MOVE OVER MARRAKESH- Taroudant is the hot new property spot in Morocco

On a recent visit to Morocco to write about real estate, I nearly ended up buying a house! It was a lovely old-style village house, completely renovated, with 3 BR, living, dining, patio-garden and swimming-pool. Price EUR120,000 (approx. £95,000).

The property was on sale in Taroudant, a quiet Berber market town in the Souss, the long valley extending inland from the Atlantic coast to the Anti-Atlas mountains.

While the popular resort of Agadir is only 40 miles distant, Taroudant has never really caught on with tourists. Why? Largely because the town itself is dry. There is no nightlife, and while its ramparts are among the best preserved in Morocco, there are no big monuments to catch the eye. Tourists either visit on a day-trip, or rush through it en route to the Sahara.

Taroudant is how I remember Marrakesh sans touristes in the sixties. The pace is slow, people shop in traditional souqs, and in spring the entire town is bathed in a scent of orange blossom from surrounding orchards.

“Taroudant is a magic place. Only 3-4 places in the world have the same effect,” says Sibyl de Beaufort, one of the first to buy and convert a house. In fact she bought two houses. The second was demolished to provide a swimming pool for Dar-el-Hana, her lovely riad tucked away in a corner of the medina.

Unlike Marrakesh whose medina numbers nearly 1000 foreign-owned riads, properties for sale in Taroudant are located in outlying douar (villages) whose owners are moving into modern flats. Rather like farmers do in rural France.

Leading local agent Immobiliere Taroudant has 300 such places on the market priced from from EUR42,000 (£37,000). Clearly they require renovation, but labour is cheap. A skilled artisan costs only £12 a day. A handyman less. And everything from tiles to taps (and alcohol!) is available in Agadir.

Until now buyers are mainly middle age, middle class French looking at retirement. Or as an investment.

The first five years are tax exempt after which tax is levied on the annual rental value. If sold within five years, capital gains tax is charged at 20% of profit and while values have slipped 20-30% in Marrakesh, 15% + is guaranteed in Taroudant. I heard of one man who bought a village house for EUR 15,000, did nothing to it, and sold it 8 months later for more than double this price.

One of the most ambitious projects was tackled by Marc Caburet, a former pastissier from Lausanne, who has transformed 4 acres of land into Dar Zitoune, a superb rural-style riad whose 12 de-luxe bungalows stand in gardens of fragrant plants, fruit and olive trees.

The bone-dry climate of the Souss is ideal for gardeners and arthritis sufferers will feel in heaven on earth. My advice is to leave your glucosamine behind and take advantage of current bargains. A select group of property owners includes Farah Diba, former Imperial Empress of Iran, who owns several houses in Taroudant and surroundings.

www.dar-el-hana.com

www.darzitoune.com

http://www.immo-taroudant.com/

DAR ANEBAR: AN EXOTIC HOME AWAY FROM HOME IN ANCIENT FEZ

A riad is a traditional house located in the medina - the old residential and commercial heart of ancient towns in Morocco.

A typical riad is a three or four storey building whose thick stone walls enclose a central courtyard open to the sky. Smaller riads may only be the width of the height of a date-palm whose trunks were used as beams. Others owned by prosperous old merchant families have carved cedar ceilings and walls adorned with elaborate plaster-work and zellige tiles. To ensure a family`s privacy there are only tiny exterior windows, but a roof terrace catches cooling breezes and provides a panorama of the skyline.

Many old riads abandoned when their owners left either to seek work or to upgrade to a modern villa, have been bought by foreign investors who have transformed them into luxurious Maison d`Hotes, a trend started by American architect, Bill Willis in the 1960s when he transformed a run-down riad in Marrakesh into an exotic town-house.

More than 500 riads -mainly in Marrakesh, Fez and the lovely coastal resort of Essaouira have now been restored by foreigners using local artisans and drawing on the abundance of crafts sewn, hammered and tapped out in the souqs.

On many trips to Morocco over the years I`ve stayed in a variety of accommodation ranging from the famous Mamounia in Marrakesh to the simple Pension Mauritania in Tangier - even a crumbling funduq once used by wool merchants visiting Fez.

On a recent visit to Fez to collect material for my new book, I stayed at the Dar Anebar, a true "Arabian Nights" style riad which has been returned to it`s former glory by Moroccan businessman Ahmed Azami .

"It was my grandfather's riad and my dream was to restore it, not just for our family use, but so visitors might experience Fassi hospitality in traditional surroundings," said Ahmed as we sipped mint tea in the calm oasis courtyard.

"Tourists can stay here from EU90 a night. If we are not fully booked, we upgrade at no extra cost. I want people to feel it is their home. They can even go into the kitchen and watch Naima making Berber bread."

Fez is considered the culinary heart of Morocco and Naima's cooking lives up to this reputation. I dined on regal dishes such as bstilla made from flaky pastry stuffed with quail, and lemony tasting tajines using chicken and olives, and lamb cous-cous smothered in toasted almonds. A wine list featured the best of Moroccan wines: even Flag beer for any Australian visitors!

Dar Anebar's five large bedrooms with king-size beds overlook the courtyard. A personal touch is a flagon of argan oil, a nutritive emollient sold in Fez for over a thousand years and recently declared a 'miracle oil' by French cosmetic firms.

"We wound our way through the medina and walked into a world of wonder and warmth," one of hundreds of comment in the Guest-Book, resonated with me after a fall on one of my daily walks through the centuries old souqs.

Down I went among cages of hens, boxes of sardines and baskets of snails as everyone from the butcher, the baker and the candlestick-maker rushed to my aid. Back at Dar Anebar bandages were produced, my shirt was spirited away and washed, and a glass of freshly pressed orange juice was brought to my room.

When I offered to pay, I was waved away and Ahmed himself drove to me to the CTM station to catch my bus to Tangier.

Further information: http://www.daranebar.com

See comments : www.tripadvisor.com

For travel arrangements in Morocco: http://www.olivebranchtours.com

Images from: www.copix.co.uk