Kyero – www.kyero.com
Prime Location – www.primelocation.com
Think Spain – www.thinkspain.com
RightMove – www.rightmove.co.uk
Canary Property – www.canaryproperty.com
Freedom4Sale – www.freedom4sale.com

If you are an Estate Agent selling in the Canary Islands then we could save you time by automatically updating your listings with any of the above property portals.

If you are a property portal, please feel free to get in touch to be included in auto updates.

Just a quick intro as I’ll be managing this blog from now on.

My name is Sam Kennedy. I moved to Tenerife from a chilly Scotland in September ’07 with my wife, Judith, and 2 daughters, Shannon(12) and Robyn(10).

I have recently been working closely with various property portals so that xml feeds can be exported in the correct format.

Feel free to contact me directly with any questions.

Sam.

Despite being an African country, Cape Verde has a culture, landscape and atmosphere quite unlike anything on the mainland. It’s also widely regarded as 2007’s most lucrative emerging markets.

Economic Boom
According to MacauHub, in 2006 Cape Verde’s economy grew by the highest rate in almost 10 years – 10.8%.

The Cape Verdean government had only expected a growth rate of between 6 and 7% so were pleasantly surprised. Tourism was of course largely responsible for this growth. Jose Maria Neves, Cape Verde’s prime minister calls it the “main engine” driving the economy.

With year round sunshine and a climate slightly hotter and more consistent than the Canary Islands, Cape Verde is a perfect beach holiday destination right throughout the year. It’s no wonder sun-starved Northern Europeans are keeping a keen eye on it.

The property market is booming – Investors and homebuyers are taking full advantage of the island’s excellent value for money properties.

Background
Cape Verde is an African country located off the west coast of Senegal. It consists of 10 main islands and about 8 islets.

This fascinating archipelago boasts some stark contrasts in landscape. It’s home to fierce volcanic landscapes, endless white sandy beaches, lush green forests and vast deserts.

In Cape Verde’s northern islands, Crioulo is the spoken dialect. In the south, they speak Krioulo. One of the recent issues facing the government is the amount of variations of these dialects that are spoken – sometimes up to nine within each individual island. Ever since their independence from Portugal in 1951, there’s been a call for one or possibly two standard languages.

For the moment though, visitors will hear a variation of colonial-era Portuguese with the occasional English or West African words thrown in.

Although Cape Verde is an African country, it’s distinctly different from any of the other countries on the mainland. Cape Verdeans have their own language(s), traditions and music (known as Morna). Most countries in Western Africa are a mixture of Islam and Animism. On Cape Verde, the majority are Catholic Mestizos.

Located so close to Europe, Cape Verdeans have a very broad-minded and European outlook on life.

Cape Verde is often called the “new Canary Islands” as they’re very similar in terms of both landscape and climate. And like the Canaries, there’s a vast degree of difference between each of the individual islands.

They’re also being called the new Canary Islands because agents and developers are selling them as the latest holiday hot spot and this year’s most lucrative investment location – which to a large extent, they are.

As of yet, Cape Verde remains untouched – a natural paradise with an easy way of life, low cost of living, high quality of life and some very affordable properties. Whether or not mass tourism and (perhaps) overdevelopment will happen here like in Spain is hard to say.

It’s hard to categorize Cape Verde. It’s a mixture of African, Brazilian and European yet at the same time it’s completely different from its neighbours. It’s a fascinating and at the same time bewildering country – staggering beautiful and full of exotic charm.

Property For Sale in Cape Verde
Prices are still very low, especially when compared to some of the more established tourist resorts like the Canary Islands, Spain and Portugal.

Here are a few examples of what you’re likely to find online…

Studio, Sal Island
Sale Type: Off Plan
Price: £ 47,894

Studio Apartment, Santa Maria Island
Type: Studio
Sale Type: Off Plan
Price: £ 45,449

Studio, Salinas Sand, Sal Island
Type: Apartment/Condo
Sale Type: Off Plan
Price: £ 46,413
Local price: Esc 7,557,243

Cape Verde’s Future
The hype is phenomenal. It’s been hailed as the “new Canaries”, “Barbados without the jet-lag” the “Caribbean on the cheap” and countless others.

Although mass tourism can bring with it various problems like overdevelopment and crime etc, most agree that the positive impact of tourism on Cape Verde will be largely beneficial.

Through tourism, this once impoverished third world country will see increased employment a better standard of living and should eventually become a much wealthier nation.

“Why would they want to come here? All we have is sun and beaches” one minister is said to have exclaimed when shown plans for a huge coastal development on Santiago.

It didn’t take long, however, to convince the government that this is exactly what sun-staved Europeans wanted – sun and beaches. Once convinced, the government opened their arms to foreign investors and began throwing money into the islands’ infrastructure and development.

Cape Verde offers something more than your traditional retirement destination, like say the Costa del Sol or the south of France. This is Africa – a land of adventure, mystery, intrigue and unmistakably charm.

Background (Cape Verde Islands)
Located in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Senegal (Africa) Cape Verde is an African country made up of 10 idyllic tropical islands. It’s just over one hour south of the Canary Islands.

The people living on Cape Verde are a mixture of African, Portuguese and Brazilian. Portuguese is the official language but many Cape Verdeans speak crioulo – a local dialect. Most of the people in Cape Verde are Catholic.

Initially it was the Italians who were first attracted to this windswept archipelago. Along with UK and Irish buy-to-let investors, they’ve played a significant part in boosting the country’s economy and infrastructure.

Cape Verde is the closest tropical paradise to Europe. It only takes five-and-a-half hours to fly here direct from the UK, whereas places like Barbados in the Caribbean will take at least 12 hours.

Last year, Astraeus Airlines commenced direct flights from Gatwick and Manchester to Cape Verde. They fly once a week.

Investing In Cape Verde
Initially, it was just big investors buying here – often buying in bulk, sometimes up to 10 apartments or more.

Nowadays, Cape Verde attracts a growing number of buyers looking for holiday homes – places they can use themselves for a couple of weeks in the winter and rent out the rest of the year. Unlike Spain and the Canary Islands, there are still not that many UK buyers looking to set up permanent residence in Cape Verde. Not yet…

A lot of the developments in Cape Verde are still under construction. There are only a few that are actually finished. Developers are confident that with a price increase of 18 per cent last year, buyers will be keen to get in quick.

Now is the best time to invest in Cape Verde. If not now, very soon. It’s still an emerging market with low prices, but as can be seen from the increase in property values, it won’t be cheap for much longer.

At the moment, the starting price for an apartment is as low as £30,000. You won’t find this on Tenerife! For a six-bedroom villa, with six bathrooms and a pool, expect to pay less than £350,000.

Why Cape Verde
Firstly it’s politically stable and relatively crime free. It’s also largely efficient and technologically advanced, with a very promising economic outlook.

One of Cape Verde’s biggest attractions for UK buyers and holidaymakers is its close proximity – a tropical paradise on your doorstep.

The climate too, a major factor. The weather on Cape Verde is similar to the Canaries, yet slightly hotter and more consistent. It has a perfect beach climate all throughout the year, making it ideal for sun-worshipers and buy-to-let investors.

Cape Verde is widely regarded as 2007’s most promising emerging market. Anyone who buys now will be getting in at the right time and should reap the benefits of the sharp increase in property values in years to come.

With all the money being pumped into the islands’ infrastructure and tourism industry, property price increases are almost guaranteed.