Buying Moroccan Property - Update

Six years ago Morocco launched a massive tourism and residential development programme 'Vision 2010' which had the ambitious goal of bringing 10 million visitors a year to Morocco by 2010 and build 250,000 hotel beds, including 180,000 located in or around the cities. So with two years left before 2010 we decided to check the scorecard.

The Economy.

Morocco’s economy has been doing well. HM King Mohammed VI is a dynamic monarch who has brought substantial reform to Morocco as well as national reconciliation. Unemployment fell in 2006 to 15.5% in towns (9.7% nationally), down from 18.4% in 2005 (11% nationally).

However national GDP is only expected to grow by 2.5% in 2007, according to the Finance Ministry, due to a poor harvest. This follows a spectacular economic performance in 2006, when GDP grew by 8%. Nevertheless indicators suggest an economy which is steaming ahead, with electricity consumption up 22.9% on the year to March, industrial equipment imports up 12.7%. This is combined with an inflation rate of a mere 2.7%.

In 2007, a study published by the Georgetown University-based Center for Strategic and International Studies called 'Arab Reform and Foreign Aid: Lessons from Morocco' concluded that Morocco provides a valuable lesson in political and economic reform. It showed that top-down reforms can be highly effective, if skilfully and determinedly carried out, and that aid donors should lean towards countries where evidence of such commitment is to be found.

Morocco received US$3 billion in foreign direct investments in 2007, mostly from the Gulf, according to reports in the leading newspaper Aujourdhui.



The Tourist Boom.

According to the National Tourism Observatory, 2.5 million people visited the country during the first five months of the year.( See our full stories here and here )

Figures cited by the Maghreb Arabe Presse showed that this is 11 per cent higher than the amount recorded a year earlier.

For a long time Morocco has been a magnet for the glitterati with people such as Mick Jagger, Princess Alexandra, David Bowie, Richard Branson, Alain Delon and Sting all purchasing homes, often around Marrakesh but now the move is to more romantic destinations - coastal villas or the Medina of Fez.

The coasts ( being developed under a scheme called ‘Plan Azur’) are a major destination for French tourists and increasingly for retirees. There is a whole associated infrastructure of guest houses, French-speaking newspapers and doctors, and an increasing number of French settlers. drawn by the historic charm lost in many other Arab countries, plus the warm, dry, healthy climate, and a beautiful landscape, with its markets and traditional architecture, its car-free medinas and palaces hiding breathtaking gardens.

According to the Vision 2010 plan there will be 1,300 weekly flights into Morocco, with 15,6 million passengers per year. Many large international hotel chains have already built developments, including Club Med, Liwa, Accor, and Sol Melia. Tourism almost invariably brings increased interest in buying in the country, and will likely have an enormous impact both on Morocco’s economy, and on property prices.

Six huge new tourist stations / residential developments in priority coastal resorts are at the heart of Plan Azur, including: Saidia (Oujda), Lixus (Larache), Mazagan (El Jadida), Mogador (Essaouira), Taghazout (Agadir) and Plage Blanche (Guelmim).

Saidia is being developed by Fadesa and will have 30,000 beds and three 18-hole golf courses, the first unit opened in 2007. Lixus is being shared between three developers and will have 12,000 beds, and two golf courses; the first unit opens in 2009. Mazagan is being developed by Resort Co, and it will have 3,700 beds, opening in 2009.

Mogador is being developed by three developers, will have 6,800 beds, and open in 2009
Taghazout is being developed by Taghazout resort and will have 18,000 beds, and open in 2009
Plage Blanche seems likely to be built by Fadesa, will have 19,500 beds and open in 2012.



Outside the mass market

The long Moroccan real estate boom, of course pre-dates the mass market, and concentrates on the ‘authentic’ Morocco, and above all on giving Westerners a stylish life in exotic, traditional surroundings..

At the core of this has been the craze for buying Riads. It is not unusual to see Riads – traditionally-shaped Moroccan houses, with grand salons giving onto a central tiled courtyard, with a garden at the centre - offered on the Internet for €500,000 or in the case of the most palatial, €1,000,000. Around 7,500-15,000 French residents live around Marrakech in these and other accommodations.

Will Morocco run out of Riads? Those in the know have been searching out property in Fes, but experience has shown this is not an undertaking for the faint hearted. For those with more money and less interested in the challenges of Fes, there are 50,000 Riads in Marrakech and only 1,000 are sold to foreigners. The coasts are also a major destination for French and other European tourists and those looking for a second home. After the boom caused by the French, “the English market is beginning,” says Charles El Fassy of the real estate agent Cabinet Charles El Fassy.

“We have had five years of French buyers. We thought: “Things cannot go on like this any more!” says El Fassy. “But they are going on. It is beginning all over again, with the British.” Prices have increased threefold in four years, he says.

Others claim the English interest has slowed down and the first signs are showing of an increase in American involvement in the market.

Morocco’s climate makes it a perfect destination all year round. It is possible to ski, fish and surf in Morocco, and mountain trekking is very popular.



The major centres of Morocco

The cultural and physical attractions of Morocco centre on its traditional cities - Marrakech, Fes, Meknes, Casablanca, and Essaouira - and on its one coastal resort, Agadir.

Marrakech is an extraordinarily exotic city, with its drama heightened by a location at the foot of the Atlas Mountains. It is expecting 3.5 million tourists by 2010. Marrakech has a complete tourism zone, Aguedal. A public transport system carries tourists from the district into the city centre for its souks and traditional markets selling copperware, wool merchandise, and carpets and kaftans. There are no less than 27 five-star hotels in Marrakech.

Fes is the jewel in the crown for those who want an authentic "Moroccan" lifestyle, but, as mentioned before, iy has its challenges. The more than 9000 alleyways can be daunting and the general feeling is of a more conservative city. Yet, for those wanting to purchase an ancient house, prices are far less of a problem than in the overcrowded market of Marrakech.

In Casablanca the French built a city in a French idiom, heavily influenced by the architecture of the Arab-Andalusian Empire. The city centre has a modernist grandeur, with plenty of space and light. Casabablanca is large, modern, and agreeable, with five golf courses less that an hour away.

Meknes was recognized as a World Heritage Site in 1996. Its physical location, on a plateau, made it Morocco’s trade crossroads. Its magnificent architecture was built by the 17th century Ruler, Sultan Moulay Ismail. Over 55 years he built palaces, mosques, gardens, and lakes. At his death the unfinished buildings including the royal palace - the Versailles of Morocco - which fills most of the old city.

Agadir is Morocco’s main seaside destination. Beautiful beaches, luxurious hotels, an ultra-modern airport are all combined with a moderate climate. Agadir’s beach is spectacular. Some 10 kilometres in length, it is clean and wide. Agadir enjoys a continuous breeze from the Atlantic, so that the temperature is pleasant all day.

Tangier has a louche reputation dating from the 1920s, when it was an outpost for British paederasts. Then in the 1950s, beats, dropouts and writers like Burroughs and Bowles, Ginsberg and Kerouac, Leary and Eldridge Cleaver came to Tangier. It is a messy, rather ugly city. Now its coastline is being covered with resorts and new developments.

Essaouira is popular with independent travelers. This is partly because of its long beach, and partly because of its laid-back atmosphere. Yhe town has long been magnet for Moroccan poets and creative talent. In the Place de L’Indépendence, which is the main square in the centre of Essaouira, there are dozens of cafés and restaurants. It is a pleasant place to eat, drink, and watch the world go by.

Some make the analogy with Turkey. Morocco appeals to European tourists, holiday-makers and retirees for much the same reasons as Turkey. Like Turkey, but arguably more so, Morocco has large qualities of well-preserved architectural history. It has charm, exoticism, and a historical built environment which elsewhere in the Arab world has been largely obliterated by modern buildings. And it has geographical variety, the Atlas mountains, and wonderful beaches.

It is difficult not to suspect that Morocco’s success in attracting both summering and settling Europeans will eventually outpace that of Turkey.



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