Property prices, Corona on Gran Canaria

Customers keep asking me if life on Gran Canaria has changed because of Corona, what the situation was like during the hard lockdown, what the current situation is on the island and of course how the property market has reacted to Covid-19 and the resulting political decisions.

I would like to start more or less chronologically. During the curfew, which lasted about 7 weeks, many people here were on the verge of a nervous breakdown. No one who has ever experienced such a situation can fully comprehend it. Losing your freedom and only being allowed to leave your house or flat for the most necessary shopping was an extreme challenge and an unprecedented experience. However, we have made it this far and hope that these measures will no longer be necessary. Many people lived from morning to night and for the entire period with three generations under one roof in more or less small flats. Nevertheless, one felt a great sense of cohesion, a high degree of discipline and solidarity here in Gran Canaria.

After the curfew was relaxed again, taking into account the 3 phases, and everyday life returned, the island fortunately began to revive. We were able to return to the workplace, go to the beach and meet up with friends while respecting the rules. A deep breath of relief among the locals and residents living here was not only noticeable, but omnipresent. To this day, we are still accompanied by a compulsory mask, but most people have learned to cope well with it. There are various situations where no mouth/nose protection is required. For example, when hiking in the mountains, when doing sports (if you do it alone), when lying on the beach or when eating and drinking in restaurants, bars or cafés. Actually, you should only take the "mask" off when eating and drinking and would have to put it on again and again in between. In practice, however, it looks different: in the restaurants and at the table, hardly anyone wears a mask and people hardly ever complain about it, but they do pay attention to the distances and point them out. I perceived the people to be very prudent in dealing with the hygiene rules (with exceptions).

Despite the renewed travel warning for the Canary Islands, many more tourists, wintering tourists and customers looking for real estate are visiting us again. It's not really surprising, the corona numbers are much lower here, because life on Gran Canaria essentially takes place outside, plus fantastic temperatures, lots of sun, endless sandy beaches, mountains and the Atlantic Ocean. In many countries there is already a hard lockdown, in Germany it is now in force as of today, many reasons to come to our beautiful Canary Island. Because it is less visited at the moment, many people have the opportunity to get to know the island from a completely different, fantastically beautiful side. Not only tour operators and hoteliers have reduced their prices, but also one or two landlords of properties for wintering. Between 10-20% are not uncommon at the moment. As we expect a boom in visitor numbers next winter (assuming the virus is significantly suppressed by the coming winter season) now would be a good time to drop in.

As for buying prices in Gran Canaria during or with Corona, there are no big surprises. Of course, from March to October the market was rather quiet, so that not many sales were to be expected. Some prospective buyers have hoped for sharply falling prices, but this hope has mostly not been fulfilled. At least not in the popular locations around Maspalomas. Of course there were price reductions here and there, but this was not unusual before Corona. There were even many sellers who took their properties off the market. After all, where to put the money after a sale? Financial experts tend to advise against parking large sums of money in a bank account. Instead, they recommend investing in the real estate market, where interest rates are extremely low. The stock market or other tangible assets such as precious metals or forest or land could also be an interesting alternative. However, this is up to everyone, as no one has a crystal ball to look into the future, there is always a small question mark at the end.

Also in the recent past I spoke with many owners, they usually wait until the worldwide Corona crisis eases. Most of them have no loans on their houses and flats in the south of Gran Canaria in the regions around Maspalomas, Playa del Inglés, San Agustín, Meloneras and so on. Of course, there are always exceptions and property owners with financial problems, but at least that is my experience and that is the only thing I report on in this blog. From my point of view, Gran Canaria will remain a very popular winter destination, where else should you go, as long as you don't want to sit on a plane for more than 4-5 hours, are hungry for sun, appreciate the sea, Spanish joie de vivre, European values and safety.

In the last few weeks, the number of customer enquiries has increased significantly and there is a lot to do again. Whether flats in Playa del Inglés for rent or for sale or bungalows in Maspalomas, San Agustín or the Sonnenland, the demand for Gran Canaria real estate is clearly on the rise again.  If you are interested in buying, selling or renting a flat or a house, please feel free to use our contact possibilities. Sun World Immobilien, your english-speaking real estate agency in Maspalomas on Gran Canaria.

With all the Corona back and forth you can see here some nice photos, I took them in the last 3 weeks...: