Anyone looking for a holiday home overseas wants sun, sea, sand – and money
left to enjoy life once they get there. As the world’s coastlines become
increasingly developed, choice expands; in recent years, British estate
agents have begun marketing beach-side developments in exotic spots such as
the Seychelles, Mauritius, Belize, Brazil, Réunion and Nicaragua. These
emerging markets look set to become more popular, yet most British buyers
continue to look to more established locations.
EUROPE
So, is it to be classic St Tropez, racy Monte Carlo or a little Greek island?
Talk of a home by the sea and most people imagine locations such as these.
Their ideal would be an infinity pool, steps to the beach, a boat at the
pontoon and a view to die for. That dream can be yours – but only if you
spend millions of pounds.
Most budgets are more modest. If you head to the Algarve, £300,000 can
offer a soupçonof the millionaire life-style. Less densely developed
than Spain, but with a sophisticated infra-structure, this part of Portugal
has well-built properties and limits on the number and scale of new
developments. For between £270,000 and £350,000, you can buy a one- or
two-bedroom villa with a terrace in a private nature reserve at Quinta do
Lago, a 20-minute drive from Faro airport and popular with well-heeled
Brits, Brazilians and Portuguese. The racing driver Ayrton Senna once owned
a villa there; Roy Keane, the Sunderland manager, still does (Quinta
Properties, 00 351 289 396073, www.quintaproperty.com).
Heart set on the Med? If you are lucky, you can find a flat in the south of
France with a panoramic view: a two-bedroom home overlooking the
spectacular Promenade des Anglais, in Nice, is on sale for £287,600 with
Riviera Bay Real Estate (00 33 6 60 75 95 00). It needs renovation – a flat
in this location would normally cost £400,000 – but it is 30 seconds from
the beach and has sea views.
There are still relatively unexplored locations in western Europe, one of
which is Sardinia – but don’t expect it to remain a secret for long.
Savills (020 7016 3740, www.savills.co.uk)
has three- and four-bedroom villas on Costa Paradiso, in the northwest of
the island, for £250,000; one- and two-bedroom flats start at £90,000.
Spain has a huge range of coastal properties and, thanks to recent
market wobbles, prices have dropped by as much as 20% from their 2006 highs.
A common problem in Spain is ensuring that your front-line flat with a
glorious sea view does not have a development built in front of it the next
year.
For Julian Lipman, a company director from Grantham, Lincolnshire, the
solution was to buy right on the seafront in a quiet part of Tenerife.“We’re
in a fine position, with only a footpath between us and the beach. Even the
most ambitious Spanish builder couldn’t put something up to take our view,”
says Lipman, who has spent several three-week holidays in the flat each year
since he and his wife, Shirley, bought it for £250,000 in 2003.
A rival to Spain for volume of coastal properties is Cyprus, where
villas and houses around Paphos and Limassol cost as little as £150,000. But
the southern part of the island is heavily developed. The Turkish-occupied
north is cheaper, but ownership issues remain a problem.
THE CARIBBEAN
The multimillion-pound villas of Cliff Richard and Tommy Hilfiger make this
region seem like a celebrity haven, but choose the right island and you can
get a modest taste of Caribbean bling.
For £270,000, you can get a beachfront flat on Barbados, while
£311,500 will buy a small villa on the island’s west side (both with
Savills). Be aware, though, that many Caribbean experts say it’s
overcrowded. Grenada, meanwhile, is developing fast. Well served by
air from Britain, it’s small enough to offer easy access to the beach from
almost any location. A new Bovis scheme at Bacolet Bay, set in tropical
gardens, has two-bedroom villas for £350,000 (01865 202700).
An overlooked island is Grand Cayman, which most people associate with
£3m-plus properties. There are a lot of those, but for £326,000 you could
get a recently renovated three-bed townhouse in Windsor Village, a gated
development with a communal pool, near the prestigious Smith Cove beach
(Knight Frank; 020 7629 8171, www.knightfrank.com).
“On Barbados and Cayman, bigger homes aren’t selling that well. More flats or
townhouses in the £300,000 bracket are likely to be built,” predicts Julian
Cunningham, an international negotiator with Knight Frank.
The Dominican Republic is an alternative for those on a budget. Paul
Percival, who runs an upholstery business in Caerphilly, south Wales, paid
£275,000 for a two-bed cabana at Las Canas, a beach resort on the north
coast, 30 minutes’ drive from Puerto Plata airport. He was impressed by the
rapid improvements to the infrastruc-ture and air links. “From my research,
it would have been hard to have bought in such a prime location at this
price elsewhere in the Caribbean or in most of coastal Europe,” he says.
The Cricket World Cup did not bring the tourists or buyers some hoped for, so
there are bargains to be found on the less favoured coasts of some islands.
Buccament Bay, on St Vincent, is a seafront development with a choice
of new and resale one-bed flats; from £175,000, with Harlequin Property
(0800 0820404, www.
harlequinproperty.co.uk).
ASIA
If you have to endure a 12-or 14-hour flight to your holiday home, you will
want it to be different from anything you could get on the Med.
Thailand, the most popular holiday-home haven in Asia, offers a unique
cocktail of hedonism, Buddhism and a rich mix of properties. Flats near the
crowded beaches and ladyboy bars at Patong, on Phuket, cost £100,000.
If you fancy for something a bit quieter, Claire Brown Realty (www.clairebrownrealty.com)
has flats in the Cove, a beachfront development in Krabi, in southwest
Thailand, from £78,000.
But there are clouds on the horizon: since last September’s coup, the military
rulers have been rigidly enforcing rules that oblige foreigners to set up a
“shell” company with Thai nationals to buy a property. Some foreign owners
have found it hard to get their rental income out of the country.
Elsewhere in Asia, Singapore is an unusual alternative. After
flatlining for years, prices are now going up. For £350,000, you could buy a
three-bedroom flat in a good-quality condo-minium with a concierge and a
pool (00 65 6451 7849, www.itrealtor.com).
For those with less to spend, the new Nexus Residence resort, on the
Malaysian island of Borneo, has two-bedroom villas from £145,000
(01865 202700, www.propertyfrontiers.com).
Then there is the Indian state of Goa, one of Asia’s lowest-priced
holiday-home locations. Of its 75 miles of coastline, 50 are beach. While
you would struggle to find a flat for £135,000 in many countries, the same
money would buy you a six-bedroom townhouse in the state (Chris Gregory &
Co; 0845 803 7978).
SOUTH AFRICA
It’s just two hours ahead of GMT, property prices are low by British
standards, the pound is strong against the rand and the agents are familiar
names (Savills, Engel & Völkers and Sotheby’s dominate), so it is hardly
surprising that Britons look to South Africa. For £252,000, you can get an
architect-designed house with a large open-plan living area and terraces
with views to the sea and mountains, through Pam Golding (020 7824 9088, www.pamgolding.co.za).
Prices have risen by 15.5% in the past year, according to a leading South
African index, the ABSA, after 30%-plus rises in 2003 and 2004. Even so, you
get more property and land for your money than in most areas of the world,
and the vast landscapes of the coastal Cape remain largely unspoilt.
On the waterfront
France:This two-bedroom, one-storey villa in Provence is a short walk
from the sea. In a residential area in the pretty coastal town of Fréjus, it
has a mature walled garden and a cellar, and is for sale for £251,377,
with VEF; 020 7515 8660, www.vefuk.com
Barbados:The 30-villa complex at the five-star Schooner Bay resort,
near Speightstown, on the west coast of the island, gives buyers access to a
golf course, tennis, diving and sailing facilities. Prices start at £306,627
for a one-bedroom flat, with Caribbean Dreams Property; 01708 223877, www.caribbeandreamsproperty.com
Borneo: Due for completion in 2008, the Nexus development offers
beachfront villas lining four miles of private beach. Prices start at
£113,000 for a one-bed spa villa, with Property Frontiers; 01865 202700, www.propertyfrontiers.com
South Africa: Near the Fernkloof Nature Reserve, in Hermanus, a 1½hour
drive from Cape Town, this three-bed villa has an open-plan living and
dining area, a garden and a double garage. It is for sale for £215,000 with
Engel & Volkers, 00 27 82 535 9126, www.engelvoelkers.co.za
