Property in Majorca: Coast to coast buyer's guide

You'll love it so much you may never want to leave… Graham Norwood offers the complete guide to how and where to buy in the Med's most beautiful destination

There is something unashamedly romantic about Britons who buy homes on Majorca.

So serene: the house in Santa Ponsa which Jane and Barry Krite bought as a summer home

In these property-savvy days, people usually weigh up hard-nosed factors before choosing where to buy a place in the sun. How much does it cost? Is there a chance of capital appreciation? Are there good rental prospects?

But people don't choose Majorca that way. They just buy there because they love it.

Financial services company owner Barry Krite and his wife Jane know that Majorca is the most expensive part of the Iberian peninsula, but they have still bought a two-bedroom cliffside house at Santa Ponsa on the north-west of the island - the culmination of a seven-year love affair with Majorca.

"We've come back year after year, stayed at the same hotel and felt there's a little part of the island that is ours," Jane explains. "When we thought of buying, we rented a home for a full year to discover the place at our own pace. We fell in love and had to buy."

The couple, from Radlett in Hertfordshire, stay in Majorca in the summer and visit at least once a month throughout the year. Their three grown-up children visit, too.

"Mainland Spain leaves me cold and I've never had the slightest interest in buying a home in Portugal," says Jane. "But Majorca? It's just paradise."

Jane and Barry Krite

The Krites are not alone. Some 11,000 Britons own a holiday home or are based on the island, drawn by 300 days of sun each year, 25 marinas, 23 golf courses and easy air access - more than 20 airlines currently fly there from the UK.

"Britons have always liked the island, but the love affair has grown in the past 10 years," says Claudia Dubois, a marketing manager for estate agent Engel & Volkers. "There are three times as many British buyers now as in the late 1990s despite prices rising and the island becoming much more upmarket."

The move upmarket has not been accidental. Magaluf, the sleazy teen haven derided by native Majorquins, is surprisingly difficult to find, even though it is close to the capital, Palma. There are few road signs to the resort because, locals say, the authorities are embarrassed by it.

Anyone whose image of Majorca is clubbing and drinking should bring themselves up to date because it is now arguably the most beautiful and chic Mediterranean destination.

The north of the island boasts mountain villages and rugged terrain, now more accessible thanks to new roads. The coast benefits from natural harbours such as Puerto Soller, perhaps the hottest local property market in the Med. Millionaires flock to established playgrounds around Andratx, Puerto Portals and Palma.

Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas are well-known holiday-home owners in the arty village of Deia. Near neighbours include finca-owner Andrew Lloyd Webber and PR guru Lynne Franks. Further towards Soller are villas belonging to Boris Becker and Claudia Schiffer.

Property prices have become as stellar as the cast list of owners. Although the market has wobbled slightly over the past two years - some areas of the island have risen, others not, leaving average prices roughly unchanged since 2005 - values over the past decade have soared about 170 per cent.

Part of the attraction to the rich and famous is the exclusivity of the island. "Majorca has had for several years a total ban on any development - individual homes or larger schemes - within 25 metres of the coast," says Robert Maunder of First Mallorca, a leading estate agent on the island. "Anyone owning directly at the sea now can sit back and smile. A property there, in any condition, is a gold mine."