Assetz^® News » HOME | FEED | LIST ALL ARTICLES | ASSETZ HOMEPAGE

Assetz^® Property News Service

Expats choose Murcia over Costa del Sol

---

Traditional property hotspots including the Costa del Sol and the Costa Blanca are said to be losing ground to the likes of Murcia and Almeria.

For a long time, the Costa del Sol has dominated the scene in terms of property investment from British buyers, although there is no doubt that the early enthusiasm for the area has started to peter out a little in recent years.

A mixture of overdevelopment and an unfortunate influx of lager louts has left the Costa del Sol with something of a bruised reputation and other areas have inevitably emerged as challengers to its throne.

The most recent Semi-annual Barclays-IESE Barometer seems to point to a notable shift in investment patterns, as reported by Expatica.

It is thought that Murcia now has the fourth highest number of British residents, behind Alicante, Malaga and the Balearic Islands and property investment opportunities in the region are certainly proving popular.

There are reportedly 8,562 Britons now living in Murcia, which represents 5.7 per cent of the total number in Spain. Expatica claims that the number of Britons paying social security in this area has also been rising at a sizeable rate, indicating that more and more Brits are setting up business there too.

Murcia has certainly enjoyed a phenomenal period of growth and the chamber of commerce suggests that 83,686 new homes will be built there by 2007, boosting the population by 50,000 in the same period.

A key factor behind this growth has been the realisation by developers that golf courses almost invariably boost rental demand. Buy-to-let investment has long been a popular policy for Brits in Spain and some of the most lucrative examples have been found overlooking the lush fairways and immaculate greens of Spain's stunning golf courses.

A number of golf resorts are set to be completed in Murcia in the coming years and this will inevitably bring thousands of golfers to the area in the future. Golf tourists are typically some of the wealthiest in Europe, meaning that rental income can be extremely strong. Furthermore, because Murcia enjoys good weather for about ten months each year, successful investor landlords will find that they have decent tenant demand for prolonged periods.

Research from the IESE business school shows that there are 270,000 Britons registered with authorities in Spain this year. At the beginning of 2005, this figure stood at just 224,841 and this had risen by 29 per cent from the figure for 2004.

While the Costa del Sol is bound to remain a popular spot with holidaymakers and property investors alike, there is definitely a feeling that Murcia is now emerging as a serious competitor thanks to its stunning landscapes and the popularity of the Costa Calida.

---

Accessing the news service

You can view all of the Assetz® UK, International and UK Property Investment Articles and News here.

We also provide an Feed of the news service, or you can view all articles. Click here to view more information on RSS readers and how they make reading online news more convenient.

Terms of content usage:
XML and other types of publication of this article title and the URL of this page are permitted using the RSS feed or other methods.
Article content strictly prohibited from duplication on any other site directly other than first paragraph included in the XML feed.

Copyright © 2001-2008 Assetz® News Limited. All Rights Reserved | Company Information | Assetz® Homepage
Assetz House, Newby Road, Hazel Grove, Stockport, Cheshire, SK7 5DA
TEL (UK): 0161 456 4000 FAX: 0161 482 7588
TEL (International): +44 161 456 4000 FAX: +44 161 482 7588