British expats, as well as German and Russian buyers, are helping Spain's property market out of the doldrums, with a lot of interest in luxury developments in Majorca.
Spain's property market is showing more green shoots of recovery, with the country's House Price Index reporting the smallest decline in prices since the end of 2010, according to the National Institute of Statistics.
House prices still fell overall - but Majorca bucks the trend, reporting property price rises of 4.8 per cent in the third quarter of last year, compared with the same period of 2012, according to the Spanish development ministry.
Known as Villa Colani, inspired by the legendary designer Luigi Colani and located on the island of Majorca (Balearics, Spain), this estate was finished in 2009. There's about 10,700-square-feet of living space that includes a spherical kitchen for which the appliances (even the spherical ones) were designed by Sheer and flown in from Italy. More than 1,230 square feet of 24-carat gold (the gold weighed 60 pounds and at the time cost more than $1 million) was used in the swimming pools and house. There are golden fixtures and crystal chandeliers. Specialists and security experts from Austria, Germany and Switzerland were brought in for the installations. And, of course, there is a safe room.
Everything in the house runs by remote control -- appliances, curtains, the closed circuit TV, and security systems.
It's a home full of gadgets, glitter and gizmos. But of the highest quality and expense. The estate is a series of circular structures, connected by terraces, water features and wrapped in a package where the exterior is bright orange. There's an eclectic mix of statues, blue marble columns with gilded plinths, genuine gold mosaic in the bath, and a pool that abuts directly to the exterior of the house.
The exacting renovation of the villa was followed closely by the media in Majorca and Germany. And the crowning media moment came when Colani himself visited to witness the installation of the Colani entrance door. He apparently was pleased.
The cost of buying property in the Canaries fell by 9.8 per cent while Balearic Islands prices grow up
According to recent data, demand for Real Estate in Spain's Balearic Islands is growing strong. Many people who choose to buy a property in Spain's Balearic Islands do so because of the aspirational nature of the archipelago.
Despite the Balearic Islands' appeal to overseas buyers, the value of homes in the archipelago - and on the Canary Islands - has fallen during the economic crisis that has hit Spain and other European nations.
The most recent figures published by Tinsa revealed the cost of buying a property in either the Canaries or Balearics fell by 9.8 per cent between March 2012 and the same month a year earlier. However, this is still below the average national decline of 11.5 per cent during the same period.
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