Market Update | La Torre Golf Resort – How is the market moving in 2021?

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There´s no doubt that La Torre Golf Resort is the most sought-after golf resort in the Murcia Region, and it’s easy to see why.

Over the past 12 months, we´ve sold more properties in the region than ever before, and La Torre is still the most enquired about location, not only via our own website, but also through the overseas portals such as Kyero, A Place in the Sun, and Rightmove.

Naturally, we doubt we´ll be seeing prices climb back up to their peak prices that we saw back in 2006/7 before the crash any time soon, but we are starting to see prices creep up and the supply of available properties for sale is rapidly diminishing, and demand is ever increasing.

Why is demand increasing so much?

Well, it really is hard to put a finger on exactly what the motives are for each and every buyer on the resort, but what we can do is draw on our own experience based on the dozens of clients that we´ve had purchase properties on the resort over the past 18 months.

From various conversations that we´ve had with buyers, we have started to see somewhat of a pattern in their motives behind purchasing a property now as opposed to later, and more specifically, why they´ve chosen La Torre Golf Resort.

One common expression we´ve come across since COVID “changed the world” back in March 2020, is that life is too short and that we have to adjust to living in the “new normality”.

For those that have come to us with the “life is too short” attitude, their motive for purchasing is precisely just that… LIFES TOO SHORT… These are clients from all walks of life, from couples in their early 30s to retirees that are just looking for their little slice of the Spanish life.

These are clients that may have directly or indirectly suffered a loss due to COVID19, so they´ve simply decided to stop waiting, take the leap, and start making moves on their life plans right now.

A “New Normality” for working conditions

Another motive for purchasing which we´ve come across a few times is again, another direct result of the global pandemic, and that is that the business world is changing, and so are our working lives.

For better or worse, COVID19 has forced businesses to adapt and overcome various obstacles standing in the way of their businesses, such as social distancing, travel restrictions, and general difficulties with how businesses can reach their target audience.

Many of our clients that dreamed of retiring to Spain had previously put off their purchase until they reach retirement, or at least until retirement is imminent.

However, with many businesses now giving their employees the option to work from home indefinitely, the geographical tie to their job and location has now been cut, giving these people the opportunity to bring their purchase forward substantially, and to take advantage of being able to enjoy their home in the sun, whilst still working.

These property buyers are now living and working from their home in Spain for up to 90 days, and the remaining 90 days working from home back in their home country.

How have prices changed on La Torre?

While property price inflation across the peninsula rises yearly between 3-5%, the golf resort property market is a whole different market of its own.

As the properties are broken up into different “models” so to speak, supply and demand play a huge part in dictating prices in the current market.

If we take the Villa Sabina for example, generally speaking, a client that is looking for one of these villas will only be interested in these villas.

If there are 20+ Villa Sabinas for sale, then the buyer will for sure have the upper hand, they´ll have more to choose from, and therefore more sellers to negotiate with.

However, if there are only 10 of these villas on the market, then things start to get a little more difficult for the buyer.

Of these 10 villas, the buyer may rule out half of them for being out of their price range, then rule out another 2-3 for being in the wrong location, therefore being left with just 2-3 villas to choose from.

 
2 years ago, the Sabina villas right at the top end of the market with a lot of improvements were selling for around 170,000€, we´re now starting to see 170,000€ as a base price for the Villa Sabina with a pool.
 

We recently sold one of the Sabina Villas with a small number of upgrades for 192,500€…

Likewise with the penthouse apartments, 2 years ago we were selling these for around 100,000€ at the higher end of the market… We´re now starting to see penthouses sell for a minimum of 110,000€.

Virtual valuations and viewings are now available for our customers.

Find out how much your home is worth

If you have a property that you´d like to sell in the Murcia Region, then make an appointment with one of our experts today to arrange a free, NO OBLIGATION valuation on your propety. 

ADVICE FOR SELLERS

A little goes a long way…

You´ll be amazed at how much of a difference such a small investment into the property can make…

For example… Those redwood sink units! These units are very outdated, often water-damaged, and in many cases are far too big for the bathroom.

Simply changing out this unit and replacing it with a nice, slimline, modern unit, with a new mirror and lighting, can cost as little as 500€. And more often than not, this can be enough to make your property stand out from the bulk of properties that are still as they were 15 years ago.

Painting a 2-bed apartment throughout costs roughly 6-700€, and if you haven´t had the property painted since “day 1”, as is the case with many sellers, it can have a dramatic effect on the overall presentation of the property, and ultimately, how much you´ll be able to achieve for the property.

Buyers will be scrutinizing your property to find any excuse to justify knocking the price down as much as possible… so in short, don´t give them reason.

If it needs painting… PAINT IT. If it needs fixing… FIX IT… We promise that these small investments back into the property will more than pay for themselves.

ADVICE FOR BUYERS

The property market on this resort is incredibly competitive at the moment, and although we are selling more properties than ever before, we´re also seeing more and more buyers miss out on properties because they were too slow to pull the trigger.

Last week, we had a buyer wait until the following day before making an offer on a property, and by that time, it was already too late, the property had already been sold.

To put yourself in the best position to buy, and also to negotiate, there are a couple of things we recommend you do first.

First off, make sure funds are in place. If you need a mortgage, then at the very least, get preapproval first, we can point you in the direction and get you started with this.

Secondly, arrange POA with a local solicitor. Having your solicitor on standby to assist with contracts from the get-go not only makes the process substantially more efficient but will also put you in a better position to negotiate as you´ll be able to act more quickly.

And lastly, don´t believe everything you see on A Place in The Sun! By that, what we mean is that make sure you don´t make silly lowball offers expecting them to be accepted, this will only aggravate the seller and make them less likely to negotiate with you, especially the seller could be expecting other offers any minute.

Naturally, every seller is different and has different motives for selling, however, to give you an idea of how much room for negotiation there is, the average deviation from asking price to and agreed price is 5,8%.

If you would like any further information on the property market on this resort, where it´s for buyers or sellers, then please get in touch today

 

First time buying a property in Spain?

We understand how confusing it can be when looking to purchase a property in Spain for the first time. 

That´s why we´ve put together a comprehensive buyers guide that will give you a tonne of information on the ins and outs of buying a Spanish property. 

This guide will answer all of your questions from purchase costs to legal fees and taxes for foreign buyers.

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