Marbella, August 1, 2002
With the pound retaining its strength against the Euro, the search for a European holiday home or even permanent residence abroad has become a very attractive option. The Costa has been labelled in some quarters as the California of Europe.

Many parts of the Spanish Costa have experienced sustained growth over the last twenty years with new roads, shopping facilities and communications improving the general infrastructure to such a point that life here is not as foreign as it once was. However due to the shortage of available building land on the coastline, prices between Málaga and Gibraltar are rising along with the rapid growth.

Last year 16.000 homes were bought by foreigners on the Costa del Sol, 25 per cent of these in new developments. As a result of this trend, the price of new and resale property, far from going down or even stabilising, has kept on rising despite some forecasts of recession that would have led to falling prices.

With Spanish mortgages from 3,75 per cent being available, the rush for Costa property will intensify and many are predicting major growth over the next five years.