A 12 acre property in the heart of Ibiza
$4.65 MILLION (4.6 MILLION EUROS)
This six bedroom cottage sits on more than 12 wooded acres on a dirt road in the center of Ibiza, one of Spain’s Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea.
The original house, built in traditional Spanish estate style, probably dates back several hundred years, said Florian Fischer, managing partner of Engel & Völkers Ibiza, which owns the property. The thick stone walls help keep the house warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
The current owners, a family from Ibiza, gradually renovated the property over a decade and added a swimming pool and guest accommodation. The wooden ceiling beams were restored to the original style using Sabina, a prized local hardwood that is now under protection on the island and must be imported from the mainland for use in construction, Fischer said.
The house has a gated driveway with a large gravelled parking area and gardens. The main entrance leads onto a covered patio and opens to a dining room with a tiled floor. An arch frames an adjoining living room with a fireplace and exposed stone walls.
The kitchen has another dining area, a wood-burning oven for bread and pizza built into a wall and doors to the terrace.
Up a short flight of stairs there are three bedrooms, all with tiled floors, traditional windows with wooden shutters and en-suite bathrooms. One has a covered terrace.
A guest suite connected to the main house but with its own entrance has a fourth bedroom and bathroom. A guest house across the driveway also has a covered terrace and two further bedrooms with bathrooms. The heated pool, off the front terrace, is surrounded by a large stone patio.
Fischer said the property comes with an official tourist rental license, which authorizes the owners to offer it for short-term rentals. This is especially valuable considering that the Balearic government this year instituted a four-year ban on the issuance of new rental licenses. The property sells in high season for up to 1,800 euros per night, he said.
The house is approximately halfway between the small town of San Rafael, known for its ceramic workshops and its proximity to the famous Amnesia nightclub, and Santa Gertrudis, a popular location thanks to its wide selection of restaurants, bars and shops. Ibiza airport is about 15 minutes away by car.
Market overview
The Balearic Islands archipelago, which includes the islands of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera, was Spain’s most visited province last year, attracting around 6.3 million international visitors, according to a Market report by Engel & Völkers. In Ibiza, those visitors are increasingly rich.
The island, about 90 miles east of Valencia and the eastern coast of Spain, has long attracted artists, musicians and celebrities; British pop singer Dua Lipa caused a sensation celebrating his 27th birthday there last month. The coronavirus pandemic and the ability to work remotely have resulted in an influx of even more wealth, which has kept prices rising. In 2021, private aircraft traffic at Ibiza airport increased by almost 27 percent compared to the previous year, according to the Engel & Völkers report.
“It is very safe to say that prices have increased on average by around 10 percent and sales figures have increased by around 20 percent compared to 2021,” says Anna Böttcher, Product and Marketing Director at Prestige properties Ibiza.
The most popular sales today range between 3 and 5 million euros, and sales between 10 and 12 million euros are not uncommon, said Jorge Calvo, sales and acquisitions manager at Estela Exclusive Homes, an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate. (The euro, which has fallen to its lowest level in years, currently exchanges at roughly the same rate as the US dollar.)
Ibiza’s southern coast, especially San José and the clifftop town of Es Cubells, are famous for their “luxury, glitz and glamour,” said Charlie Hill, co-owner of Charles Marlow, a boutique real estate firm that specializes in properties over 7 million euros.
“The north is traditionally more rural and wild, a little more low-key,” Hill said, although he added that the recent opening of the Six Senses luxury resort there, near Xarraca Bay, has expanded the map for luxury travelers.
Less wealthy buyers can still find a small apartment for as little as 350,000 euros in the ancient fortified town of Dalt Vila, near Ibiza Town, Fischer said, while a house with a pool anywhere on the island costs about 1 .5 million euros.
“We have a greater demand for rural properties in the center and north of the island since the pandemic,” he said. “People are looking for big houses where the family can gather for vacations.”
Sustainability, one of the motivations for the ban on new rental licenses, is increasingly a priority for the Balearic government. In Ibiza, the Ibiza Preservation Fund works on a number of issues, including eliminating the use of plastic, supporting local food producers and promoting marine conservation.
Who buys in Ibiza
Germans accounted for the majority of buyers in Ibiza last year, closely followed by Spanish buyers, according to Fischer. Beyond that, “every year there are between 15 and 20 nationalities of buyers,” he said. “They are mainly European, but there are more and more Americans. “I have never heard so many Americans on the island as this year.”
Buyers with business ties to London have long been common, but there are more and more connections to New York, Hill said: “Almost every week I come into contact with someone from New York or with ties there.”
Purchasing Basics
Foreign buyers from outside the European Union must obtain a military permit for Balearic properties in rural areas. That process can take a long time, one to three months, Fischer said. Buyers who are not Spanish citizens will also need to obtain a foreigner’s identity number, or NIE.
Typically, a lawyer handles the sale; The fee is about 1 percent of the purchase price.
The agent’s commission, which is paid by the seller, is usually 5 percent, Böttcher said. Mortgages are available to foreign buyers, who must have a property appraised to obtain the loan.
Websites
Languages and currency
Catalan, Spanish; euro (1 euro = 1.01 dollars)
Taxes and fees
The transfer tax on resale properties is on a sliding scale, based on the sales price. The tax starts at 8 percent for the first 400,000 euros and rises to 11 percent for any amount over 1 million euros.
If the property is new, the buyer pays 10 per cent value added tax and 1.5 per cent stamp duty.
The annual property taxes on this house amount to 1,900 euros, Fischer said.
Contact
Nathalie Conzen, Engel & Völkers Ibiza, 011-34-971-311-336; engelvoelkers.com
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