Odysseus took 10 years to return to the fabled shores of Ithaca, one of the
charming Ionian islands that dot the turquoise seas off mainland Greece.
Today, the journey there, or indeed to any of the main islands in the group,
is rather less epic – no man-eating giants, shipwrecks or immortal
temptresses, just the possibility of a delayed airline connection or a storm
stopping the ferries. And, lured by the beautiful beaches, shady olive
groves and rugged mountains, growing numbers of British househunters are
making the trip in search of sunnier, more affordable alternatives to Spain.
Although there are officially seven Ionian islands, it is the six that trace a
ragged line down the west coast of the mainland – Corfu, Paxos, Lefkas,
Cephalonia, Ithaca and Zakynthos – that are considered part of the group
today. (Tiny Kythira is off southern Greece.)
The western islands, bar a few neon-lit eyesores, have escaped the concrete
fleshpots that scar the Costas, though that’s not to say that they don’t
have their fair share of resorts heaving with tourists throughout the
summer. Househunters wanting to avoid these should explore outlying villages
or head up into the mountains, to tiny hamlets that disappear into inky
blackness when the sun sets.
So, what sort of property is on offer? You can certainly pick up a pretty
tumble-down ruin with gnarled olive groves, but they are expensive to
renovate: most materials have to be shipped in, and labour and building
costs aren’t cheap. The price of the property itself is often dictated not
by the market, but by what the seller feels like asking, or what they think
a foreign buyer might pay. Such places are also rare: earthquakes in the
1950s destroyed much of the archipelago’s built heritage, from humble stone
cottages to glorious Venetian mansions.
Most British buyers favour large modern villas with features that reflect the
traditional style of a specific island. You see stone houses with blue
shutters on Corfu, for example, and homes with red roof tiles and green
shutters on Paxos.
One reason the Ionian islands have remained relatively pristine is tight
building controls: to minimise the risk of earthquake damage, buildings can
be only three storeys high and require concrete reinforcement. In rural
areas, the forestry commission advises on where to build and what trees may
be removed. This added bureaucracy delays the construction process, but it
has ensured that the islands remain unspoilt. Their growing popularity with
tourists has led to a steady increase in property prices and good rental
demand. There is still a lack of good-quality accommodation on offer, so
money can be made from buying a holiday home and letting it.
Although there are no direct scheduled flights to any of the islands described
below, getting there is relatively easy. There are frequent charter flights
to Corfu, Zakynthos and Cephalonia, three to four hours from Britain, or you
can fly on scheduled services via Preveza, the mainland airport just north
of Lefkas, or Athens. To reach Paxos, Ithaca or Lefkas, catch a ferry from
the mainland and island-hop; Lefkas is also connected to it by a long
causeway and floating bridge.
CORFU
This lush green island – with 93,000 people, the most densely populated – was
the first to attract mass tourism in the 1960s. Since then, some resorts,
particularly in the south, have been overdeveloped and are overrun with
water parks and fast-food restaurants.
Affluent second-homeowners favour the northeast coast around the fishing
village of Kassiopi; it is nicknamed Ken-sington on Sea with good reason.
Ayles-ford International is selling a six-bed property there, which it
describes as one of the village’s “most prestigious villas”, for £1.75m.
Built three years ago, it has stunning sea views, a gym, and two swimming
pools – the outdoor one is 100 square metres.
“A lot of people want to buy near Kassi-opi, but don’t realise how expensive
it is,” says Hilary Paipeti, co-director of Luvcorfu, a local estate agent.
She advises those on a more modest budget to look to the northwest of the
island and the villages of Arillas and Afionas, where prices start at
£84,000.
Some of the poky blocks of flats built in the heyday of the package holiday
are undergoing a makeover. Luvcorfu has three maisonettes in just such a
renovated block on its books; they are a few minutes’ walk from the beach at
Agnos, in the north. Prices start at £118,000, and owners with boats will be
able to moor in the new Astrakeri marina at the end of the beach.
CEPHALONIA
Louis de Bernières’s bestselling novel Captain Corelli’s Mandolin put
Cephalonia and its pretty pastel-coloured fishing villages firmly on the
map. Since the novel was published in 1993, more than 2,000 Britons have
bought there.
Property prices, as on all the Ionian islands, are rising steadily, up 15% on
average a year. One-bed flats without a sea view in the more built-up towns
and resorts in the south, such as Skala, start at £80,000. The Livathos
region, within a 30-minute drive of the capital, Argostoli, is growing in
popularity, especially with families unnerved by Cephalonia’s hair-raising
roads.
“There are more Brits coming to the island looking to buy,” says Isobel Moore,
of Vinieris Real Estate (00 30 26710 24202, www.kefalonianproperty.com),
an estate agency based in Argostoli. “The island has become more upmarket.
People are looking for more traditional villages with a local Greek feel.”
Smaller villages such as Assos, in the northwest, and the smarter northern
harbour town of Fiskardo – the St Tropez of the Ionian islands – are proving
particularly attractive to British househunters, though they will pay a
premium for a sea view. Vinieris is selling a two-bed whitewashed cottage in
need of work just 50 metres from Assos harbour for £151,600 and a three-bed
off-plan villa in Kat-sarata, near Fiskardo, for £398,000.
“People are looking for an investment, not just a holiday home,” Moore says.
“Buyers will look for the best villa they can afford, then let it to a
holiday company: you can get up to £18,000 for a six-month contract for a
three-bed villa with a pool.”
ITHACA
British househunters discovered Ithaca, 35 minutes by ferry from Cephalonia,
about 18 months ago. Erika Bach (00 30 26740 31346, www.forsaleingreece.com),
who sells property there, says that since 2005, prices on the 96 sq km
island have risen by 30% a year.
“Most look for a traditional stone cottage,” she says. “They buy all over the
island, but there are few houses for sale and investors are starting to snap
up plots.” On average, a two- or three-bed property will cost between
£200,000 and £270,000.
ZAKYNTHOS
At 406 sq km, this island may be relatively small – it takes just an hour to
drive from north to south – but it has a big pull. About 2,500 Britons own
property on Zante, as it is also known. The island is famous for Shipwreck
Bay, one of the most photographed beaches in Greece, and the rare loggerhead
turtles that struggle up the beach near Laganas, a national park in the
south, to lay their eggs.
The noisy resort of the same name is tarnished by a sleazy sort of
package-holiday reputation and cheaper new-build properties. Most Britons
avoid it, instead buying inland in villages such as Lithakia, where a basic
two-bed villa costs about £100,000, according to Dave Henderson, managing
director of Zante Property (0191 289 5624, www.zante-property.com).
“Families go to Tragaki and Kypseli, near Tsilivi, where a three-bed villa
is about £170,000. But don’t expect a sea view.”
Properties in the quaint northern villages of Volimes, Skinari and Askos are
commanding big prices, even though they have no mains water. “Prices have
tripled in five years,” says Ashley Weston, co-founder of Westford Real
Estate (00 30 26950 84115, www.zakynthosrealestate.com).
“The north was a rural backwater. Now prices are at the top end. Expect to
pay £336,000 to £405,000 for a villa with a pool.”
PAXOS
Paxos is tiny (just 19 sq km) and hilly, and getting there isn’t easy.
Although it’s just 15 minutes by seaplane from Corfu, the nearest airport,
compared to 30 minutes on the hydrofoil or 90 minutes on the car ferry,
linking up with connecting flights is problematic.
Yet so many Britons are willing to make the trek to one of the most beautiful
and unspoilt islands in the Ionian group that it now has five estate
agencies to deal with the demand for property.
“People are looking for an alternative to Corfu, somewhere unspoilt where they
can feel part of an authentic Greek way of life,” says Chris Griffiths,
founder of Paxos Property Agency (00 30 26620 31207, www.paxospropertyagency.co.uk),
who has seen interest soar since 2004.
Paxos attracts a relatively upmarket crowd who prefer a slower pace of life;
there is only one disco, open for one month in summer. They are buying in
clusters around Loggos and its sleepy harbour, and in the slightly hipper
Lakka. They can also pay the higher prices; it is on average 30% more
expensive to build on Paxos than Corfu, due to the cost of importing
materials. A one- or two-bedroom stone cottage in need of renovation costs
about £60,000; a decent-sized building plot starts at £100,000. Expect to
pay £400,000 for a family villa with a pool.
LEFKAS
The least popular island with British buyers, Lefkas has two busy resorts –
Nidri and Vassiliki – that are popular with package-holidaymakers. It is
famous for its 100ft cliffs on the west coast, where it is said that Sappho
leapt to her death. Property prices are not as steep as the cliffs, and a
stone ruin can be had for less than £100,000. A two-bed renovation project
10 minutes’ drive from Nidri is for sale through www.pandev.net
for £70,700; it also has a five-bed wreck inland for £101,000.
Building your own
Here are the main rules – there may be variations between islands:
- To build in a rural area, you need at least an acre; in towns and villages,
you can build on as little as 500 square metres.
- Make sure you have right of access to your plot, and that the seller is
entitled to sell it to you – ownership can be convoluted.
- You need a building licence and a separate licence to dig a pool.
-Always employ an independent English-speaking lawyer, and allow 2%-4% of the
price in buying fees.
Island homes
Ithaca: Set in 4,800 square metres of land, this fourbed villa
overlooking Kioni bay comes with three bathrooms, two reception rooms, two
terraces and a staff flat. For sale for £2m with Aylesford International;
020 7351 2383, www.aylesford.com
Zakynthos: Built in 2001 around a central wind tower that keeps the
house cool, this stone villa in Volimes has four double bedrooms, a 15-metre
swimming pool and sea views. For sale, fully furnished, for £640,000 with
Westford Real Estate; 00 30 26950 84115, www.zakynthosrealestate.com
Paxos:This two-acre plot on the hills above Lakka has views of the bay,
with consent to build a 200 square metre house. For sale for £269,000 with
Paxos Property Co; 00 30 69724 95497, www.paxospropertycompany.com
Corfu: Stavros House is an old stone building in need of renovation,
close to Acharavi, in the northwest. There is room for three bedrooms and it
has mountain and sea views – the perfect Ionian bolt hole. For sale for
£37,000 with Luvcorfu; 00 30 26630 51362, www.corfurealestate.com
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