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In April 2001, I moved to Spain and bought myself a little 2 bed apartment in Elviria, up in the beautiful foothills around 10 kilometers from the centre of Marbella.
At the time, this property in Elviria cost me 23 million pesetas (remember those!!). That equated to around £90,000 at the time, and was the equivalent of €138,000 (at the fixed rate of 166.386 pesetas = 1 euro).
After 3 years, I sold this apartment in Elviria for 279,000 euros, giving me a sizeable return of over 100%.
I´ve cited this example to illustrate that I bought this property on the Costa del Sol just before the Spanish property boom took hold, and sold it just as the boom was really gathering pace, and buyers were falling over themselves to invest in a little piece of Spain.
When people ask me if it´s now a good time to invest in the Costa del Sol property market, I use this same example……and then I show them the details of a development in the same neighbourhood, with the same views, with apartments of the same size, and of a better quality – brand new and ready to enjoy….with prices starting at 170,000 euros.
This shows that we´ve almost reached parity in some areas with prices from the pre-boom years.
The Costa del Sol is a very different place to the one that I first encountered in 2001 – we now have more shops, bars, restaurants, golf courses, attractions, people and opportunities, and although the Coast is going through a difficult period that will see some of these businesses closing down as we enter recession, the most important attractions will still be there for as long as we live – the sun and the sand.
If you are a prospective property purchaser, maybe now is the time to strike? While others are fearful, it may be time to get greedy!
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