With more than £75 million worth of new private developments in the pipeline – almost all intended for the upper rungs of the housing ladder – and a further £100 million of luxury accommodation either recently finished or close to completion, for how much longer can Gibraltar’s property market continue to expand? None of the local developers to whom B2B has spoken puts a finite figure to either saturation point of demand or the stage of expansion where new developments are no longer profitable or economically viable; but all expect the boom to continue for the foreseeable future.

At the other end of the scale, lower-priced, “affordable” housing remains scarce – in spite of Government promises to develop and promote many more low-cost homes. Prices for “moderate” homes have more than doubled in the past five years, prompting developer Gavin Sharrock of Sharrock Shand to wonder “just what do we mean when we refer to ‘affordable’ today?”

In fact the rising prices and the scarcity of lower-cost properties continue to encourage the Rock’s first time purchasers – and some expatriates – to buy homes in the compact town-house estates which are mushrooming in areas such as Santa Margarita across the border. Though Spanish coastal property prices also continue their upward spirals, these are nowhere near as steep as those in Gibraltar. And – bad news for the Rock’s retailers – those who have established homes in Spain tend to do their shopping there too.

What’s more – in spite of Chief Minister Peter Caruana’s assertion that the Government’s new housing projects were intended to attract the return of Gibraltarians from residence in Spain to the Rock, when the new projects were advertised less than 30 of the applications were from people wishing to return to the Rock.

Developer Greg Butcher has included “a few” lower-cost apartments in his plans for the second phase of the Ocean Village development which will take the over all cost of the project close to £100 million. The apartment blocks will provide a total of about 150 new homes and some of these are promised to fall within the “affordable” price range. However, given the continuing upward spiral in the price of homes, “affordable” could well put the costs of cheaper flats in the 90-apartment Grand Ocean Plaza and the 60-apartment Majestic Ocean Plaza at £200,000 or more.

Butcher’s plans for two more apartment blocks includes a shopping mall – a complex which he claims will create somewhere in the vicinity of 500 new jobs.

None of the 20 apartments in the Taylor Woodrow Rock Gardens development, where a “roof-wetting” or “topping-out” ceremony was held at the end of February, was priced at less than £300,000 while the top-of-the-range homes were sold for slightly under £1 million. All have been bought.

And the demand for luxury homes shows no sign of abating. David Evans of Elegant Homes – the developers of The Island project at Queensway Quay – told B2B the company have already sold 28 of the 40 new two-and three-bed luxury apartments they are building in a £28 million project which stems from the demand partly created by would-be buyers who failed to obtain a home on The Island. Like Sharrock and Butcher, Evans sees no end of the boom for the foreseeable future.

Sharrock Shand – whose successful development of the historic Town Range complex has enhanced the Rock’s architectural heritage – has launched a £12 million luxury development on the Lathbury Barracks site. It will offer 20 apartments and two penthouses at prices which range from £300,000 for a single-bedroom home on one of the lower of six floors to close to £1 million for a penthouse flat. The largest apartments have a floor space of 170 sq.m. and a further 60 sq.m. of balcony.

“There is no sign of a let up in demand and – even before we actively started to market the new development Clifftop House, we had a string of enquiries from would-be buyers,” Sharrock said.

To be built on the site of the old Junior Ranks’ Club at the old Lathbury Barracks, each of the 20 luxury apartments and two penthouses will be allotted garage space for two cars in the sub-basement parking area and there will also be storage rooms in the basement of the six-storey block.

“The unique position of the site, with its panoramic and commanding views of Africa and Spain have clearly sparked considerable interest,” he added. “Residents will also enjoy the use of a ‘rock basin’ swimming pool with stunning views and an ‘infinity edge’ …where the water appears to flow permanently into space.”

Sharrock Shand acquired the former MoD property by public tender for an undisclosed sum a year ago, and obtained final planning permission recently. Work has already begun on preparing the site and demolition of the old double-storey Junior Ranks’ Club will begin soon. The project is expected to be completed and ready for the first occupants to move in by the middle of next year.

All of the main facades of the apartments in the Elegant Homes “Sails” project near Queensway Quay are south facing and tiered to the west to provide maximum terrace space. Terraces range from a minimum of 30 sq.m. to a substantial 100 sq.m., Evans tells me. Prices range from £580,000 to £825,000.