Huelva: spain’s most exciting market?

New research reveals why Huelva is one of Spain’s safest real estate bets…

Andrew Benitz, Director of Titan Properties – the company that carried out the research – comments: “When we set up, the western Huelva province of the Costa de la Luz was relatively unheard of, but after extensive research we had a firm belief that it would be a success story of the future, and thankfully we were right.

“Five years later our latest research document contains hard evidence backing up the fact that whilst the heavily developed Costas are floundering in turbulent times, Huelva is standing tall and still charting impressive gains.”

The main findings of the research are as follows:

Property

• Property prices in Huelva rose by 7.6% in 2007, the best growth performance on coastal Spain.
• Huelva remains the least built up of Spain’s coastal provinces with less than 13% of the coastline occupied by urban development.
• 63% of Huelva province is protected from build.
• Huelva accounted for less than 1% of new construction in 2007 yet accounts for more than 2% of the nation’s surface area.
• On price/m², beachside or golf-front property is 39% more expensive on the Costa del Sol and 48% more expensive on the Algarve

Tourism

• Tourism in Huelva increased by 74% between 2001 and 2006, versus 10.1% on the Costa del Sol.
• In 2003 there were just 300 hotel beds between Punta Umbria and El Rompido (a 15km stretch), in 2008, due to demand, there are now over 4,700

Golf

• Average price of a round of golf in Huelva is 50% cheaper than the Algarve or Costa del Sol.
• Planning permission exists for a further seven golf courses to be added to the current tally of ten

Accessibility

• Huelva is arguably the best connected Spanish Costa – under 60 minutes from Seville International Airport where passenger traffic has shot up 99% since 2003, even closer to Faro International Airport where no less than eight new routes from the UK were introduced in 2007 meaning all 26 UK International Airports now have regular flights into Faro, and a green light for Huelva International Airport which, at just 15 minutes’ drive, could be fully operational by 2010.

Beaches

• 15 beaches, eight earning Blue Flag status.

Mr Benitz concluded: "Marry these facts with Spain’s bigger picture of supply falling in line with demand, low household debt, high household wealth, low mortgage interest rates, burgeoning tourism, in particular golf-related, an influx of low-cost carriers and of course sublime weather and coastlines and Spain’s property market, Huelva in particular, should remain robust for the foreseeable future"