If you're looking for a cool second home, Iceland might be the place for you, says Liz Rowlinson in the Daily Mail. Not only is Iceland, and its capital Reykjavik in particular, increasingly fashionable as a holiday and party destination, but British buyers are beginning to snap up holiday homes there too. And for good reason: given the recent fall in Iceland's currency (the krona) relative to the pound, properties there are excellent value.
Houses near Reykjavik's main shopping street start at around £135,000 and larger family homes come in at around £210,000. A one-bedroom, new-build luxury apartment will cost around £200,000. Reykjavik agent Akkurat (00 354 594 5000) has an elegant 100 square metre, three-bedroom flat with a large balcony and views for £194,000 in the fashionable 101 area. Valholl (00 354 588 4477) has an eight-bedroom house in the east of Reykjavik, which was built in the 1970s and is in need of renovation, for £354,000. And Hofdi (00 354 533 6050) has a one-bedroom apartment on offer for £43,400, also in the 101 area. Try getting that kind of space for that kind of money anywhere else in Europe.
Iceland may not stay cheap for long, says Sonia Purnell in The Sunday Telegraph. There are already a thousand British passport holders living in the Reykjavik area, out of a total population of only 180,000. And estate agents are reporting a run on characterful properties, which sell fast. This is partly due to flights getting cheaper. A few years ago return airfares cost £400-£800; today they are £150-£180.
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Iceland is also a great place to have a holiday home, says The Banker. It might not have much to offer in the way of year-round sunbathing, but temperatures hover around 15 degrees in summer and winters are milder than you'd expect, due to the Gulf stream. The country also has a unique landscape with vast swathes of barren, churned-up lava, glaciers and sparsely populated farmland, says Liz Rowlinson. So if you like hiking, outdoor spas, riding, whale-watching, or 24-hour golf in the summer, it could be for you. Or if you're after a hedonistic nightlife, fuelled by the 24-hour summer daylight, Reykjavik is for you. Singer Damon Albarn of pop band Blur owns a bar and a house in Iceland, and he is regularly seen around town, as is singer Bjork. And if you're after a quieter life, at least you'll be warm: hot water is pumped from a volcanic source 30 miles outside the city straight into Reykjavik's radiators, which makes heating there very cheap.
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In Iceland, the process of buying a house is simpler than it is in Britain. The 93 Icelandic estate agents work for buyers as well as sellers, says Christopher Middleton in The Daily Telegraph, which means that you can expect much more active help during the searching and finding phase. Some agents will also inspect potential properties for you in advance, a service that costs between between £250 and £400, and saves you having to view unsuitable places. They will also "hold your hand throughout the whole process, explaining unfamiliar parts of the system". You can, for example, hold back 10% of your purchase price for six months of occupancy, in case any hitherto undisclosed defects emerge. Better still, you can currently borrow to buy from the Icelandic government's housing loan department at a mere 5.1%. That can't be bad.
