# house prices on costa del sol and blanca



## Lucie123 (Dec 7, 2011)

Has there always been a big difference between the prices on the sol and blanca.any major reasons for it.had a look on google and there doesnt seem to be as many major costal resorts/cities on the costa blanca. seems to be mainly made up of urbanisations.just wondered why it seems so much cheaper


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Lucie123 said:


> Has there always been a big difference between the prices on the sol and blanca.any major reasons for it.had a look on google and there doesnt seem to be as many major costal resorts/cities on the costa blanca. seems to be mainly made up of urbanisations.just wondered why it seems so much cheaper


what do you call a major resort??


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## Lucie123 (Dec 7, 2011)

What i ment was from just looking on google maps there seems to be alot of expansive land that seems to have lots of urbanisations built on them but they arent near or dont appear to be near any major towns or cities. i wondered if this was a reason for the lower house prices


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Lucie123 said:


> What i ment was from just looking on google maps there seems to be alot of expansive land that seems to have lots of urbanisations built on them but they arent near or dont appear to be near any major towns or cities. i wondered if this was a reason for the lower house prices


 I would say the lower house prices are partly cos they're not close to the main towns (altho a lot of folk dont want to be near the main towns) and partly cos house prices in Spain are tumbling. They built too many!

jo xxx


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Lucie123 said:


> What i ment was from just looking on google maps there seems to be alot of expansive land that seems to have lots of urbanisations built on them but they arent near or dont appear to be near any major towns or cities. i wondered if this was a reason for the lower house prices


we only have 2 major cities - Alicante & Valencia (although strictly speaking Valencia isn't on the costa blanca..) - & quite a few biggish coastal or inland towns which is where most people live - a lot of the land not so far from the coast is pretty mountainous though


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

its all about location.......... & it got me thinking

I just went to a couple of websites (one Málaga, one Jávea) & put 3 beds, 2 baths, villa

not much in the prices at all tbh

Malaga Villas for sale, Malaga Villas to buy | 3 bed | 2 bath | Pool



Villas for sale in Javea - Javea Casas


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## Lucie123 (Dec 7, 2011)

Yeah location certainly comes into it which is why i wondered if the reasons some houses i randomly looked at on kyero for example seem very cheap is because alot of these houses are built away from major towns and amenities.for our price range what you can get for your money is far more on the c.b.but like others have said if there was more new builds and developments on the c.b then prices will be cheaper aswell. i guess the closet on the cds that compairs from when ive been looking is alhaurin el grande. Villas seem alot cheaper than other areas but then ive read that the area isnt the best


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Lucie123 said:


> Yeah location certainly comes into it which is why i wondered if the reasons some houses i randomly looked at on kyero for example seem very cheap is because alot of these houses are built away from major towns and amenities.for our price range what you can get for your money is far more on the c.b.but like others have said if there was more new builds and developments on the c.b then prices will be cheaper aswell. i guess the closet on the cds that compairs from when ive been looking is alhaurin el grande. Villas seem alot cheaper than other areas but then ive read that the area isnt the best


 Alhaurin el Grande IMO is a shell of its former self, it was a major haven for Brits twenty or so years ago, even when we first visited it five years ago, it was vibrant and busy. The last time I visited it was a ghost town. In the end, like anywhere else you get what you pay for. Personally I wouldnt buy at all in Spain right now as its difficult to predict where its going. The only way to understand the property prices is to visit them and their areas

I have some estate agent friends who will tell you that there are still some desirable properties that are fetching good money, but they are few and far between. You also have to remember that some of these urbanizacions are not all the same. Some are "up and running", have residents, and are looked after as they were supposed to. Others are almost derelict, are run down and have very few occupants - eventho they are all the same thing and should be worth the same money

Jo xxxx


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## tarot650 (Sep 30, 2007)

have a look at Spanish Property For Sale - Property in Spain - 1Casa they have listings right from the Costa Del Sol up to the Costa Blanca.Should give a rough idea but in reality there really are some bargains to be had but my heart goes out to the people who are stuck with no equity and there are quite a lot of those .In reality out and out greed has played a major part.Remember a few years back when two of the major players'Viva Estates and Interealty' went bang they were charging 15% to 25% commission.Also know a couple of stories of estate agents doing runnere with peoples money.One thing to remember is if you do get a property at a really knock down and cheap price you have still got to pay the taxes and charges and if you try to under declare they will soon come after you.Yes the days of buying a property and quadrupling your money are long gone but it was nice to have been a part of it.


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

Lucie123 said:


> What i ment was from just looking on google maps there seems to be alot of expansive land that seems to have lots of urbanisations built on them but they arent near or dont appear to be near any major towns or cities. i wondered if this was a reason for the lower house prices


I think you are illustrating the difference between looking on google maps and coming to look yourself 

As far as I know the Southern CB is certainly a sea of urbs, however in the North it's not quite that bad and there are a lot of nice little villages only 6 kms inland from the coast. In Oliva there are large areas of non urb houses down between the playa and Oliva town. Cullera just slightly up the coast, Denia & Javea down the coast ... there will be urbs, but thats not all the case ..... and urbs arent always bad. I live on one that started off as an urb but then got adopted by the town hall, and its nice .... not overcrowded and full of boxed houses like some


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Stravinsky said:


> I think you are illustrating the difference between looking on google maps and coming to look yourself
> 
> As far as I know the Southern CB is certainly a sea of urbs, however in the North it's not quite that bad and there are a lot of nice little villages only 6 kms inland from the coast. In Oliva there are large areas of non urb houses down between the playa and Oliva town. Cullera just slightly up the coast, Denia & Javea down the coast ... there will be urbs, but thats not all the case ..... and urbs arent always bad. I live on one that started off as an urb but then got adopted by the town hall, and its nice .... not overcrowded and full of boxed houses like some


I live on a gated urb, as you know - & it's lovely as far as facilities are concerned & just a few mins walk to the beach, too

it's well-kept, mainly I think because it's very _residential_ inasmauch as the majority of houses & apartments are lived in all year round by families, most of which are Spanish- it's almost like living in a little village  - & importantly for me we can walk/cycle everywhere we need on a daily basis & the kids walk to school & I walk to work

I used to live in an almost identical urb at the other end of the town -it was very very different............. hardly anyone lived there all year & the few who did were retired English people who really did resent the presence of kids in their 'quiet heaven' & they really hated the summer when the place was full of them!! (needless to say my kids were happier then )


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## Lucie123 (Dec 7, 2011)

Stravinsky said:


> I think you are illustrating the difference between looking on google maps and coming to look yourself
> 
> As far as I know the Southern CB is certainly a sea of urbs, however in the North it's not quite that bad and there are a lot of nice little villages only 6 kms inland from the coast. In Oliva there are large areas of non urb houses down between the playa and Oliva town. Cullera just slightly up the coast, Denia & Javea down the coast ... there will be urbs, but thats not all the case ..... and urbs arent always bad. I live on one that started off as an urb but then got adopted by the town hall, and its nice .... not overcrowded and full of boxed houses like some



obviously you can only get a tiny idea by looking on google maps rather than being there. but my question was whether that was a possible reason for the lower prices.or have they just always been cheaper than the cds. for eg when we first started looking east of malaga we saw some nice properties on the net but when you looked on the map you realised they were that cheap cause they were pretty much in the middle of no where. so i wondered if that was a possible reason for cheaper prices on the c.b

theres nothing wrong with urbanisations if thats your thing.and of course there are very different types. but its not for us as we want to get away from paying £1200 a year in council tax that we pay in the uk but being on a urb would replace that council tax with paying for a pool etc that we wouldnt use and tbh with the money we have we could only afford something on a typical urb where every house looks the same and they are built ontop of each other. or the urb is nice but the fees are ridiculous which is what we want to get away from. we have seen a few "normal" spanish houses in villages and thats what we are looking for but sadly that reduces our options in alot of areas


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Lucie123 said:


> obviously you can only get a tiny idea by looking on google maps rather than being there. but my question was whether that was a possible reason for the lower prices.or have they just always been cheaper than the cds. for eg when we first started looking east of malaga we saw some nice properties on the net but when you looked on the map you realised they were that cheap cause they were pretty much in the middle of no where. so i wondered if that was a possible reason for cheaper prices on the c.b
> 
> theres nothing wrong with urbanisations if thats your thing.and of course there are very different types. but its not for us as we want to get away from paying £1200 a year in council tax that we pay in the uk but being on a urb would replace that council tax with paying for a pool etc that we wouldnt use and tbh with the money we have we could only afford something on a typical urb where every house looks the same and they are built ontop of each other. or the urb is nice but the fees are ridiculous which is what we want to get away from. we have seen a few "normal" spanish houses in villages and thats what we are looking for but sadly that reduces our options in alot of areas


The Spanish property crisis aside, I guess the variants in prices is the same as the variants in prices in the UK - the south tends to be more expensive than the north, some towns are expensive others arent - even areas of towns vary. For example, if I could pick my UK house up and move it 100 yds up the hill it would be worth a good £100k more.

You so need to come out to see the reasons and get a feel for where you'd be happiest

Jo xxx


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## Lucie123 (Dec 7, 2011)

I totally agree theres no alternative to physically going and either getting that feeling or not!. just sometimes can you look to much? As it a big ole country. we have pretty much decided on the nerja area. we did some research before hand to see what would suit us and decided that nerja ticked alot of boxes and as soon as we got there we got that feeling so we have been concentrating our search around that area but we have also looked over at the west side aswell although we dont really feel its for us as its alot busier and more built up/touristy.although on our next trip theres a few other places we want to look at but as always money is the issue. but tbh everywhere gets compaired to nerja and nothing has touched it yet but we do wonder if thats because we have been to nerja several times now so it has a familier feel that other places we have only visited a couple of times dont. just hope the house prices continue to fall ;-) by the time we come to move and the house we saw on our last trip is still for sale as we would have it in a heartbeat. its been in the market over three years so whats another year or two!


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Lucie123 said:


> theres nothing wrong with urbanisations if thats your thing.and of course there are very different types. but its not for us as we want to get away from paying £1200 a year in council tax that we pay in the uk but being on a urb would replace that council tax with paying for a pool etc that we wouldnt use and tbh with the money we have we could only afford something on a typical urb where every house looks the same and they are built ontop of each other. or the urb is nice but the fees are ridiculous which is what we want to get away from. we have seen a few "normal" spanish houses in villages and thats what we are looking for but sadly that reduces our options in alot of areas


SWMBO often does translations/interpreting for the Brits on an Urb and the problems they have are horrendous. To start with, a lot of the places have not been sold but the developer is just about in liquidation so doesn't pay the share of the communal charges. There is also a problem with yobboes (many Brits) who vandalise the empty properties and communal areas...

We bought a 4BR house (room for 3 more + bath in attic) on 5 levels 3½ years ago (€85,000) in a smallish village (pop 5,000) and have none of those problems. There is a small supermarket (Coviran - similar to Spar) a few doors along our road, a greengrocer (in a garage) opposite Coviran. Just up the road are a Mas-y-Mas, a butcher, a ferretería, 2 pharmacies, an opticians, the health centre, a dispensa, three banks. In the other direction, a fishmonger cum greengrocer, Iberplus (another supermarket). We have several garages, 3 pharmacxies in all, electrical retailer all the usual carpenters, plumbers, etc a farrier (now mostly retired) opposite our house, a number of hairdressers and barbers, etc. etc. This may be a village but we are not in the back of beyond. So much depends on just what you are looking for.

See my photo albums.


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

Lucie123 said:


> ns if thats your thing.and of course there are very different types. but its not for us as we want to get away from paying £1200 a year in council tax that we pay in the uk but being on a urb would replace that council tax with paying for a pool etc that we wouldnt use and tbh with the money we have we could only afford something on a typical urb where every house looks the same and they are built ontop of each other. or the urb is nice but the fees are ridiculous which is what we want to get away from. we have seen a few "normal" spanish houses in villages and thats what we are looking for but sadly that reduces our options in alot of areas


Errr .... I think as you said, urbs differ. They are not all little boxes huddled together. As I mentioned, I live on what started off as an urb but is not. I have a pool, but I dont pay for it. I am secluded, the mountain is covered in greenery and trees. I dont pay urb fees. So ... my house is quite normal thanks 

To answer your question, I think quite possibly the multi box urbs are the places where you would find prices dropping because people just cant sell them. I'm not sure that this is the reason why prices are lower in general here, thats probably more to do with the general property market and the fact that (as I think I said) the cost of living is lower here than the CDS, and that includes property prices


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Stravinsky said:


> Errr .... I think as you said, urbs differ. They are not all little boxes huddled together. As I mentioned, I live on what started off as an urb but is not. I have a pool, but I dont pay for it. I am secluded, the mountain is covered in greenery and trees. I dont pay urb fees. So ... my house is quite normal thanks
> 
> To answer your question, I think quite possibly the multi box urbs are the places where you would find prices dropping because people just cant sell them. I'm not sure that this is the reason why prices are lower in general here, thats probably more to do with the general property market and the fact that (as I think I said) the cost of living is lower here than the CDS, and that includes property prices


I'm with you on the "urbs differ" point of view. I've seen some dire examples in the south, and in all parts of Spain actually, but I've seen some very nice developments too. I live on one myself and, as I've often said, I'm not living in my ideal house, but it's pretty good.
I'm just wondering how come you have a pool and don't pay for it???


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

Pesky Wesky said:


> I'm just wondering how come you have a pool and don't pay for it???


Because its _my_ pool. Not shared by anyone else. As I said, this started off as an urb, but was adopted by the town hall so all we pay is "council tax", currently at €400 a year


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## Lucie123 (Dec 7, 2011)

Stravinsky said:


> Errr .... I think as you said, urbs differ. They are not all little boxes huddled together. As I mentioned, I live on what started off as an urb but is not. I have a pool, but I dont pay for it. I am secluded, the mountain is covered in greenery and trees. I dont pay urb fees. So ... my house is quite normal thanks
> 
> To answer your question, I think quite possibly the multi box urbs are the places where you would find prices dropping because people just cant sell them. I'm not sure that this is the reason why prices are lower in general here, thats probably more to do with the general property market and the fact that (as I think I said) the cost of living is lower here than the CDS, and that includes property prices


Of course urbs differ but its irrelevent if you cant afford the urbs that arent made up of houses that are all the same and built ontop of each other. in the areas we have looked at the only urb that we realky liked had some communel fees upto €1800 a year! but we saw alot were offered as holiday rents so thats something else you have to be careful about. i guess your house is very diff due to the circumstances you stated.


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

Lucie123 said:


> Of course urbs differ but its irrelevent if you cant afford the urbs that arent made up of houses that are all the same and built ontop of each other. in the areas we have looked at the only urb that we realky liked had some communel fees upto €1800 a year! but we saw alot were offered as holiday rents so thats something else you have to be careful about. i guess your house is very diff due to the circumstances you stated.



Oh for sure, but I dont know your budget
A three bedroom three story detached villa 0n 800 sq mtrs with a pool sold here last year for €175,000 including most of the furniture and a car. No communal fees. Views of the mountains and towards the sea

Monte Pego which is the big urb here with 3000 homes, restaurant, bar, full urb coverage, the urb fee there varies but around €1500


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## Lucie123 (Dec 7, 2011)

Yeah the villas do seem to be very cheap compaired to the cds.Hence my original question.


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## Nigeljay (Dec 1, 2010)

If as you say you are on a fairly tight budget, it is perhaps worth reconsidering the cb. The costa blanca north in particular has a lovely combination of pine clad mountains, lovely long golden beaches and interesting coves. The scenery forms some of the backgrounds for the new film The Cold Light of Day. There are many areas of established attractive urbanisations and also traditional Spanish townhouses.

I'm not wholly convinced however that if you truly compare like with like the prices are all that different. There are clearly areas which command price premiums in both regions. However if you are truly wedded to Nerja then I guess you should compromise in other areas to fit your budget to the available property.

If you are not 100% committed to the CDS then try Denia, Javea, Moraira and Benissa on the CB.


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

Nigeljay said:


> If you are not 100% committed to the CDS then try Denia, Javea, Moraira and Benissa on the CB.


And Gandia, Cullera?


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## Nigeljay (Dec 1, 2010)

Stravinsky said:


> And Gandia, Cullera?


I'm always confused as to whether Gandia is on the Costa del Azahar or the CB.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Nigeljay said:


> I'm always confused as to whether Gandia is on the Costa del Azahar or the CB.


'officially' the CB goes as far north as Denia


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## Lucie123 (Dec 7, 2011)

In doing some research around the c.b as tbh its prob daft just concentrate on one area. we should at least have a look around that area if for no other reason than to out you mind at rest as to what you want. looking on the net moraira looks nice and ive looked on sites such as kyero at javea and the other towns mentioned above such as denia. but even though theres alot of cheap villas they all seem to be on developments. its hard just from lookng on these sites to have a clue about what areas in these towns we should look at or which areas arent big developments. can anyone advise on certain areas?


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Lucie123 said:


> In doing some research around the c.b as tbh its prob daft just concentrate on one area. we should at least have a look around that area if for no other reason than to out you mind at rest as to what you want. looking on the net moraira looks nice and ive looked on sites such as kyero at javea and the other towns mentioned above such as denia. but even though theres alot of cheap villas they all seem to be on developments. its hard just from lookng on these sites to have a clue about what areas in these towns we should look at or which areas arent big developments. can anyone advise on certain areas?


Have a look on Google Earth and drag the "man" icon across to any area you are interested in and if the roads are outlined in blue, then the camera has been along and you can get a 'street view' move along the street, takes side turnings etc and get a lot of ideas about the place.


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## Lucie123 (Dec 7, 2011)

I use street view alot already. thanks


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Lucie123 said:


> I use street view alot already. thanks


 Go there!!! We cant tell you what you're going to think or how you're going to fit in, even if we do know where you mean! You need to see it for yourself

Jo xxx


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## Lucie123 (Dec 7, 2011)

Yeah of course you need to go but you just cant turn up in the middle of say denia walk around the main sq and say yeah this is nice. you need to know what areas of denia for eg you need to look at when you get there.or is there any areas that arent or are just urbanisations. which parts you should make a note of to visit if you are looking for a certain type of property.researching if you should go to a certain area to start with as theres no point thinking somewhere looks nice on street view only to go there and find you cant afford anything or the area only has the type of property you dont want.and like when i go on kyero
and see a house but when i read where it is it means nothing to me. hence asking for advice on any areas that i should make a note of


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## Goldeneye (Nov 12, 2011)

Before we emmigrated to Canada to took a good look around initially settling on Victoria. We decided that when we moved there we would rent for 3 months, look at properties, take our time and hear what the locals said about different areas of the town.

When we move to Spain we will do likewise, we plan to probably rent for 6 months - 1 year before committing ourselves, get a feel for the place in and out of season...

You can research 'till the cows come home' on the internet but there is no substitute for 'being there' and doing your own leg work. 

Photo images by realtors conveniently take shots without perhaps a main highway, powerline in the back yard or views of such, nver mind the gazillion other properties overlooking the listing.
Areas we thought would work once there didn't, we closed the map book drove around the city 'got lost' and 'found' our dream home!
.
.


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