Feel good factor

THE Frank Knight property report which said that Majorca was the second best place to live in the world has given the island a vital lift at a time when the property market is starting to recover. I am told that there has been added interest in Majorca from across the globe and the report has put the island back on the map. It has also given Majorca a feel-good-factor. Over the last four years property prices have fallen by almost 20 percent, even higher in some cases. This state of affairs, coupled with the fact that the island has a first rate airport, a large number of international schools and a low crime rate has made the island an extremely attractive proposition for would-be home buyers from abroad.  The top end of the market is said to be booming with multi-million euro homes being snapped up at quite a rate. The British and the Germans are still the top buyers and despite the poor rate of exchange between the pound and the euro, British buyers are returning. So there is reason to be optimistic. The Spanish economy has finally emerged from recession and there does appear to be light at the end of the tunnel for the local economy. But one estate agent did tell me yesterday that the local authorities need to avoid at all costs any more stupid taxation, such as the matriculation tax, which hit the nautical industry hard. Majorca is a fantastic place which sells itself. But sometimes the world needs to be told just how good it is. Thankfully, this  report has done just that.