Buying property on Portugal's Silver Coast
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Until recently, Portugal's Silver Coast (or Costa da Prata), a beautiful expanse of sandy beaches, historic towns and lush farmland all bathed in the region's fabled 'silver' light, was a secret the Portuguese had managed to keep strictly to themselves.
This region, lying just north of Lisbon up the new A8 motorway, will be within 20 minutes' drive of the new Lisbon international airport due to open at Ota in 2012, and is only 35 to 50 minutes' drive from the capital.
The jewel in the region's crown is the historic fortified village of Obidos, once given by a medieval Portuguese king to his queen as a gift on marriage and which stands on a steep hilltop overlooking the watery expanse of the Obidos lagoon.
Until recently, buyers of property for sale on the Silver Coast tended to be British or Irish couples attracted by the region's cheaper property prices and authentic Portuguese lifestyle.
John (68) and Margaret Law (69) were typical of this breed of buyers. For over 40 years, the entrepreneurial couple ran their own ABTA-bonded travel agency, but once they had fallen in love with the Silver Coast region, after a chance introduction to the CampoReal resort through a family friend, they wasted no time.
With their Staffordshire home sold for £400,000 and the travel business handed over to their son, John and Margaret took the plunge, purchasing a spacious three-bedroom townhouse on the resort for £210,000. "I was surprised by how close CampoReal was to Lisbon," says John. "It only takes 30 minutes to drive into the centre of the capital, which means that my love of jazz can be easily satisfied at one of the city's many lively jazz clubs."
Margaret adds: "Anyone who visited the Algarve 30 years ago would have found tiny villages by the beach, which have since been overrun by developers, yet if you visit the nearby fishing village of Ericeira, for example, you'll find it just as it was 50 years ago."
The couple have also purchased a deluxe dark-green mobile home "for the grandchildren" for £20,000 (including tax) at the council-owned camp site in Ericeira, just 200 metres from the beach, which has two bedrooms, a lounge with sofa beds, a fully fitted kitchen and bathroom plus important extras like air conditioning, a large exterior awning, and mosquito netting at the windows.
The only extra payments were £150 for utility connections and the annual site rental of £500 per annum, less than a quarter of what you'd expect to pay in the UK.
John continues: "New facilities are currently being built to add to the existing club, bar, restaurant and tennis courts at the campsite, making it a fantastic future investment.
"We're in the process of shopping around for fishing rods, wet suits and surf boards, which will be great when our four grandchildren come to visit, though I suspect we'll have to sit on the sidelines when the international surfing championships that happen every year in Ericeira take place!"
Jorge Pimenta, the managing director of Century 21 estate agents in Caldas da Rainha, confirms this trend in property buyers. "Ninety per cent of our customers are either British or Irish families looking to buy holiday homes that they can also rent out, or older couples who want to retire to the area and enjoy a good standard of living on a fixed pension. If I was buying property on the Silver Coast, €250,000 [£170,000] would buy me a lovely three-bedroom house with a pool - and I would definitely buy on a golf course or near the beach to ensure I could rent it out easily."
Until now, those looking to buy a holiday home on the Silver Coast combined with good investment potential have tended to buy properties at the well established golf resorts of either CampoReal or Praia D'El Rey near Obidos.
Praia D'El Rey's latest phase, Vila da Praia, is a Portuguese-style village overlooking the wide Atlantic beaches, offering one-bedroom apartments from €242,000 (£165,000) and four-bedroom townhouses from €695,000 (£473,000). The resort also has a wide range of resale properties available.
Bom Sucesso near Obidos, one of the most strikingly modern resorts in Portugal, which offers cutting-edge Modernist architecture, has also been a popular buy for Spanish, British and Irish clients, even though the first of the townhouses surrounding the 18-hole golf course will only be ready for occupation in December 2007.
"We have sold almost all the 240 townhouses we were selling off plan in phase one and phase two," says David Sacramento from Bom Sucesso. "Now it would cost you about €350,000 [£238,000] to buy a two-bedroom townhouse from an existing owner, even though the houses are still under construction. We're delighted with the resort's success."
For property buyers looking for a really luxurious lifestyle choice, however, the recent sales launch of Quintas de Obidos, a luxury lakeside resort bordering Bom Sucesso, could be the answer.
Just five minutes' walk from the rolling sandy beaches and estuary of the Obidos lagoon, and with the top-ranked golf courses of Praia D'El Rey and Bom Sucesso surrounding the estate, Quintas de Obidos looks set to become the most exclusive enclave on the Silver Coast , sure to appeal to wealthy property buyers keen to invest in a region where property prices have risen by approximately 30 per cent in the last three years.
Just 79 villas, each standing in at least 5,000 square metres of lakeside gardens, are being built, with property buyers choosing from one of 16 traditional designs from Portugal's most respected architects. The plots cost from €600,000 (£408,000) and complete villas, which include the land, a luxurious five bedroom villa, outdoor pool and all landscaping, range from €1.4 million to €1.8 million (£953,000 to £1.22 million).
The estate also has its own helipad, a country club with spa and pools, and a top-level equestrian centre designed by internationally renowned Irish show jumper Jessica Kyrten.
Quintas de Obidos's owner Miguel Pereira de Abreu, a committed environmentalist whose family also own vineyards in Portugal, has a very clear vision for the resort.
"I am determined this will be the most exclusive and private estate on the Silver Coast ," says Pereira de Abreu.
"Quintas de Obidos will become famous for its lakes, the top-quality golf courses nearby, its first-class equestrian centre and its multimillion-euro villas, just as Quinta do Lago has done in the Algarve's Golden Triangle.
"We have the beautiful Obidos lagoon and lakeside views, we are next door to the area's top golf courses at Praia D'El Rey and Bom Sucesso, and we offer the largest land plots in the region, with each house set amid an eco-friendly landscape of olive trees and biological lakes. To cap it all, we are only 45 minutes from the centre of Lisbon, with all its restaurants, shops and museums."
Eight of the 79 plots have already been snapped up by Portuguese and international investors convinced of the resort's potential and attracted by its exclusivity and privacy.
Property buyers are expected to be wealthy golfers and horse lovers attracted by the fact that stabling their horses at the resort will be half the price of doing the same in England or Ireland.
Nearby, only 500 metres from the Obidos lagoon, Oceanico Developments and Portuguese construction firm MSF have recently announced plans for the May 2007 launch of the €250 million (£170,000) 130-hectare Royal Obidos resort, which will contain a five-star condominium hotel and spa with one- and two-bedroom apartments. There will also be private condominiums with their own pools, in a mixture of two- and three-bedroom apartments, plus four- and five-bedroom villas set around the 18-hole Seve Ballesteros-designed golf course.
Simon Burgess from Oceanico is clear why he is banking on the Silver Coast . "This region of Portugal is one of the most stunning," he says "and offers a superb investment opportunity."
All in all, the Silver Coast region looks set to become a luxurious destination over the next 12 to 24 months.
Read our other articles about buying property in Portugal:
as well as our overseas news stories affecting the property market in Portugal, the Homes Overseas Guide to Buying Property in Portugal or view our range of property for sale in Portugal.
First published in Homes Overseas Magazine June 2007.
Some information contained within this article may have changed since it was first published. Homes Overseas strongly advises you to seek current legal and financial advise from a qualified professional.
