Year-round sun from £180k: Tenerife holiday home sales up 100 per cent

Britons represent almost half of Tenerife's international home buyers. Offering good-value homes, Michelin-starred restaurants, golf courses and year-round sun just four hours from London it's easy to see why...
Favourite with British buyers: in addition to golf, 400-acre Abama resort has a spa, beach clubhouse and 10 restaurants
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Cathy Hawker20 May 2016

Spain has been the go-to favourite for decades with Britons seeking a holiday home and guaranteed good weather. It has had its economic troubles but its fortunes are improving. The country has benefited from the turmoil elsewhere in the world — not least in Greece, Turkey and Egypt — with tourism up by more than four per cent last year, according to its national statistics office.

About five million tourists chose the Spanish island of Tenerife last year, the largest of the rugged Canary Islands where year-round temperatures hover appealingly between 20C and 30C. Cooler in summer and warmer in winter than mainland Spain, the islands are only four hours from London.

These visitors also liked Tenerife’s modern infrastructure, good range of hotels and restaurants and ever-improving flight access, all of which makes the Atlantic island an easy family choice. Admittedly, there has been some sniffy press regarding over-building and ugly architecture. But there are traditional Spanish towns in the north of the island, past the snow-capped peak of Teide, Tenerife’s magnificent volcano, to the beaches packed with colourful kite surfers in the south.

Prime Tenerife: a café at the “Cliffs of the Giants” in Costa Adeje, where Engel & Volkers has apartments from £181,700
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GOLF AND MICHELIN STARS IN THE SMART SOUTH-WEST

Britons represent almost half of international home buyers on Tenerife. The median property price of £162,500 has risen 23 per cent in the past year, according to property portal Kyero. There were strong sales last year at Abama, an established 400-acre golf, spa and leisure resort 30 minutes from Reina Sofia international airport. It includes a five-star Ritz-Carlton Hotel, and both beach and golf clubhouses. There are 10 restaurants, two of them with Michelin stars, and excellent sports facilities.

Abama’s position on the south-west coast is a winner. It is within easy touch of the smart villas clustered on Costa Adeje and 25 minutes from the bright lights of Playa de las Americas. The grounds stretch down from the entrance to the beach with palm trees, flowers and an attractive golf course, and there are wide views inland to Mount Teide and across the sea to La Gomera and El Hierro islands.

Residential sales at Abama started three years ago with buyers typically either young families or older couples spending extended periods at the resort, says Maria Moreno of Abama Luxury Residences. Freehold property includes one- to three-bedroom flats priced from £308,500 for 861sq ft, custom villa plots from £225,500 and three- and four-bedroom modern villas from £1 million.

Apartment prices include all furniture and fittings, parking and a storage room, plus access to the owners clubhouse and restaurant, a smart new addition to the resort. All 66 flats in the first two phases are sold and there are 32 units in Phase Three. Annual maintenance charges start from £4,000.

From under £790,000: Las Casas del Lago luxury modern villas on terraced plots with sea views, two or three bedrooms, pools and private gardens at Abama resort

“Last year our sales increased 100 per cent,” adds Moreno. “Tenerife is more than sea and sun. The government has worked hard to improve the infrastructure on the island, building upmarket hotels. We have buyers from the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia and across Europe.”

Engel & Volkers has flats in upmarket Costa Adeje, a prime location on Tenerife, from £181,700. A one-bedroom duplex penthouse with sea views is £434,500 and a four-bedroom house with pool and garden, five minutes from the beach and the shops, is £628,000.