Property abroad: Corfu, a Greek treasure
There’s little sign of the market slowing in Corfu. Steady property prices make this Greek island an appealing retreat for British buyers.
Corfu is not hard to fall in love with. Gerald Durrell found it especially easy and went on to capture the romance for countless readers in his celebrated book My Family And Other Animals.
‘The magic of the island settled over us as gently and as clingingly as pollen. Each day had a tranquillity, a timelessness about it so that you wished it would never end,’ he wrote.
It is precisely this magic that attracts so many people to holiday and live here. And the British seem to fit in perfectly - from Joanna Lumley to Nat Rothschild. There’s even an annual House of Lords cricket match on the island.
Piers Williams, of Ionian International, which also represents Aylesford estate agents, says the island retains its appeal for British buyers with prices staying steady.
‘The season stops at the end of October, so Corfu probably hasn’t really felt the downturn,’ says Williams. ‘But a quiet summer may have a knock-on effect this year.’ Though the south has succumbed to package fever, the local authorities in the north ensure it isn’t overexploited, and insist on a minimum of a one-acre plot for a single house.
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