Post-Covid, luxury propery buyers are looking around the world for the perfect spot to buy a large, luxury villa with multipe bedrooms, a pool, and sea view. With their year-round climate and easy access to Europe, the Canary Islands are getting more attention.
However, the Canary Islands have a serious lack of ultra-luxury property with current supply apparently at only 30% of the demand, according to this report in the local press. Most of the available properties are in south Tenerife, along with the space to develop more.
The luxury Gran Canaria property market
In Gran Canaria there are very few ultra-luxury properties. This is largely due to a lack of space for such large developments. The island’s tourist resort areas were developed with a mass-tourism mentality so few large individual properties were built. There are exceptions to this of course. Monte León in the hills behind Maspalomas has several dozens luxury villas set on large plots. There are also large villas tucked away along the coast at San Agustín and even in Playa del Inglés, and some large houses inland and on the east coast. Maybe there are one hundred and fifty houses on Gran Canaria that would qualify as ultra-luxury and they rarely come onto the open market.
In Las Palmas de Gran Canaria city there are some gorgeous houses (maybe 20 in total) in the Garden City and up the hill at Altavista. Along with a handful of penthouse apartments that’s about it for the ultra-luxury market.
To be honest, I’m not sure that this is a bad thing. Gran Canaria is a large island but it has a large population and its charm isn’t to be found in spledid isolation behind a high wall. There are no gated luxury communities here where you can tuck yourself away and live separate from real life. No villas with private beaches, or exclusive superyacht marinas. There really isn’t much space left where you could put ultra-luxury villas, especially near the coast.
In fact, there really is no way of avoiding the fact that you are living in Gran Canaria when you are, in fact, living in Gran Canaria.
Gran Canaria: The island’s energy make it a grreat place to live
It’s is a real place with real character: Too alive, too much fun, to ever just be the lump of land your deluxe villa happens to sit on. To live happily here, you first have to choose the island, then look for the right property. We all want the private rooftop terrace, the sea view and extra bedroom but most people have to compromise somewhere.
The people that I help to buy luxury property in Gran Canaria understand this. They want to live in a real place and feel connected to local life and the local economy. Gran Canaria attracts remote workers, company owners and retirees that get their energy from the bustle of their surroundings, rather than from the lack of it.
In summary Gran Canaria, and its capital city Las Palmas, is more a place for extroverts than introverts. Hpowever, what you lose in terms of absolute privacy you get back from the island’s generous level of energy.
I’m Laura Leyshon, a specialist Las Palmas estate agent with ten years of experience in the market. I specialise in Las Palmas penthouses and beachfront apartments. If you’ve decided that Gran Canaria is the place for you to buy a property, I’d love to be there to take you through the process.
Contact Laura
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