Mauritius has always been a South African favourite for realty investments and, especially for high-end buyers who spent more than 10 million rand on property purchase, the rewards in terms of capital growth have been considerable.
According to Board of Investment figures, average prices in integrated resort scheme developments have witnessed an increase of 30-40% since 2005 despite the fact that most of the world’s housing markets are still recovering from the credit crisis-induced property crash.
For Mauritius properties launched under the Integrated Resort Scheme (IRS), last year’s sales to South African buyers amounted to 21% of all integrated resort scheme homes, 32% to French investors, 14% to buyers from Britain and the rest from China, Australia and Russia.
The minimum allocated to foreigners for buying a freehold property from approved schemes is approximately R 5.5 million. Last year, Mauritius realised an average sales price of $ 1.2 million through the sale of eight approved resorts both completed or under construction.
Tamarina Golf Estate and Beach Club on the West Coast, Villas Valriche on the island’s relatively undeveloped South Coast near Bel Ombre, La Balise Marina at Black River on the West Coast, Anahita World Class Sanctuary on the East Coast, and Azuri in the north near Grand Baie are on the list of resorts that are either completed or under construction.
Le Parc de Mont Choisy was launched last year and the Board of Investments approved two additional schemes since then.
However, there are certain challenges that continue to plague the realty investment market in the island economy.
First, it is a long and difficult process to obtain the rights of rezoning and development in Mauritius, hence this comes in the way of getting schemes off the ground for developers. For instance, it was only after 30 months that final approval was obtained for Villas Valriche.
In addition, it is important that buyers are provided with a bank guarantee from the developers to certify that the unit will be completed as specified in the buying contract otherwise the buyers have the right to claim their money back.
Image (via Real Estate Mauritius): For Mauritius properties launched under the Integrated Resort Scheme (IRS), last year’s sales to South African buyers amounted to 21% of all integrated resort scheme homes.
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