Cape Verde Property

A recent article by Robert Nurden (The Telegraph) looks at this year’s most attractive emerging market – the Cape Verde Islands.

“Why would they want to come here? All we have is sun and beaches.”

Apparently, the government believed that their tiny windswept archipelago had no appeal whatsoever to Europeans. No time was spared in convincing the ministry of development that the sun and sea was exactly what northern European’s wanted. Now the government is throwing its weight behind the schemes and welcoming European investors with open arms.

Retirement represents a chance for a new beginning – a chance to spend your golden years living life to the fullest. Traditionally, UK retirees opt to set up bars and restaurants in places like the Costa de Sol or open up guesthouses in France. Nowadays more and more people are heading further a field and choosing something considerably more challenging – in this case, Africa.

Background
Cape Verde is an African country; an archipelago of 10 inhabited islands, located 400 miles off the west coast Senegal. Frequently described as the “New Canary Islands”, Cape Verde has seen phenomenal growth within the past few years. The people living here are a dynamic mixture of African, Portuguese and Brazilian.

British developers are increasingly targeting UK and Irish buy-to-let investors, who along with the Italians have had a massive impact on the country’s property market.

Cape Verde is Europe’s closest tropical paradise. The pace of development increased dramatically last year when Astraeus Airline, started its direct flights from Gatwick and Manchester. They fly once a week and duration time is just five-and-a-half hours (direct).

Investing In Cape Verde
“Most buyers are interested in a holiday home to use themselves for a couple of weeks in the winter and rent out the rest of the time. But we don’t get many people wanting to live here permanently as they do in southern Spain.”, says Paul McMullen, of escapes2.com, from Manchester.

Initially, people were buying solely for investment reasons – often buying in bulk 10 apartments at a time but things have clearly changed.

There’s only really a handful of developments that are actually finished. Most are still being built. There’s no shortage of buyers and with a price increase of 18 per cent last year, they’re eager to get in quick.

Prices are still low. Apartments start off at as little as £30,000 – a lot cheaper than on Tenerife. For a six-bedroom villa with six bathrooms and a pool you’ll pay less than £350,000.

Most of the buyers and investors are from the UK and Ireland and tend to be more adventurous than investors in the Canaries.

There is a fear amongst some people that Cape Verde will soon become like their more touristy neighbours to the north – the Canaries. The scale of development is so great that it seems inevitable. It’s true, they are becoming busier but there’s nothing yet to compare with the larger tourist complexes in the Canary Islands.

Why Cape Verde
Cape Verde has been described as “Barbados without the jetlag”. This is one of the islands’ biggest attractions – its close proximity.

Cape Verde has a slightly better climate than the Canaries – it’s a few degrees hotter and a lot more consistent – making year-round rentals an attractive option for investors.

Another major advantage is that Cape Verde is still an emerging market. Buyers are getting in from the start and will therefore reap all the benefits from the sharp increase in property values. As the local infrastructure improves, these increases are literally guaranteed.

Cape Verde is politically stable and relatively crime free. It’s also largely efficient and technologically advanced.

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