New figures released today not only reconfirm Tenerifes position as Europes number one, year round, holiday destination but also highlight surprise trends in the property market.
(PRWEB) December 9, 2004 -- Owning properties in the resorts of this holiday island has always been popular with Europeans, and in particularly the British, but it seems that nowadays people are setting their sights outside the resorts and heading for the hills. Traditionally, the properties that have attracted investors have been of the resort" variety – one and two bedroom apartments located in the holiday complexes of the more popular holiday towns such as Los Cristianos and Playa de las Americas. However, the new figures show that todays property buyer is looking further afield for suitable property, and is snapping up the excellent bargains that can be found in the more rural areas of the island.
James and Vera Harvey from Doncaster had been house hunting on the island for more than a year, but had failed to find an apartment that met their needs. Vera said: we had earmarked a certain amount of money for our property but were finding the apartments in the resorts around Los Cristianos far too expensive. Then a friend suggested we look to the Spanish towns on the south coast and we have found a lovely two bedroom apartment, well within our budget that leaves us enough change to decorate and furnish it to our own taste".
Unfortunately, not everything is good news on the property front, and the significant savings enjoyed by the Harveys dont make everyone happy. Juan Rojas of the Los Abrigos Residents Committee raised some serious doubts about the impact of this trend on the indigenous population: whilst we realise that tourism and investment from abroad plays a serious role in our economy, this fashion for Europeans to buy holiday homes in our local villages is pushing the price of property up into a bracket that makes homeownership for local people extremely problematic. With the average Canarian wage somewhere in the region of €1000 a month, the recent price hikes in property come as a direct result of foreign investment and are driving local people from their own towns and villages".
This problem, according to Mr Rojas, not only directly affects the lives of individual Canarians, but is also changing the character of the towns in question: a sense of community is vital to Canarian life, but increasingly we are seeing villages losing their essence as family dwellings are bought up as holiday homes and are then only used for certain parts of the year. Some previously lively neighbourhoods now resemble off-season holiday resorts and have lost the life and soul that underlines Canarian society".
For the Harveys however, setting their sights away from the resort properties of the popular tourist areas has meant that they have been able to make their money go a whole lot further.
###
|
