“Once we had received permission from the military, we had the money transferred to Turkey and completed all the rest of the procedures, such as transferring the title deeds, in a single day,” says Johan Rossouw, a 59-year-old adult educationalist who lives in Alston, Cumbria, who bought a two-bedroom apartment in Kas in 2003.

“My wife and I had been on holiday in Kas in 2001, and had thought about buying something,” he says. “Two years later, we started looking again and bought a furnished flat with a lovely view in Kas for £32,000.”

In the past year, the market value of their apartment has risen to about £40,000. “We bought it primarily as a holiday place, perhaps in the long-term to live, and also partly as an investment,” says Rossouw.

The limited amount of suitable land in Kas means that most of the new property is being built on the Cukurbag Peninsula, just outside the town. Building one’s own villa is only marginally cheaper than buying a ready-made property, although it does offer the advantage of a custom-made design. The local authorities forbid construction during the main tourism season, which runs from the beginning of May until the end of October.

“It’s possible to construct a complete villa in one winter,” says Hasan Basri Unal of Tandem Property Design and Development, a local builder. “But we usually prefer to spread it over two building seasons. Over the past two to three years, there has been a lot of demand from foreigners, who now account for about 90% of our customers. The profile of the demand has also changed: it used to be mostly for apartments, but now it is more villas.”

The villas on the Cukurbag Peninsula are built in the local architectural style, mostly from stone quarried in the area. Unal insists builders are aware of the need to avoid overdevelopment. “We have to maintain a high standard of construction and try to preserve the local lifestyle,” he says. “The buildings must be low rise, not many floors. We are not competing with other places in Turkey, we are competing with other countries in the Mediterranean. Most of our foreign customers previously had property in Spain.”

Lynda Norton, 50, and her husband, Michael, a 45-year-old businessman, from Brough, near Hull, built a four-bedroom villa on the Cukurbag Peninsula. “We had been coming to Kas on holiday for 16 years,” she says. “We were going to wait for a few years for Michael to retire, but we saw that the prices were rising. We started looking at a two-bedroom apartment, moved on to a small villa and then decided to build our own. I loved designing the house — I did the inside and Michael did the outside.

“We bought the land in June 2002 and began building that November. We had to wait until June this year before it was ready for us to move in, which was a bit frustrating, but it was worth the wait.”

The Nortons bought the 1,000sq m plot of land for the villa for £38,000. The construction, fittings and furnishings cost a further £260,000. The villa is now estimated to be worth £350,000, but Lynda says: “We definitely didn’t buy to sell. If we could, we would sell up in the UK and move here tomorrow.”

Most people still focus on Kas town and the Cukurbag Peninsula, but a number of foreigners have begun to buy land and property further inland. Until January this year, foreigners were forbidden from buying real estate outside municipal areas. Since the ban was lifted, foreigners have begun to buy land and property in villages among the olive groves and almond orchards in the hills above Kas.

Unal Celik, of Sun Estate Agency, says: “You can buy something on 1,000sq m of land in a village maybe 10 or 15 minutes’ drive from Kas town for £7,000-£11,000. If it has a really good sea view, then it might be a little more expensive.”

Estate agents in Kas agree that rural properties offer the best bargains, although they are adamant that properties in Kas and on the Cukurbag Peninsula will continue to appreciate rapidly for the foreseeable future. “Prices are rising every year,” says Celik. “This trend won’t stop for at least the next five or six years.”

Tandem Property Design and Development, 00 90 242 836 3287; Sun Estate Agency, 00 90 242 836 1597

On the market

This four-bedroom villa with a pool on the Cukurbag Peninsula is for sale with Turkuaz Emlak (00 90 242 836 3620, www.myturkishproperty.com) for £230,000. It should be completed in 2005

This furnished house in the Cukurbag Peninsula has three bedrooms and shares a pool with two other villas. For sale at £150,000 with Turkuaz Emlak, 00 90 242 836 3620, www.myturkishproperty.com

A three-bedroom villa on the Cukurbag Peninsula, near Kas, is a 10-minute stroll from the beach and the shops. It is on the market for £140,000 with KasLand, 00 90 242 836 1653, www.kasland.com

A 10-minute drive from Kas town, prices for three-bed flats, which share a pool and garden, range from about £66,000 to £93,800. Furnishing is optional. KasLand, 00 90 242 836 1653, www.kasland.com

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