There has been many reports in the press & on TV about the high rate of crime in this area, especially against the British owners!

well that makes me feel right good now!!!
NOT!

Thanks for the reply.

Kev

Take a look at the forum for torrevieja,

most topics covered, including the crime.

torrevieja.co.uk/

Before buying spanish property it is worth taking a look at the articles and forum on spanishpropertyinsight.com

another article you may find interesting

http://www.female-focus.com/torrevieja_today.php

I think the best advice is to be absolutely clear on what you want out of your property and the area it's in.

As with most other places, for every person that loves Torrevieja, there'll be another who hates it. In the end it's down to personal choice.

I bought an apartment in Playa Flamenca about 6 months ago its about 10 mins from Torre I have found the area to be great with plenty to do and see.

If it is for rental purposes there are quite a few people trying to rent their properties.

Torrevieja makes Benidorm look like paradise.

Benidorm IS Paradise!!!!

so not too many positive things to be said here then?

Hmmmmm

Torrevieja had the reputation as Spain's crime capital. However, I did read that the crime fell by 40% in a year after UK ex-pats set up a neighbourhood watch scheme a couple of years ago but also read that some local politicians wanted it disbanded because it is "unconstitutional". How "constitutional" it is to be gassed unconscious in your bed by Romanian burglars I don't know!
Whatever the current crime rate, I'd be asking serious questions about whether this is a good time to buy Spanish property. The main reason for this is that Spain is not a cheap place to holiday any more, so potential renters of UK owned properties are going elsewhere. This causes a drop in rental income and can only lead to a situation where a lot of people who have bought at the present ridiculous prices, budgeting for a certain return, having to sell up. A glut of properties coming on to the market HAS to force prices back down to a more sensible level. I think a lot of people have made the mistake of comparing the holiday home price rises with the UK housing market and thinking they are on to a winner. Unfortunately there is one HUGE difference. We all NEED somewhere to live over here, we DON'T need a holiday home even if we'd like one!
If Easyjet and co. start flying to Turkey the situation will get even worse
(or better depending on your point of view) because property prices there are a third what they are on the Costa Blanca. Turkish property will boom and Spanish property will collapse (figuratively!), especially if Turkey get into the EU.

You've got a good point there Colin!

You can get a 1 bed apt in Lanzarote for 60k, the same as we're being asked for in the Torreivieja region!

Hmmmmm??

Kevin

It would take an awful lot of expats to patrol Torrevieja, its one massive concrete jungle.

As for your other point about buying, my mates just bought a 3 bed all en suite in Bulgaria for £45000. Thats another place that will take off soon.

Bulgaria it is then!

Where the hell is that then?

3 bed all in - fantastic

Kev

I suppose it comes down to how much spare money you've got and what kind of risk you're prepared to take with it. It doesn't take a financial whizzkid to see that the situation in countries like Turkey and the Balkans is sort of similar to that in Spain about ten years ago. The people who have seen the biggest rises in the value of their Spanish properties are the ones who took the biggest risk (with exchange rates) and bought before Spain switched to the Euro. To be honest the use of the word "collapse" in my previous post was probably a bit over the top. The prices are set more by supply and demand than anything else and at the end of the day there are an awful lot of older people who want to move to Spain and can sell overpriced property in the UK to finance the move, so the prices will probably just level off and at worst maybe slide down slowly. Then, who cares what it's worth when you leave it to the kids?

I hope that you are joking about buying in Bulgaria on the strength of a posting on a forum

Colin

Yes I was joking! however, it's La Mata we're looking at but I call it Torreivja (spelling!) but I thought Benidorm was concrete jungle so I guess nothing has really changed since I went there when I was a kid.

Amazing though, as I have posted the same question on Torreveja.co.uk and was bombarded by replies - have a look, it's in the general questions section.

Now if I was to beleive all that was said then the mix and match of opions on that forum is enough to drive you crazy with worry.

We aint got that much to spend, 65k tops for a 1 bed gaff where it's hot, ok for kids, 1st floor or 2nd floor and 2 hours away - hence we though Spain

Perhaps Centre Parks might be better?

LOL

Kev

Transferred from Costa Blanca and merged with duplicate ExPats/Owners Abroad discussion topic.

David

Thanks David

I'll read that in a min

Kev

......we also looked into buying at Torrevieja several years ago...all that "Atlas" and "Iberian" literature !.....the stylish villas with pool for only £50k!....sadly, the reality didn't live up to the hype, and so we looked elsewhere, for rental income and maximum sun.
However "cheap" Bulgaria and Turkey are - or appear to be - the shorter summer seasons than the Canaries or southern Spain is an important consideration if rental is important.

Why does it need to be Torrevieja? The whole of the Mar menor area is being developed and around the new Polaris World resorts the rental market will be good even in the winter months with golfers. There are hundreds of developments or re-sale bargains if you look beyond the Atlas and Masa stuff.

The canaries are fine but you cannot go for a long weekend, with flights into Murcia with Easyjet and Ryanair you can leave on a Friday and spend the weekend in the sun, Balkans again great in summer but who wants to go in the winter.

For 65k you will be looking at something probably inland a bit, but you should get what you want, who wants to be mugged by hooligans on hols when you get that for free at home!