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Getting to know the
Turkish Riviera
The Aegean and Mediterranean
coastlines of Turkey are now well and truly on the British property
buyer’s map, so Paul Beasley took time to review the ‘Turkish Riviera’.
With the recent rush to
develop property, you'd be forgiven for thinking that a sunny climate,
soft sand, cheap property and relative proximity to the UK was all a
destination needed to secure membership of the overseas property hotspot
club. So why, despite having all of these qualities in spades, has
Turkey had to overcome a slow start to its property popularity?
For one thing, Turkey is a bridge between Europe and
Asia, and its Islamic culture might have made British property investors
hesitant to cross over into another culture. Furthermore, the southern
Turkish coast is difficult to get to on the cheap. But that's all about
to change with the first Easyjet flight to Istanbul on 1st August, which
is expected to herald low-cost air access to the coastal resorts, too.
And with EU membership looking more certain within the next ten years,
and investment therefore appearing less risky in the eyes of prospective
buyers, Turkey is now hotting up as a property spot. In fact, in the
past three years the number of Brits buying property on Turkey's
southern coastline has grown from hundreds to thousands. These owners
have discovered that it's not offputtingly Eastern, but more like the
established resorts on the Med – just with minarets thrown in for good
measure.
Last year 1.8 million Brits visited the country; in
total, Turkey welcomed 21.1 million visitors. Turkey, though, isn't
resting on its laurels: the government has set a target of generating 15
per cent of its Gross Domestic Product from tourism by 2016; last year
it was 5 per cent. In order to achieve this, the Turkish government is
thinking ahead, as Robert Nixon of Nirvana International explains: "The
infrastructure in the Riviera is already in place, miles before property
is being built. This shows how seriously the Turkish government takes
tourism."
The bulk of this infrastructure is concentrated on a
stretch of the Turkish coast that runs for several hundred kilometres
from the resorts of the central Aegean to the Mediterranean resort of
Alanya, collectively known as the 'Turkish Riviera'. Here, although the
summer temperatures can be relied upon to touch or even exceed 30°C and
winter temperatures rarely drop below 15°C, both the colour of the sea
and the quality of the resorts vary considerably. While the sea laps
ashore in a whole paint chart of blues, from cobalt to azure and
especially turquoise, the resorts run the full spectrum, from the good
to the bad and the downright ugly.
So which ones are which? Here's my pick of some of
the better resorts, starting on the central Aegean coast.
The central and southern Aegean coast was the
birthplace of foreign tourism in Turkey, with visitors drawn to its
attractive combination of pine-green forests marching down to quiet
coves washed by turquoise waters and its civilised smattering of Ancient
Greek archaeological sites.
Cesme, the westernmost town in Turkey, has clocked
up a century of tourism, and is just a pebbles throw from Hios in
Greece. This proximity to Greece has certainly had an influence on the
town, which is built around two streets of old Greek houses, but
evidence of other influences is abundant – such as Ottoman-era fountains
and a Genoese castle. For Brits looking to buy property, Cesme's value
is as a low-key resort, so it would suit those who would like to have a
reasonable number of resort facilities without feeling that they are
contributing to the overdevelopment of the Aegean coast, which is the
case along many of the Aegean's better sandy nooks and crannies.
Although Cesme's beaches are not in this classic category, the coves at
Altinkum ('Golden Sand' in Turkish), nine kilometres south of the town,
are both attractive and relatively free of big buildings. One property
currently available is a three-bedroom semi-detached duplex villa a few
minutes from Cesme's town beaches. The property is on the market through
Holiday Homes in Turkey for approximately £61,000.
In contrast, the other Altinkum – 100 kilometres
directly south-east of Cesme and 50 kilometres south of the bustling
resort of Kusadasi – has a considerably wider choice of property, 3,000
of which are already owned by Brits. The main attraction is a kilometre
of golden sand abutting a calm sea, and although in the high season it's
standing room only the resort has by no means reached its final form.
For example, Nadir Nuritidinov of ASEM Construction explains that the
company is "involved in 12 different projects in Altinkum, with more to
come". The company particularly values the resort because it is "very
attractive as it has the cheapest land prices keeping the cost for a
property to a minimum, although the prices are constantly increasing".
According to Nuritidinov, one of ASEM Construction's most popular
developments in Altinkum is Sunrise Apartments, which are near to the
town centre and beach. Here, a completed two-bedroom apartment with a
view of the swimming pool is available for £41,382.
Another of the Aegean coast's most popular resorts
is Bodrum, an attractive low-rise resort where the magenta hues of the
bougainvillea contrast with the whitewashed walls. Yet the resort, which
has its own international airport, is not just for wallflowers. In fact,
it is renowned for its pounding nightlife. Nonetheless, Bodrum has
managed the difficult task of developing but not destroying its appeal
through strict building regulation, although the peninsula on which it
is located has suffered as a result and is, in part, a vast sprawl of
villas. Still, there's plenty of property to choose from, and if you
hunt hard you'll be pleasantly surprised by what you find.
ASEM Construction is currently marketing the Rose
Garden apartments in Bodrum-Gulluk, where a new marina is being built.
Nuritidinov explains that the properties are "60 metres from the sea, 15
minutes from Bodrum airport by car, and 20 minutes from proposed new
golf course". The price for two-bedroom apartments is around £62,532.
For those who are taken with Bodrum but would,
however, like relative tranquillity, the village of Gumusluk on the
western edge of the peninsula is worth considering. Featuring a shingly
beach, a small fishing harbour and great seafood, Gumusluk is too close
to an ancient site to expand exponentially. Nonetheless, new-builds are
appearing around the village, like the three-bedroom, two-storey villa
in a community complex 50 metres from the sea priced at approximately
£65,000 (95,000 euros) and available from Avatar International.
Across the Gulf of Gokova from Bodrum, and past the
giant yachting-orientated resort of Marmaris, lies Turkey's
Mediterranean coast. The stretch from Ekincik in the west to the
doorstep of Antalya in the east is known as the 'Turquoise Coast', where
inviting waters lap against fine beaches divided by the rocky fingers of
pine-clad mountain ranges. This twisting coastline harbours more than
just human residents. The low-rise resort of Dalyan, where traditional
Turkish architecture prevails, is near to a protected beach where
loggerhead turtles nest, as is the inland resort of Gelemis near Patara
beach some 100 kilometres further to the east.
Roughly halfway between the two resorts, sandwiched
between mountains and sea, sits Fethiye. Although modern architecture
now dominates the town, Fethiye's Turkish character, attractive
location, sweeping sea views and easy UK access via Dalaman airport make
it one of the favourite destinations with Brits in all of Turkey. It
also helps that Oludeniz, a quite sensational curve of white sand set in
a blue-green lagoon, is just a few kilometres away. Offering a full
range of property, Fethiye has homes within reach of those with £50,000
to spend, while a villa with a swimming pool will set you back about
three times this amount.
Between Fethiye and Antalya, the Turquoise Coast is
dotted with attractive resorts such as Kalkan with its old stone
buildings and wooden balconies, and Kas, snug against mountains and
spread along a beach that curves like a cutlass. The stretch of coast
that runs from Antalya, a sprawling yet pleasant city of some 500,000
people, 500 kilometres to the border with Syria is less developed than
the Turquoise Coast, although Side is drowning in a dense sea of
developments. But the advantage of this stretch of the coast, as
explained by Nixon, is that "there are year-round flights into Antalya,
whereas Bodrum and Dalaman are effectively shut down in winter". Nirvana
International is currently marketing Augustus Village, which is 35
minutes from Antalya International Airport. Nearby is the resort of
Belek, where six golf courses snake between pine forests and run
alongside beaches of fine white sand. Unsurprisingly, this is Turkey's
golfing capital. "We decided to build in a traditional style, with
timber frames, terracotta tiles on the roofs and mod cons like air
conditioning tucked away out of sight," Nixon adds. Prices at the
development start from £52,000 for a one-bedroom apartment, while a
detached three-bedroom villa will set you back £130,000.
Seventy kilometres further east is Alanya, a
year-round resort wrapped around a citadel perched on a rocky outcrop.
From here, and indeed, from many vantage points in town, Alanya offers
great views over its so-so beaches and the coast beyond. However, with
better beaches further east, property experts are predicting that
property interest will soon hot up there. When you consider that there
is indeed much more coastline for property developers to play with, the
imminent arrival of Easyjet, the launch of a mortgage product by Nirvana
International in September and EU membership waiting in the wings,
Turkey's property market has much more mileage in it. Moreover, these
factors should help sustain annual double-digit percentage increases of
Turkey's property prices for several years to come. All this means that,
soon, there will be more Riviera to review.
http://www.worldofproperty.co.uk/country_regions-154.htm |
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