‘Top climber’ Murcia reels in Spanish property buyers

Thanks to a combination of rock bottom prices and excited anticipation surrounding the Paramount-branded Theme Park, Murcia has been declared a ‘top climber’ search term on the UK’s leading overseas property portal, rising 11 places in June 2011.

Chris Mercer, Founder of Murcia-based estate agent Mercers, explains, “Property is now the cheapest it has been for a decade and major international property portals are reporting a marked rise in ‘searches’ for Spanish real estate. If you can afford it, there’s no better time to buy. At Mercers we have seen a small but steady increase in sales over the past 18 months. Prices do seem to have finally bottomed out, vendors either cannot or will not go any lower, and this is creating the necessary motivation for people to buy. This low pricing will remain until demand picks up in a stronger manner and, for Murcia, that may be sooner rather than later with Paramount on the horizon.”

The proposed Paramount-branded Theme Park, tipped to open in 2014, could indeed apply upward pressure on local pricing. Predicted to attract up to three million tourists each year and located literally ten minute’s drive from Mercers’ Head Office in Mazarron, this Park is creating a lot of interest and excitement however this is not yet being filtered back to property prices.

Chris continues, “I think the reason for this is that until work actually starts on the site, people are wary of these grand ideas coming to nothing. If the Paramount-branded Theme Park does happen, and indications are certainly encouraging judging by the number of press conferences and official visits by US-based Paramount Licensing personnel, then a ‘Disney effect’ is certainly expected for both demand and property prices in the catchment area. In fact we’re already handling a number of clients who have decided it is time to buy a holiday home because of Paramount – some had been toying with the idea but the Theme Park announcement pushed them ahead.”

The interest and excitement in Murcia is not limited to the British buying public. Mercers handles enquiries across the board including a proportionally high number of Spaniards who have been snapping up homes priced from a quite ridiculous 55,000 euros for two bedrooms - on a golf resort just 15 minutes from the beach.

Chris confirms, “In 2010 we found that 40% of our buyers were British and the remaining 60% made up of firstly Spanish then French, Dutch, German and so on. This is remarkable as previously 95% of our sales would have been to British buyers. Official figures concur, for example Germany was one of the European countries with the greatest investment in Spain in 2010, representing 7.73% of all home purchases made by foreigners, beating the British and the French. We are fortunate in that we do have fluent Spanish, French, Dutch and German speakers and have also invested a lot of time and money into our multilingual website, so we are now actively going after the ‘foreign’ market.”

The British love affair is however set to bounce back, not to the heady days of 2000 but to a more organic sustainable growth. After all there is nowhere as welcoming, close, safe, cheap and easy to get to with such good weather as Spain.

ROD92, Rosa, Camposol Golf, Mazarron, Murcia
A mint condition detached Rosa style villa on a south facing 400m² plot with a private 7m x 4m swimming pool. This property has two spacious bedrooms, one en-suite bathroom and an additional shower room. Both bedrooms have fitted wardrobes and there are grills and fly screens on all windows. The property comes fully furnished with white goods included, air conditioning, ceiling fans, oil central heating, a log burner, satellite TV, internet and a conservatory that could convert to a third guest bedroom. A carport plus plenty of storage in the underbuild and on the solarium complete the offer. Camposol Golf has an 18-hole golf course, four star Spa hotel and plenty of shops, restaurants and bars on site. The blue flag beaches and marina of Mazarron are within a 15 minute drive.
Price 127,000 euros (approx 111,014 GBP)

For more information, visit spanishproperty.co.uk.