Quote:
Originally Posted by chagour
food is realycheap, petrolis cheap and the bills are cheap aswell
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yes, I know a lot of the people who live only off the cheapest things ... and somehow, in the end they turn out that way as well.
With just 1000 TND, you cannot even live remotely similar to European countries like Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland etc.
Yes, you can live well, very well even when you are alone and do not live peculiar fancy, but as soon as you got married and have children, if you have a car and want to go into holidays at least once a year, it becomes rough. And yes, there are many tunisians who master this task, but, honestly, you cannot compare then their living standard to what the Europeans are used to, who have the money to buy or rent a house in Tunisia - those are not exactly the ones who live on basics. :-)
Me, for example, calculated a fair living with 2 people and with some fanciness (car, holidays, insurances) at 1600 TND/year - and that was 2 years ago, today it is probably rather near 2000 TND with the latest raises in prices of energy, food and transport.
And - let's face it: If I wanted to live as inexpensive as possible, I would not pick Tunisia, there are countries with the same sun and the same beaches, but much less expensive...
Tunisia is a country with a huge gap between the majority of poor (according to European standards) and the few very rich (likewise) and in between you have the full and half-time resident Europeans. Some rent their house, some buy it. Many of the ones who buy their house are loosing money, when they live in a Euro-country, since the Dinar looses each year 4-5% against the Euro and the interest rates are currently around 5+% - and by far not all the houses, ot even the majority of them, gain more than 10% each year and for multiple years to come in value. And what will happen if something happens in Tunisia? Nobody can be so blue-eyed to believe that the development in Tunisia will continue like it did in the last 5 or 10 years.
The economic situation is darkening, Ben Ali will not reign for another 10 years and the tourist that show up lateley are not really the creme de la creme.
There are no developing investments (research and teaching), only money investments taken in Tunisia, which will help just for a few years and even many of the production companies (textiles, cables, etc.) just stay there until their tax exemption runs out and then hand the facilities over to the next company. Tunisia has hardly any resources and has to heavily import energy and food, both of which will become more and more expensive and put an additional strain on the etat (with all the subsidies on that).
So - there is not only one, but there are many uncertainties even for the very next years already, and many people will think twice before putting earnings of a quarter or half a life into real estates there.
Renting is, on the other hand, a good idea when you come from an Euro country, because your money becomes worth more and more each year (at least it did without exeption in the past 10+ years). If something happens, you just pack your suitcase and enter the airplane - and that's it.
However, renting has a catch - and this catch is called the Algerian and the Libyan tourists, who are known to pay in the summer months every price asked. As a result, in the two summer months, the monthly renting price becomes the weekly renting price and many tenants even rent their house ONLY for these two months (some living themselves then even with relatives, when their rent their own flat for like 4000 TND in the 8 weeks, a lot of money for them, but from an investors point of view, calculated over 12 months, not a very good ROI, just about medium in the area of 5-10%, considering what you can earn on the riskless money market).
For the plans of the new tourist centres - we will have to see them become reality. If things continue like they are now, it looks good, but makes no real difference - Hergla will gain what Mahdia is loosing and altogether they will not gain wonders at all, because the average spending of a tourist in Tunisia is currently in the area of 200$, while in Egypt it is 600$ and in Maroc well over 1000$. So, to fill up all the new apartments and hotels with money-bringing tourists, they need to attract a different clientele, and I don't see that, not up to this very day, going to happen.
And if things continue like they are - well, in the recent years, it was almost impossible, to get an apartment close to the beach in July or August, even when paying double the double price. THIS year, however, it is not a big problem and this shows that even the peak demand has met the offer. With no prospective masses of tourists to come very soon, but with 1000s of apartments being finished in the next 2 years alone, one can do the maths himself.
MAYBE in the long run, 10-20 years, an investment now will be justified, BUT the uncertainties over such a long time wieght more heavy, and, like I said, there are other countries that offer a more foreign-investor friendly environment and still lower prices.