Tunisian House Price Inflation

[Kris]

House prices seem to be the national opsession in the UK and I for one get the feeling that we are reaching the top of the market and apparently the US is having a house price crash.

From what I have seen prices for properties in Tunisia (especially the top end) have little to do with local wage levels and seem to be purchsed by Tunisians living abroad how are people seeing the market in Tunisia at the moment and is this market linked to France/Eu where ex pat Tunisians live?

Where do you think that prices will go in Tunisia this year and what places do you feel are the hot spots to look out for?

[aeroclub]

Hot spot is Hergla Corniche, a few miles north of Sousse. We've just bought a 2 bedroom luxury flat with fitted kitchen, marble floors, air cond and with fabulous views over the med for £38 000 approx. When the planned development of a brand new holiday center with hotels, marina etc is completed values will almost certainly double.

In the long term the government needs to make it easier for foreigners to buy. If they do prices will double again.

The best site to find properties is in French - www.bourseimmo.com.tn.

Good luck

[Kris]

Looking at apartments in Tunis again and some of the prices now are nuts.

Some 3 bed duplexes in Nasr (not out first choice area) are 350k dinars which is approx 150k pounds.

I do not know one person (aside from businessmen owning companies) who earn over 5k dinars a month even high executives earn about 4k per month in Tunisia.

I sold my house in the UK as it was cheaper to rent and I thought property prices where due to tumble (as they have done/doing and in spain). Could it be that some parts of Tunis are experiencing a speculative frenzy?

I could buy at these prices but does anyone think these are a little unsustainable given the number of new apartments in this area of Tunis?

For example a flat I rented in norwich was worth about 180-190k and rented for 700 a month.

for the flats in nasr @350k (dinars) you would get about 800 as for 1000 + you can get carthage or a house.

So Norwich 190000 house 700 rent less than 5% yield so better money in the bank (and why houses are falling in the UK.

Duplex in Nasr 350000 (150,000 GBP approx) 800 a month rent (350 a month gbp) which is about 3%

The wife is desperate to buy and we have the money but could we have a crash in Tunis property?

I appreciate everyones thoughts

[Sousseannika]

Hi Kris, from my point of view (researching by my editiorial buildingstuff in Tunisia) - and from gossips in Sousse - yes, the prices in some areas in Tunis has gone really nuts. "They" says it´s depends on the developments of the new areas there, that you´ve already had put here as news at the forum. "Desperate housewifes"..big smile..maybe you´ll consider to rent first whilst watching the market and later on, when you have established, maybe built your own house instead. Just thoughts..crash might happens in every market and area, no garanties. Maybe thetunisianhouse.co.uk can give you some good advice, they seems to know the market quiet well.

[ROULLA]

Hi Kris , Hi sousseannika,

Hope that you and your families are all in good health !
Yes i agree with Sousseannika i would prefer to have my house built from scratch that way i can draw the plans and also you can build at your own pace if money gets a bit tight,but if you have the money you need your planning permission which in my case to more than a year to come through, but with money anything can be built really quick, Rome was not built in a day..........Good luck...........Kris your daughter must be getting big now, so you need plenty of room for a garden with all the dolls and toy prams......

[Sousseannika]

..I forgot..another thought...at for example www.tunisie-annonce.com and choice Demands you´ll see what people actually are looking for to what prices..and vice versa, might be a good idea to compare areas..

[Kris]

I keep abreast of the prices I was mostly after the perspective of others if they feel that these prices are sustainable?

I read an interesting cartoon in la press magazine the other day with the two characters

do you believe in Aliens on planet earth?
Yes I do
Why?
They are here in Tunisia!
what do you mean?
They are the people buying apartments over 2000 dinars m2!
I never saw them but apparently they are here!

[Sousseannika]

Originally Posted by Kris

I keep abreast of the prices I was mostly after the perspective of others if they feel that these prices are sustainable?

I read an interesting cartoon in la press magazine the other day with the two characters

do you believe in Aliens on planet earth?
Yes I do
Why?
They are here in Tunisia!
what do you mean?
They are the people buying apartments over 2000 dinars m2!
I never saw them but apparently they are here!

..that was the, how to say.., the dot over i .

[Kris]

I totally understand in areas such as hammamet and la marsa as this is full of french tunisians and foriegners. Carthage also as this is the top of the heap.

But Nasr is all apartments away from the beach/no views.

Just airing my thoughts just seemed strange

[Sousseannika]

Hmm..without any knowledge of Nasr - you might just made the point here, the fact that it is nothing there..i.e its ordinary, far from beach, no views etc. Maybe that´s the reason why it has become attractive. Not comparing with UK nor Tunisia but here in Sweden also such areas suddenly, sometimes over a night, turns out to be "exclusive", people looking for the genuin stuff and find their hot spots by changing their minds, and the market follow up. Just my thoughts..