Guide to buying Costa Calida apartments and villas, or La Manga property
Property in Murcia has been receiving more attention from investors of late. Although there are some famous resorts, such as La Manga, property development had largely passed by Murcia, mainly because infrastructure and transport links were poor. Terrific improvements have been made recently, and the region is now much better connected by motorway and high-speed train. As a result, more and more holidaymakers and investors are heading for Costa Calida apartments and villas to rent or buy. In the region’s lively capital, also called Murcia, villas and flats have also registered recently on the investor’s radar.
The interior of the region has plenty to offer buyers of property in Murcia.
Thanks to its excellent weather and plentiful water supplies, this fertile region has become one of the largest suppliers of fruit and veg to north European supermarkets. As such, much of its interior is a patchwork of rice paddies, fruit groves and other land under production. Few owners of La Manga property or holidaymakers renting Costa Calida apartments head inland from the beach, but those that do are rewarded with beautiful landscapes largely untouched by tourism.
For lovers of the great outdoors, this is a natural paradise. Owners of La Manga property may justly rave about the outstanding tennis and watersports facilities and the superb golf courses on their strip of coast, but inland Murcia offers the freedom of cycling, fishing, caving, horse-riding, mountain climbing and even white water rafting. Holidaymakers renting Costa Calida apartments or city of Murcia villas can also venture out to explore some beautiful medieval villages, visit castles, watchtowers and hermitages in the hills, descend into prehistoric caves, or take a hike through the Sierra Espuna National Park.
Costa Calida apartment and villa owners are close to interesting towns
Closer to their coastal property, Murcia home-owners can find mile after mile of deserted beaches and white sandy dunes, interespersed with picturesque fishing villages such as La Azohia and Cabo de Palos.
The region also has three towns worthy of exploration: the regional capital itself, plus Cartegena and Lorca. Those who invest in Murcia villas and flats find they have a charming, non-touristy and truly Spanish town on their doorstep. A university town, it has retained its Moorish heritage but also has a great selection of fashionable boutiques, upmarket department stores and an exquisite Baroque cathedral. Owners of property in Murcia town also enjoy some of the region’s best restaurants.
Cartagena is a history buff’s delight with its many reminders of Phoenician times and fabulous architectural examples, while Lorca has late medieval buildings including a cathedral dedicated, peculiarly, to the Irish saint, Patrick.
The market for property in Murcia Town, Costa Calida apartments and villas, and all types of La Manga property
Excluding La Manga, property in Murcia has largely been the preserve of Spanish second home owners until relatively recently. However, word of this previously overlooked area has been spreading among foreigners who have been buying Costa Calida apartments, rural farmhouses and central Murcia villas in search of the real Spain. There are no sizable expat communities outside of La Manga.
Because investors are only just catching on to the potential of Murcia, villas and apartments can still be found at very reasonable prices. The market remains largely under-developed (excluding the intensely but exclusively developed La Manga property strip) and investors looking for renovation property in Murcia can pick up some traditional finca gems. Along the Costa Calida, apartments and houses are being built to cater for the growing numbers of investors but there is a shortage of development land, especially in the Mar Menor area (much of which is in a national park).
Investment hotspots for buyers of property in Murcia include Puerto de Mazarron, a fishing port with a 25-mile stretch of beach that attracts a large number of summer holidaymakers, the town of Mazarron itself (which is seeing quite a bit of new-build), and the university town of Murcia. Villas and student flats in and around the regional capital are selling well, especially under buy to let arrangements.
La Manga property prices remain high
Mar Menor’s location in a national park means that when Mar Menor and La Manga property is offered for sale, it sells quickly. Beachfront locations are easily let and villas, in particular, are in short supply. But La Manga property remains the most sought-after, and prices on this highly-developed peninsula attract a 30% premium over other Costa Calida apartments and villas.
Why buy property in Murcia?
According to the Spanish Ministry for Housing, prices of property in Murcia increased by an average of 8.3% in the year to June 2006. This is lower than in some regions, but respectable for one as relatively new to the foreign investor as Costa Calida. Apartments in these resorts offer the best of coastal Spain at prices that won’t break the bank while inland, Murcia villas promise overseas buyers a chance to live the real, everyday life of Espana. La Manga, however, is an enclave of foreign investment and a bit of a law unto itself. La Manga property buyers will certainly pay extra bucks for their investment but the return is about as guaranteed as it can get!
