returning home after 40-years away.

David

Carol,  Another reason is that a lot of complexes etc where still being built until a few years ago but in the current situation a lot of people haven't bought. The builders thought they would have no problem selling them, but this turned out not to be the case.

There is a beautiful golf complex near to where we rented, but so many of the properties have not been sold,  therefore the community fees being paid are not enough for the up keep of the complex and I feel sorry for the people that live there.   Karen

David, Sorry our postings must have been written at about same time, but you have stated the reasons, same as me.