The Latest Spanish Property News from Kyero.com

The Costas have long been a popular holiday destination with the Spanish, offering good weather, long sandy beaches and varied scenery. Since the booming development period of the 1950’s, these coastal areas have become synonymous with the typical ‘Spanish holiday’ for not only Spanish nationals but millions of international tourists each year.

Not all Costas are the same, however, and there is in fact great variety offered by the 4964 km of coastline with popular and somewhat expensive areas such as the Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol and Costa Brava at the fore of the public psyche when it comes to coastal Spanish holidays as well as little known Costas that have something different to offer both the holiday-maker and the intrepid property investor.

The Costa offering the lowest property prices is the Costa Verde – set within the Asturias province in the north of Spain – where the average property price, as of March 2008, is €156,000, 36% less than the Spanish national average.

The Costa Verde offers a somewhat quieter holiday experience than more developed Costas, such as the Costa del Sol, with peaceful beaches, and traditional, picturesque towns. One of the most varied regions of Spain, scenery ranges from rocky coastal coves to mountainous precipices encouraging the adventurous explorer to discover more about the region. However, one reason for the low property prices may be attributed to the more unstable climactic conditions, earning the wettest of all the Costas its name, Costa Verde, the Green Coast.

In contrast, the most expensive Costa is the Costa Maresme – in the province of Barcelona – where average house prices are high due to the excellent infrastructure and good economic prospects on offer.

Here, the average property price as of March 2008 is €599,000, 144% over the national average of €245,000. Interestingly, although still very high, house prices in this Costa have in fact fallen by nearly 3% in the last year from an average of €615,000 in 2007. However with an average price of €506,000 in 2006, there has still been significant growth of over 18% overall in the course of this 2 year period.

One of the most well-known of the Costas, the Costa del Sol in the province of Malaga, ranking third most expensive has also seen a drop in property prices. This established tourist destination, viewed by some as saturated with high rise developments, has seen average property prices decrease from a high of €308,000 in 2006 to €305,000 in 2007 and to a current average of €297,000 in March 2008.

This dip of nearly 4% could be seen as surprising due to the introduction in recent years of numerous new golf developments to the Costa del Sol making the area a Mecca for golf enthusiasts. However, the disappointing winter of 2007 for Costa del Sol tourism (as reported by the Association of Hoteliers) has accelerated this decrease in house prices, as has a move towards the cheaper and less developed Costas, this hitting areas such as the Costa del Sol hard.

One example of a Costa that is seemingly benefiting from this transition is the Costa de Almeria in the province of Almeria to the east of Malaga, which ranks as the third cheapest Costa but has seen a steady increase in property prices in the last 2 years.

From an average price in 2006 of €190,500 with an increase of 3% in the course of a year to an average of €196,250 in 2007, and up another 1% to a current average property price in March 2008 of €198,000, the Costa de Almeria is experiencing an increase in popularity. With great geographic diversity and an unspoilt coastline, it is easy to see why this area is seeing a rise in property prices. A warm climate and around 3,000 hours of sunshine a year sets it apart from other more affordable Costas such as the Costa Verde and therefore the popularity of this area is set to grow still further.