Up until the turn of Millennium, Morocco's Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines were largely ignored by tourists and property buyers alike. An assassination attempt on the late King Hassan II in the north of Morocco during the early stages of his reign led to the region falling out of favour with the former King. While money was poured into improving inland tourist destinations such as Fez and Marrakesh, the country's northern coastal areas were almost totally neglected, offering the area very little with which to attract tourists.
However, when King Mohammed VI came to power after the death of his father in 1999, it soon became clear that the country's new ruler had very different views on the coastal areas, recognising the region's strategic location as being central to the country's development.

In 2001, the King launched his 'Vision 2010'  tourist development programme, designed to make the country one of the world's premier tourist destinations by the end of this decade. In order to make this dream a reality he has pledged over £2.2 billion to improve infrastructure and facilities in the country, with much of this money being used to upgrade Morocco's coastal resorts - property developments also being viewed as an essential component in raising foreign investment.

And as far as the Mediterranean coast goes, seven years after Vision 2010's launch the investment seems to be working.

"The Mediterranean property market in Morocco has boomed in recent years, fuelled by massive improvements in new roads and motorways and an increasing number of flights," says Steve Burns, the marketing manager of Compass Properties. "The country offers incredible value with beachfront properties costing around one third of similar units located just a few miles across the Med in southern Spain. Increasing numbers of tourists will ensure that rental prospects and capital growth remain strong."

Separated from the southern tip of Spain by just eight miles of the Strait of Gibraltar at its shortest point, it's fair to say that many of the British property investors who are paying attention to Morocco's Med coast are those who have been priced out of the Spanish market. Offering a similar climate to that of Southern Spain it would be easy to assume that the two countries share much in common, but this is not really the case.

With no direct low-cost flights yet servicing the Moroccan coast from the UK - although this could change soon, the country does have an open skies agreement which allows any EU-based airlines access to the country - I reached Morocco by flying into Malaga airport in Spain and then taking a short ferry ride from Tarifa into Tangiers. During the 90-minute drive between Malaga and Tarifa you can start to get a real feel of just how developed some areas of the Spanish coast are. High-rise buildings abound, and billboards advertising new and existing Spanish property developments and resorts are dotted throughout the route.

In Morocco, however, the coastline at present could not be more different, with vast stretches of it yet to be built upon, allowing visitors to take in just how lush and green Morocco's coast is. Although this is certain to change over the coming years, as more property developments, hotels and various other tourist attractions start to be built, there are restrictions in place which limit the size of any development taking place to, generally, three-storeys right on Morocco's coast and four-story just off it.

The low price of property in Morocco is, of course, the main factor in attracting increasing numbers of people towards the country at present, but prices have already been starting to rise over the past 18 months or so, and according to Burns this is very good news for investors who have entered the market early.

"Early bird investors are sitting on handsome profits at each of Compass's developments," he explains. "At Mirador Golf (pictured), which has just been completed, one-bedroom apart-hotel units released off plan for £19,000 are now re-selling for £27,000. A similar unit at our newly released Cabo Dream development is priced at £22,716 and these are selling fast. Investors at Playa Vista - our marina development - have fared even better. Two-bedroom apartments released in the first phase sold for £40,000, and these are currently priced at £70,000."
Of course, Morocco's Med coast has a long way to go before it will truly rival southern Spain in terms of property purchasing interest, and as an emerging market, can be viewed as a bigger gamble to buying a home across the Strait of Gibraltar. Nevertheless, this is an exciting time to be considering a property purchase in this North African nation.

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Morocco attracts British property buyers
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For more information visit:
www.compasspropertiesabroad.com