Four bedroom El Paso country cottages

In the past 10 weeks, the Cheltenham-based Almanzora Group has successfully sold brand new freehold properties at an average rate of more than three per week at Desert Springs, in the Almeria region of south-east Spain, and in two nearby locations – on the beach at Playa Marques and in the traditional Spanish fishing village of Villaricos.

“We adjusted prices to take account of currency exchange rates and the current market situation, and the result has been a steadily rising flow of enquires and sales,” reports the group’s sales and marketing manager, Simon Coaker. “Now we expect a further surge in sales following the news that Spain’s Banco de Andalucia has selected these developments as the flagships for the launch of its new mortgage offer. This could open the floodgates in terms of property sales in 2010.”

The Banco de Andalucía SA, which serves Andalusia’s eight provinces and operates more than 300 branches, is more than 80 per cent owned by one of Spain’s top and most conservative of banks, Banco Popular Español.

Available on holiday homes and investment properties ranging from apartments, townhouses and cottages to villas and country houses, the 100 per cent mortgages based on independent valuations undertaken by the bank are available to Spanish nationals and overseas purchasers alike.

100 per cent mortgages based on independent valuations are available on Las Sierras Apartments

“In some cases, the mortgage available is larger than the amount actually payable by the purchaser,” says Simon. “This is because, following last year’s price reductions, the current prices of a number of properties are actually lower than the bank valuations.”

Once in a lifetime opportunities

This is the catalyst which will accelerate demand to levels which make price rises inevitable sooner rather than later, predicts Simon, who has just unveiled a portfolio of selected properties offered at exclusive prices – some with as much as 55 per cent off the list price. He describes them as ‘once in a lifetime opportunities for would-be second-home owners.’

The new 100 per cent mortgages can be paid off over periods of up to 35 years at interest rates as low as 2.7 per cent. On this basis, repayments on the mortgage for a €178,000 two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment at Desert Springs would be only €400 per month. Repayments are even lower during the first two years when interest-only payments are required.

For investors who place their properties in the year-round rental pool at Desert Springs, the mortgage repayments will be offset by the income which can be achieved – typically €294 per week for a one-bedroom apartment based on two people sharing in the low season, rising to €462 in the high season. These figures are net rental income, after deduction of the charges made by the tour operators marketing properties for holidays.

“Investors will be reassured by the fact that, throughout 2009, our holiday rentals business at Desert Springs held up well with more than 48 per cent occupancy in that type of apartment,” reports Simon. “This reflects the awareness and popularity of the resort for golf breaks and family holidays, backed by a high level of recommendations to friends by property owners and guests, many of whom return year after year.

The popularity of holidays at Desert Springs – which has increased this year with the addition of the resort to the destinations offered and booked by James Villa Holidays, the UK’s leading villa holiday specialist – has prompted expansion of the number of properties in the resort’s rental pool for 2010, in order to keep pace with demand.

In addition to the 18-hole championship golf course at Desert Springs, other facilities which make it a popular choice for holidays and short breaks include its award-winning El Torrente restaurant and the Croc Restaurant – part of the family-friendly Crocodile Club – as well as the 18-hole championship golf course, day spa, sports club, tennis and paddle courts.

Added Simon: “We are now at the very bottom of the cycle. Properties discounted to 55 per cent of previous values are priced more or less at the basic cost of their construction alone, excluding land and finance, so these levels will not fall further. We are seeing the start of the next stage of the process we predicted back in 2008. We said then that ‘the Spanish wheel will finally turn’ with the overall property market.”

“Over the years, the property market in Spain – especially the ‘investment’ market – has proved to be extremely cyclical. It is inevitable that, with the ready availability of 100 per cent mortgages, demand will soon start pushing prices up again, so clearly now is the time to buy.”

For more information, call The Almanzora Group on: 01242 680116 or visit the website, www.almanzora.com

The former England Test cricketer bought a four-bedroom country villa alongside the seventeenth fairway of Europe’s only championship desert golf course, The Indiana at Desert Springs, the award-winning luxury family resort in Almeria, south-east Spain.

Sir Ian Botham enjoys breakfast on the veranda of his home at Desert Springs

Warmest winter weather

“I love the peaceful atmosphere and the desert microclimate we enjoy in this corner of Spain,” says Sir Ian who was attracted by the region’s reputation for having the warmest winter weather on the continent.

Sir Ian’s Spanish Colonial style home, an air-conditioned ‘Arizona’ villa built by the Anglo-Spanish developer of Desert Springs, The Almanzora Bay Group, has been designed to capture the ambience of the old farmhouses, or cortijos, of the Almanzora region in which Desert Springs is located.

Set within a walled garden, the property features deep and shady colonnaded verandas with fans, spacious roof terraces and a private infinity pool ‘guarded’ by a 10 metre tiled crocodile at the bottom of it.

The villa’s internal finishes include hardwood joinery, stone fireplaces and marble and Porcelanosa tiled floors.

A real quality of lifestyle

A four-bedroom ‘Arizona’ villa

“This is our perfect family retreat and a real home from home for us because the resort offers everything I enjoy in life,” says Sir Ian, who is married to Kathy and has three children, Liam, Sarah and Becky. “We use our villa at every opportunity throughout the year, and so do family and friends.

“For them, Desert Springs offers such an amazing variety of sports and leisure facilities that there is always something for all of them to enjoy.”

A passionate golfer, Sir Ian was the first member of the Desert Springs Golf Club to play on its 18-hole golf course.

He says: “I enjoy meeting and playing with other members and guests of the club because they are there for the same reasons – to experience and benefit from a real quality of lifestyle which, in my view, has no equal in Europe.”

In addition to the 18-hole golf course, and a golf academy which caters for several international teams, the Botham family has access to an aerobics gymnasium, trim trail and jogging tracks as well as courts for tennis, paddle tennis and beach volley ball.  Other facilities in the resort range from an international size football pitch, cricket nets, a contra-current swimming pool and mountain bikes to a health and fitness club and spa.

Academy Practice Grounds

The coaching, activities and programmes available for adults and children include personal fitness training by Sir Ian Botham’s friend Daley Thompson, the double Olympic Gold medallist who also has a home at Desert Springs.

Leap of faith

Simon Coaker, director of golf at Desert Springs, says that when Ian decided to buy his property off-plan seven years ago it was “a huge leap of faith.”

“Before The Almanzora Bay Group bought the Desert Springs site it was occupied by a farm growing melons and tomatoes. When Sir Ian saw it for the first time, the development of a resort and its golf course was in its infancy,” says Simon.

Since then Sir Ian has watched the transformation of the site and seen substantial growth in the capital value of his property. Although the price he paid for it in 2001 has not been disclosed, the investment has more than doubled in value.

Sir Ian has bought a second holiday home at Desert Springs. The newest property has become home to Sir Ian’s daughter Sarah who has just fulfilled a long held ambition in Spain. She said: “After six years working with Sky Sports, and then helping to organise my father’s fundraising walks for Leukaemia Research, I was looking for an opportunity to open a wine bar.

Townhouses of the type which Sir Ian Botham has bought at Desert Springs

“There were few affordable ones in the area near my home in North Yorkshire but then, during a holiday at Desert Springs, I discovered that the Bar Restaurante los Pepes in the nearby town of Vera was for sale. I didn’t take me long to snap it up!”

Vera, which Sarah describes as “a charming and picturesque town with a flavour of Spain as it was,” is just a few minutes by car from Desert Springs where the family’s second second-home is a spacious Modesto style duplex. It has a floor area of 110 sq metres, a roof terrace of 37 sq metres, and views of both the Desert Springs Golf Academy and the sea.

For more information call The Almanzora Group on 01242 680299 or visit the website, www.almanzora.com