Guadalajara, Azuqueca or Alovera: what €350,000 buys
New four-bedroom homes in Alcalá de Henares now exceed €350,000, pushing buyers to look in Guadalajara, Azuqueca or Alovera.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Four-bedroom flat east of Madrid: €350,000 doesn't cut it
A family with children is looking for a four-bedroom flat, new or nearly new, in the Henares corridor. Budget: €350,000. Both adults work remotely; she would have to go to Madrid once a week and he, occasionally. The search began in Alcalá de Henares, continued through Torrejón and has ended up looking at Azuqueca, Alovera and Guadalajara. In Alcalá, La Garena is simply impossible. The new builds going up in Nuevo Espartales and Ciudad del Aire exceed €350,000 and, moreover, fall in areas that those who know them describe as remote. Old flats don't compensate: with renovation on top, the savings evaporate until they match the new price.
How much does a four-bedroom flat cost in Alcalá de Henares?
More than there is. Ciudad del Aire appears as an old area of chalets, quiet but separated from the rest. Espartales drags, as a former Alcalá resident warns, conflictive sectors. And in Las Sedas the problem isn't the price: without a car, getting around is an act of faith. In Torrejón de Ardoz, near the Soto de Henares Cercanías station, prices hold and supply is scarce.
Within the Community of Madrid, that budget buys fewer square metres than a house with four bedrooms and two people working from home much of the day requires. Hence the leap to the province.
What you can buy in Guadalajara or Azuqueca for the same money
Crossing into the province of Guadalajara lowers the bill, and that is the whole reason for the change. The problem is that there too there is no surplus of product: the development detected in the Ensanche de Guadalajara goes above €450,000 plus VAT, more than a hundred thousand above the planned ceiling.
Azuqueca de Henares is stuck to Alcalá and, for those who know it, neither good nor bad; the advantage is the distance. Alovera enters the same equation. On the atmosphere of the area there is division: some maintain that Guadalajara has another air, almost from another decade, and some settle the matter by jumping further: for what a flat costs in Guadalajara you can buy in Valencia, with beach included and Madrid an hour and a half away, faster than from the capital of Alcarria itself.
Cercanías or car for everything? The criterion that orders the options
The station weighs more than the price. Towns without Cercanías —Villabilla or Camarma are mentioned— are ruled out from the start, and the same goes for isolated chalets where you have to take the car even for the basics. El Olivar, in Alcalá, is the borderline case: almost a hamlet, appreciated by those who live there, but with some three kilometres to La Garena or the station, a distance that kills any plan to walk everywhere.
Hence a recommendation that emerges in the thread: aim for municipalities of between 5,000 and 40,000 inhabitants. Neither the tiny village that ends up tiring nor the dormitory town without services. The interested party himself considers Collado Villalba for its Cercanías, although he admits he doesn't know the area; a forum member who lived there believes some neighbourhoods have worsened. There is also reluctance towards cooperative developments.
The budget remains €350,000. The first development that fits in Guadalajara asks for more than €450,000, VAT aside.
A family with children is looking for a four-bedroom flat, new or nearly new, in the Henares corridor. Budget: €350,000. Both adults work remotely; she would have to go to Madrid once a week and he, occasionally. The search began in Alcalá de Henares, continued through Torrejón and has ended up looking at Azuqueca, Alovera and Guadalajara. In Alcalá, La Garena is simply impossible. The new builds going up in Nuevo Espartales and Ciudad del Aire exceed €350,000 and, moreover, fall in areas that those who know them describe as remote. Old flats don't compensate: with renovation on top, the savings evaporate until they match the new price.
How much does a four-bedroom flat cost in Alcalá de Henares?
More than there is. Ciudad del Aire appears as an old area of chalets, quiet but separated from the rest. Espartales drags, as a former Alcalá resident warns, conflictive sectors. And in Las Sedas the problem isn't the price: without a car, getting around is an act of faith. In Torrejón de Ardoz, near the Soto de Henares Cercanías station, prices hold and supply is scarce.
Within the Community of Madrid, that budget buys fewer square metres than a house with four bedrooms and two people working from home much of the day requires. Hence the leap to the province.
What you can buy in Guadalajara or Azuqueca for the same money
Crossing into the province of Guadalajara lowers the bill, and that is the whole reason for the change. The problem is that there too there is no surplus of product: the development detected in the Ensanche de Guadalajara goes above €450,000 plus VAT, more than a hundred thousand above the planned ceiling.
Azuqueca de Henares is stuck to Alcalá and, for those who know it, neither good nor bad; the advantage is the distance. Alovera enters the same equation. On the atmosphere of the area there is division: some maintain that Guadalajara has another air, almost from another decade, and some settle the matter by jumping further: for what a flat costs in Guadalajara you can buy in Valencia, with beach included and Madrid an hour and a half away, faster than from the capital of Alcarria itself.
Cercanías or car for everything? The criterion that orders the options
The station weighs more than the price. Towns without Cercanías —Villabilla or Camarma are mentioned— are ruled out from the start, and the same goes for isolated chalets where you have to take the car even for the basics. El Olivar, in Alcalá, is the borderline case: almost a hamlet, appreciated by those who live there, but with some three kilometres to La Garena or the station, a distance that kills any plan to walk everywhere.
Hence a recommendation that emerges in the thread: aim for municipalities of between 5,000 and 40,000 inhabitants. Neither the tiny village that ends up tiring nor the dormitory town without services. The interested party himself considers Collado Villalba for its Cercanías, although he admits he doesn't know the area; a forum member who lived there believes some neighbourhoods have worsened. There is also reluctance towards cooperative developments.
The budget remains €350,000. The first development that fits in Guadalajara asks for more than €450,000, VAT aside.
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (18 replies).
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