The following article struck us as interesting. "Mad for the medina" - Times Online - UK For a start the prices are now going through the roof and secondly, for those that think a secondary market is developing - hold your breath. At the foot of the article is mention of the delightfully restored Dar Settash in Fez which after a considerable time is still not sold, despite the price being more reasonable than anything comparable in Marrakech. Herfe is the article:
The first comment from friends is, ‘Blimey, you’re brave,’ ” says Peter Cowie, when the topic of his holiday home in Marrakesh comes up at dinner parties. “Then they all say, ‘Can we come?’
“It is so exciting,” he continues. “As soon as you land, you know you are in Africa. You are part of a different culture with different sounds, smells and colours. There is a real buzz.” Cowie, 46, and his wife, Rebecca, 47, have fallen under the spell of Morocco, with its sandy beaches, desert interiors, minarets, mosques, souks and carpet-sellers.
On holiday this summer with their three children, Hannah, 23, George, 21, and Mildred, 18, the London-based couple went searching for a holiday home they could use for pleasure, but that would also be a good investment. After a “slightly scary” tour to see what lay behind the decorative wooden doors and windowless walls of the city’s medina (the old Arab quarter), the Cowies bought Riad Najah for £200,000.
The property, which needs some work and which they plan to let out (www.riadnajah.com), is in one of the more fashionable districts of the medina, behind the Bahia Palace. A typical riad, it is set around a lush courtyard. Plans for the £30,000 renovation and extension were negotiated in faltering French.
Background
So far, the work is coming in on time and on budget. When the place is finished, it will have four bedrooms, three bathrooms, two roof terraces and a Berber tent. Cowie is also building what he calls his gin-and-tonic platform. “I plan to sit on the roof with an ice-cold gin and tonic, and watch the sun set over the medina and Atlas Mountains,” he says.
The Cowies are among thousands of British buyers lured by Morocco’s blend of exoticism, winter sunshine and relatively cheap property. Until recently, Britons who bought in the Islamic kingdom were adventurous types who headed to the ancient medinas and kasbahs in search of a riad, a larger house (known as a dar), or even a disused palace to renovate.
Today, their ranks are being swelled by sun-seekers, some of whom have never before strayed from the Med, who are piling in and investing in one of the thousands of new properties under construction by royal decree. Mohammed VI’s development plan aims for six coastal tourist resorts: one on the Mediterranean and five on the Atlantic. The new beachside playground will run all the way from Saidia, 100 miles from the Algerian border, down to Plage Blanche, south of Essaouira.
The scale of the 44-year-old monarch’s vision is staggering. The government has earmarked £220m to spend on infrastructure, and wants 10m tourists by 2010.
So, what property is on offer and what should you pay? And what price might Morocco pay for such development?
Marrakesh Morocco’s most fashionable destination, the ochre-coloured city is a favourite of slickers and bohemian types alike. Here, east meets west as visitors sit and sip beer, listening to the call to prayer.
Tim Buxton, a director of Investment Adventures (www.investmentadventures.com), says the desire to renovate within the medina is undiminished: “The cheapest, most rundown riadsstart at £60,000, but are increasingly rare,” he says. “Prices go up to £250,000 for something in need of work, to millions for the grandest, most boutique-style guesthouses.” For a 4.5% commission, the company will hold buyers’ hands during the entire process, from finding a house to choosing the tiles.
Outside the medina walls, billboards line the roads, projecting garish images of pink villas, almost luminous vegetation and glittering pools: all are resorts under construction. There will be seven golf courses by 2009, the city boundary has been extended to eight miles, and developers are in-filling as quickly as they can. Hotel chains including Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental and Banyan Tree are all developing.
It is possible to buy a decent new-build flat off-plan for £65,000, and a semidetached villa for £150,000. The apartment blocks, townhouses and villas are designed for the mass market, and provide credible competition for Spain, Greece, Turkey and Dubai.
One of the smartest schemes around is Assoufid (020 7491 9791, www.assoufid.com), a 15-minute drive from the city centre. The 544-acre site will have an 18-hole golf course and academy, 2,000 palm trees and a Rocco Forte hotel. There will be 80 private villas, from 4,000 sq ft to 9,000 sq ft, each set in about 2.5 acres. They will have pools and, on a clear day, views to the snow-capped peaks of the High Atlas. Prices in the second phase, which launches next month, are from £1.25m to £1.67m.
Fez Pioneers seeking the culture, chaos and charm of old Morocco started scouting out riads in this city about three years ago. The arrival of more British buyers, and English-speaking agencies such as Fez Properties (www.fesproperties.com) and Churchill Solutions (www.churchill-solutions.com), is referred to as the “Marrakesh effect”. You can still pick up a run-down riad in the medina for £20,000, but expect to spend the same again and at least a year restoring it: the process is complicated by donkey-only transport.
“Fez is significantly cheaper than Marrakesh,” says Jenny Barnard, co-founder of Fes Medina Houses, which helps British buyers find a property and manage restoration projects. “As a general rule, prices have doubled in the past three years, but values are quite erratic as the market is not yet mature. It depends on the location, condition and amount of original features.”
Outside the walls of this ancient imperial centre, dust clouds indicate that a few resorts are beginning to spring up, all with requisite pools and golf courses. Mediterranean Coast There is a construction boom on the northern coast, and an unprecedented level of development, which mirrors Marbella’s “golden mile”. One-bedroom flats at the £180m Mediterranea Saidia, a colossal resort, start at £54,000, rising to just under £90,000 for a detached villa. In Spain, it might cost three times as much. Similar developments are under way south of Tangier. The largest is Tinja, a 750-acre, 2,000-home beachside resort, where the first phase is due for completion by mid2010.
Tangier has yet to shrug off its reputation as a dirty, dangerous place. However, a new port and marina are under way. So keen is the king on a clean-up that he has appointed Mohammed Hassed, the former wali (mayor) who oversaw Marrakesh’s regeneration, to, as Hassed puts it, “restore the cachet Tangier had in the 1960s”. Brave buyers head for the medina; those chasing boho appeal go to the Old Mountain area, where properties range from £300,000 to £1m, or inland to pretty Tetouan.
“Prices around Tangier are comparable to Marrakesh,” says Philip Arnott, director of Moroccan Property Immo-bilier (www.moroccanproperties.com). “But the city is playing a waiting game. If it wins the World Expo in 2012, then expect prices to soar.”
Atlantic Coast The recreation of the Spanish-style developments continues apace further along the country’s 3,000-mile coast-line; sites earmarked for development on the Atlantic stretch include Mazagan, Larache, Taghazout and Plage Blanche. Bulk-buying speculators are investing in city-centre skyscrapers in Rabat, the capital, and in Casablanca, where prices start at £68,000 for a flat and £380,000 for a villa. In Agadir, a townhouse costs about £100,000. Prices at the Royal Moroc Sports and Leisure Club (www.royalmorocclub.com), on Agadir’s outskirts, start at £60,000 for a two-bed flat.
For a more laid-back lifestyle (and investment potential), Arnott picks small towns such as Asilah and Essaouira, where small two-bed riadsin need of complete renovation start at £55,000 (www.spanish-homes.com).
Atlas Mountains Going inland to Berber country requires a decent 4WD and strong nerves. Foreigners are not allowed to own agricultural land, so must ensure that whatever they buy has a building permit. Prices are rising but vary wildly depending on the location, access and what the owner thinks he can get.
“Show a white face and prices will double,” says Buxton, who recommends employing a trustworthy local to negotiate on your behalf. “There is no shop window, no fixed price and no estate agent.” In the Ourika Valley, 20 minutes’ drive from Marrakesh, Investment Adventures is selling four-bedroom villas with Atlas views off-plan. Prices start at £775,000 (www.ardamane.com).
Southern belles
Saidia: This three-bedroom riad set around a central courtyard with a fountain, at the Mediterranea Saidia resort, is due to be completed in 2009. The villa has a pool and comes furnished.
For sale for £218,480, with Moroccan Sands; 0800 856 3005, www.moroccansands.com
Marrakesh:This five-bedroom villa with pool and terrace is in the Samanah Country Club, a 10-minute drive from the airport. There will be 600 villas around a private Jack Nicklaus golf course.
For sale for £689,000, with Savills; 020 7016 3740, www.savills.co.uk/abroad
Tangier:A 20-minute drive south of Tangier, Tinja is a 750-acre beachside resort of 2,000 flats, townhouses and villas, by the Dubai-based Emaar Properties.
A three-bedroom villa is for sale for £310,000, with Hamptons International; 020 7758 8447, www.hamptons-int.com
Fez:Dar Settash is a restored riad in the medina with lots of original architectural features. It has a kitchen, three large bathrooms, a courtyard and 10 other rooms.
For sale for £175,000, with Fes Medina Houses; 00 212 3563 7143, www.fesmorocco.com
Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news
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