Alghero Estates and our client Michael Ballance feature in this months special feature on purchasing Sardinia property. You can read the full article in this months Italia Magazine written by Fleur Kinson.

Michael has now purchased three properties in Sardinia and has been a long term client and friend with the team at Alghero Estates. The Italia magazine article gives an excellent insight into why he choose to buy in Sardinia and his experience as an Alghero Estates client.

Alghero Estates are featured in the August 2008 edition of Italia Magazine as a recommended contact for Sardinia property services.

You can read this interesting article on purchasing property on the coastline of Italy which is featured in the Houses in costal regions feature on page 24.

This weeks headlines in the National press have echoed the concerns of Italy’s main government that the Sardinian island of Maddalena will not be ready to host the G8 Summit in July 2009 due to the lack of infrastructure and tight schedule before the commencement of the summit. The race is now on to find an alternative to Maddalena and Alghero’s Mayor believes his City has everything needed and a good track record.

The following is a translated extract of the letter recently sent by Alghero Mayor Marco Tedde to President Silvio Berlusconi.

ALGHERO - Mr. President, we are following very closely the events concerning the organisation and hosting of the G8 on the Sardinian island of Maddalena and the difficulties ahead to reach the completion goal of July 2009 .

While sincerely wishing the island of Maddalena to be able to conclude the projected works on schedule, and with sincere hope that the summit could take place on the small island. The latest news headlines report that Fiuggi and Cernobbio have submitted alternative proposals.

I believe that Alghero is a serious alternative candidate to Maddalena. As I had the opportunity to riferirLe and she was able to see personally that Alghero has all the necessary requirements.

Our civil airport along with the military airport is just a distance of 5 minutes by car from town and our port is practically inside the ancient city. We have almost a secular traditions as a tourist town, with adequate hotel facilities both in terms of capacity and quality.

Our culture of acceptance and services are that of a city definitely up to tackle a task of this prestigious nature with of pristine coastline and crystal clear sea and white sand beaches which border the city.

Moreover, these requirements have been tested and were certified fit following the Italy-Algeria Summit held in Alghero last year, which resulted in the organization team receiving personal praise from the President of Algeria. This positive success has also prompted Minister Frattini and the structure of the foreign ministry to enter my city among those very few parliamentarians to host the events of the G8.

It is not of secondary importance that our candidacy would ensure Sardinia not to miss this unique international showcase and prevent substantial financial resources from going elsewhere rather than investment into the implementation of the necessary works in Alghero.

President, it would be wonderful if you would visit us in the coming days to further assess Alghero more carefully to consider the potential of this city as a real alternative to host the G8 in July 2009.

Findings from a national property survey carried out by technocasa shows despite a general drop in Italian house prices (as much as -4.5% in the Campania region). Sardinian property prices have actual risen by an average of +2.2% over the past year. The survey suggests properties with the highest demand are apartments with large balcony and sea view, which are predominately purchased as second homes.

Alghero Estates are pleased to announce the launch of the iPhone version of our popular blog.

Our new blog system automatically detects iPhone visitors and formats the blog in an iPhone friendly format.

The new services includes a search facility and fives you the option to post comments.

Try it out just visit our blog with your iPhone.

Sogeal the administrative team of Alghero Airport announced last week that a total of 130,918 passengers passed through the airport in the month May. An increase of 18% for the same period over 2007. Ryanair traffic increased 33% (70,509 passengers) as well as a large increase in traffic from mainland Italy up over 26%.

The most interesting part of the latest statistics however is how the traffic comparisons with the other two airports on the island (Olbia in the East and Cagliari in the South).

Olbia Airport is the larger airport on the island however the month of May was a turning point where Alghero traffic exceeded Olbia for the first time by over 20,000 passengers. The increase of passenger on the West Coast of the island confirms the trend which has been apparent for the past few years and reconfirms the Alghero area as one of the most popular destinations in Sardinia.

It is expected that the growth will continue throughout the summer season. However a general warning has been issued by Ryanair, that it will be grounding 10% of it’s fleet throughout the Winter season due to soaring oil prices. No official announcements have yet been made with regards to how this may effect routes to Alghero.

Alghero Estates were featured in last weeks Irish Mail on Sunday newspaper. The article written by journalist and BBC RTE TV presenter Liz O’Kane detailed her visit to island a few weeks earlier to review the Sardinian property market. The following is an extract of the article.

The town of Alghero is where the lovable Mr. O’Leary (Ryanair) will deposit you and the best thing is that it’s literally 10 minutes from the airport. Alghero historically is a Catalan town having been conquered by the Spanish several centuries ago and the language is still spoken by many. The stunning old town is cobbled and fortified with the water lapping up against its walls and the large marina with impressive boats to ogle is minutes walk. It’s a buzz of activity year round with the Italians always looking glorious no matter what they put on. Lots of smart strolling, good coffee and excellent inexpensive restaurants are within the walls and if you eat outside the walls it’s cheaper again.

Property in the old town of Alghero and surrounding environs of up to 10 kilometres are not cheap. One can only presume that’s it’s the easy access, proximity to the airport and limited supply of property for sale that keeps prices high. But as a growing and thriving tourist town, prices are on the up. Overseas investors are coming and younger locals are being priced out of the market.

I met with Maria and Stephen who run Alghero Estates. ‘We are valuing property here in turn-key condition from between €3,000 - €4,000 per square metre’ she tells me and anything in need of repair or cosmetic attention at about €2,000 per square metre’, she says. ‘Most potential investors coming here are looking for holiday homes and want to be close to the old town and the airport’.

Maria and Stephen took me to a development called Monte Carru only five minutes drive from Alghero. It’s a smart complex of villas and villettas. These properties will suit anyone looking for a resort lifestyle, holiday home investors and locals. By all accounts it seems that many professional locals have invested and intend on living here as do Maria and Stephen.

The Monte Carru site is elevated with almost every property having views of the Bay of Alghero and the amazing headland at Capo Caccia. They are traditional in style using lots of stone and granite but very high tech inside with high gloss kitchens, under floor heating and high-speed broadband. In total there will be 260 homes in a 70 acre area to be built in eight phases over the next five years. By the time Monte Carru is completed there will be a five star hotel on site, spa, tennis courts, retail outlets and restaurants. Two bedrooms start from €379k with use of communal pool. Three bedroom villas of 100 square metres start at €519k, and there are options on large four bedroom villas with private pool.

In the old town a beautiful attico apartment with three bedrooms, large terrace and sea views is asking €580k and in Porto Conte, very close to the beach there seems to be good value in a five bedroom town house asking €370k. ‘Are these prices negotiable?’ I ask Maria ‘Of course’, she replies, ‘Isn’t everything in life negotiable’?

Published By: Irish Mail on Sunday | 8th June 2008

Alghero Estates are pleased to announce a joint partnership with the number one Italian coffee brand Gaggia. This exciting collaboration allows Gaggia UK’s registered customers fantastic discounts on rental accommodation for short breaks in Alghero.

Alghero Estates Managing Director Maria Grazia Vendone comments “We are thrilled to have been approached by Gaggia for inclusion in there registered user benefits program. The Gaggia brand is known throughout the world as the number one in Italian coffee machines. Partnerships with global brands like Gaggia helps maintain Alghero Estates as the leader in our market”.

Full details can be found on Gaggia’s website.

We’re on our way back to the Alghero sunshine after a successful exhibition at the La Dolce Vita show in London. Over 20,000 visitors attended the show over the weekend and we would like to thank all of our clients who came to visit us and look forward to seeing all of you in Sardinia soon.

Alghero Estates are exhibiting at the La Dolce Vita show at the Olympia in London between Friday 13th March and Sunday 16th. Why not come and see us and we can show you the best real estate in Sardinia.

Our stand is located at P66 in the property section adjacent to the main walkway.

We look forward to seeing you there.