Are things getting better or Not ??

[EMM]

Like us have regular visitors to CVO seen what appears to be a modest increase in building activity ?
The little holiday development on the Rampas ( heart attack hill ) has been extensively refurbished and expanded.
In the same area there is a huge new villa with another one under construction on the road to the tennis club.
We were told of 3 new villas very high spec villas being built on the eastern outskirts.
Could it be that those with cash are taking advantage of the current economic situation ?
CVO seems to have weathered the downturn better than some areas lets hope it continues.

[DaveK]

Where is this refurbishment? The activity near the bottom of the hill is private and any works opposite Colina Branca are also private. These properties,apart from one, are not generally used for holiday lettings. A couple have been sold in the past year or so and are being renovated with a view to resale. A bit further up there is a new property with a super pool as you look down just before the Solferias. Our neighbough is a German builder and he has many contracts now for renovations and new builds so hopefully things are looking up.

[EMM]

Half way down the rampas is small stone clad devlopment that has undergone substantial refurbishment and expansion.

[ditzy]

EMM I think I heard Vila Vita was involved in that but could be wrong!

[charliegill11]

The property is owned by Vila Vita and has been occupied by their owners for some time and they are doing a considerable amount of remodeling. They aappear to have diverted the river bed in order to extend their garden and also provide further grounds around the indoor pool? which has been built. We did hear a rumour that it was going to be used as a conference centre in the future. They are also buying several of the properties which are adjoining their boundaries.

[EMM]

Over the years we have seen groups being arriving and leaving throughout the summer. They even seem to have had a chef in residence
They are the same company that bought a privately owned part of the beach at Armacao da pera which has had public access for as long as anyone can remember.

[widge]

I think that the short answer to your question is No !

Portugal is in dire economic difficulties and the Troika seem adamant that austerity measures must be expanded to cut public spending further. The Portuguese government is weak & the people, unsurprisingly, are not keen on yet more cuts to their standard of living. The Algarve has it's own "micro economy" driven by tourism & foreign property ownership but this will not "excuse" the region from Portugal's economic woes. I think it will take between ten & twenty years to recover & part of the recovery process may involve Portugal (& others) leaving the Eurozone and defaulting on their spiralling debts!

[steve]

If you read the independent financial press it is clear that Portugal is heading rapidly down the toilet. The country’s debt has just blown through the upper limits set by the EU-IMF troika, reaching 127.2pc of GDP in the first quarter of 2013. This is 15 percentage points higher than a year ago. People here have suffered year after year of cuts only to find themselves sinking deeper into a debt swamp. Portugal is now viewed as practically on a par with Greece. Are things getting better? Unfortunately not is the answer.

[EMM]

No one would disagree with the bigger picture but my post was more locally based. The apparent increase in local building activity . There is a large development underway on the norh side of the 125 towards Porches.
I know of agents who are selling up to 4 properties/month something they have not done in years.
Albeit these are at the lower end of the price range.
Maybe there is a bit of an Algarve effect.

[R.Wethereyet]

There is a new 'Up market' estate agency opening on the out road in the next few weeks.

Fine & Country advertise themselves as a global estate agency involved in the sale and rental of luxury residential properties, so maybe they think that there is an improving market to expand into.

[Jaylay]

No one would disagree with the bigger picture but my post was more locally based. The apparent increase in local building activity . There is a large development underway on the north side of the 125 towards Porches.

I think that is a church,when one looks carefully at the construction.

Also another being built in the old windmill by Areias de Moinhos in Carvoeiro. ( German finance so I believe )

Not being religious personally, but know there is never a recession when it comes to building new churches what ever the religion is that is behind them.

[joeysoap]

We were out in April, very large hoardings near Mirachoro advertising 4/5 luxury villas. Look really top spec. Don't know if they have commenced yet.

We (nearly) always walk the cliffs during our visits, approaching Tivoli along the cliffs there is a pretty substantial development commenced. Judging by the number of 'walls' built to carry the electricity/water metres I would say at least 50 properties going to be developed there. Was at foundation level in April.

Directly facing us 'over' the rooftops of the in and out roads 2 large new villas have been completed in the past year (On the road down from Solferias but not on Licy's road)

[sunman]

in a lot of cases this is forced building; once you are given planning permission there is a time window in which you have to build, once the time is up the permission is rescinded so they have to get on with it whether sold or not.

[ditzy]

There's an article about this in Inside magazine (page 34)

http://www.calameo.com/read/000027942be4992b2d33c

[EMM]

Sunman , you do not lose planning permission , you just have to reapply, which would be a much cheaper option than building on spec in todays market.
This may have been the case a few years ago when projects would not have met current rules.