TURKEY may once have been renowned as an exotic land of epic splendour, home
to Ancient Troy and cradle of the Byzantine and Ottoman empires, but its
21st-century reputation has suffered from the emergence of cheap holiday
resorts modelled on the worst excesses of the Costa del Sol. Throw in a few
problems with the Kurds, and a border with Iraq, and property investors have
too often looked elsewhere. But beyond the headlines and package-deal
brochures there is another, attractive side to Turkey that will appeal as
much to those seeking a luxurious holiday retreat as to the shrewd investor.
More than 25 million tourists will visit Turkey this year, a number which the
country’s London embassy expects to double within a few years. Tattooed
Brits flock to the concrete fleshpots of Bodrum and Marmaris, while Germans
and Russians head further east to Antalya. Yet much of the rest of the
Aegean Turquoise Coast is still stunning: snow-capped, pine-forested
mountains slope down to white sandy bays, while the sun beats down from
April to November.
Wealthy Turks from Istanbul and Brits in the know turn off the coast road
(which ends in Syria after two and a half days’ drive) at the small coastal
town of Kalkan, an upmarket resort 75 minutes’ drive from Dalaman airport
with a marina and traditional restaurants. Kemer, a smart Istanbul
developer, is about to build 158 top-notch properties and a high-spec
“community” of shops, restaurants, gym and spa, all of it hemmed in by iron
security, on a 40-acre hillside plot overlooking an idyllic bay. The company
is already known for bringing affluent suburban living to Istanbul with
Kemer Country, a new village of enormous villas just outside the city, now
home to much of Istanbul’s elite. Houses bought here for £200,000 in the
mid-Nineties are now worth well over £2 million.
Kemer, acting with the British property investment company Bridgehouse
International, hopes to replicate the same exclusivity and luxury at La
Vanta, its Kalkan development. Traditional Turkish-style homes in phase one,
which will be completed in May 2008, range from one-bed penthouse flats of
55 sq m (592 sq ft) and costing £69,000, to 1,000 sq m detached villas, with
five bedrooms, private pool and staff quarters, for £325,000. These are
reasonable prices in a town where individual villas can cost up to £2
million. In the hope of attracting British investors, Esat Edin, Kemer’s
managing director, says: “While it’s easy to build mass-market developments,
we’re charging mass-market prices for high quality, privacy and good
architecture and infrastructure.”
Four Britons who have fallen for La Vanta’s expected charms are Carole-Ann and
Paul Wright and their neighbours, Bob and Christine Bailey, who have clubbed
together to buy a two-bedroom townhouse (meaning a large duplex apartment)
for £115,000. The Baileys were initially reluctant to look farther east than
Italy. “Turkey hadn’t been on my agenda,” Bob admits, “but Paul persuaded me
to have a look and we were impressed by the location and the build quality —
and I’m a surveyor.”
If you are looking for a well-built, secure, luxury, gated development with
traditional architecture, views of the Med and a private sports club on your
doorstep, as opposed to an individual one-off villa, La Vanta is the pick of
the bunch in Kalkan. Other options are available farther west, nearer to the
tourist hubs. Select Property (www.selectproperty.com) is building Horizon
Sky, 670 luxurious two-bed townhouses near Gulluk, by Bodrum airport. The
architecture is starkly modern and the area more developed, but it is
cheaper, at £63,865, than La Vanta’s two-bed townhouses at £115,000 (even
when you factor in the La Vanta properties’ greater size). Another developer
that locals recommend is Nicholas Homes (www. nicholas-homes.com).
So what kind of money can you make on a Turkish villa? Yaman Iyikan, of the
independent property investment consultants proper-tyrepublic.co.uk,
estimates that prices in the coastal tourist regions are rising 18 to 35 per
cent year on year, and that this will continue for another two to three
years. “There may be a bit of steadying of prices, but it’s still an
excellent time to buy: it’s much cheaper than other countries on the
Mediterranean, and it offers a lot more than the Balkans in terms of
climate, infrastructure and the exotic element.”
The advantage of Kalkan in particular, Iyikan points out, is that geography
and government restrictions render any further development impossible, so
supply is unlikely to outstrip demand. Buyers therefore have a better chance
of realising their profits than those at other resorts, where the market is
becoming saturated with cheap apartment blocks. If finding a picturesque
place in the sun is higher up your priority list than capital appreciation,
Kalkan also works well. Near by are good dive sites, the towering Saklikent
limestone gorge, and even skiing at Seki in the White Mountains. History
abounds at the sites of the ruined ancient cities of Tlos and Patara, which
also has 11 miles of white sandy beach where loggerhead turtles nest. Best
of all, it’s too far from the package-deal resorts for a day trip, so you’ll
have it all to yourself. www.bridgehouseinternational.com or telephone
020-7478 9253
FACTFILE
La Vanta
GB Airways flies direct to Dalaman four times a week from Gatwick.
17,443 Britons own a property in Turkey, up from 2,964 in July 2003.
Most new developments offer staged payments, but watch out for Turkish VAT,
which, at 18 per cent, is payable on properties larger than 150 sq m (1,615
sq ft).
Mortgages have been introduced only recently; cash-buying is the norm.
