Marbella continues to attract holidaymakers from all over the world, but in recent years and according to the Marbella Real Estate Market Report 2023, compiled by Christopher Clover, managing director and owner of Panorama Properties, the residential property market in Marbella has seen an extraordinary increase in activity in the past year, with sales reaching unprecedented levels across all property types. The same trend has been reflected in the rest of the country, with an overall increase in real estate investment of a third over the previous year, reaching more than 17.5 billion euros, a record figure in Spain.
New and refurbished homes embody the epitome of luxury and world-class design, quality, and cutting-edge technology. In fact, the availability of first-class homes in the Marbella area is, in itself, one of the main factors attracting luxury buyers. This is according to the Marbella Real Estate Market Report 2023, compiled by Christopher Clover, managing director and owner of Panorama Properties, Marbella’s oldest real estate agency with over 50 years of experience in the town.
Last year the town recorded its highest number of sales in 16 years with a 119 percentage point growth rate over the past decade and a total of 42,744 homes sold. Sales in the so-called Golden Triangle made up of Marbella, Estepona, and Benahavís, registered an increase of 123% in the last ten years.
Despite the significant rise in interest rates in Spain during the fourth quarter of 2022, which has made home-buying more expensive in general, Clover points to a revealing statistic, noting that in the luxury sector in Marbella, less than 10% of sales are made with a mortgage.
“In fact, throughout 2023 we are seeing luxury property sales even stronger than the previous year, with an increase of up to 20% at the top end of the market.”
CEO of Panorama Properties
Globally, Marbella only ranks 16th, just ahead of Madrid and Dubai, with Monaco leading the way as the most expensive city in the world to buy prime real estate, with an average sale price of over 50,000 euros/m2. On a national level, it ranks ninth in the top 50 most expensive municipalities in Spain, headed by Sant Josep de Sa Talaia, in Ibiza, with 6,295 euros/m2, which means that Marbella continues to have attractive and competitive prices. According to the report, prices for newly built or refurbished luxury flats in the Marbella area range from 6,000 euros/sqm to 25,000 euros/sqm in the most sought-after beach areas of the Golden Mile, and sometimes even more in the case of very exclusive homes. Prices for newly built or refurbished villas in this area range from 8,000 euros/sqm to 14,000 euros/sqm.
“Marbella is attracting more and more buyers who are looking for not just holiday accommodation, but a second or third ‘first home’, where they can stay for several months of the year”.
Christopher Clover
The exceptional growth of recent years has had an impact on all areas of Marbella’s economy, with great repercussions in the service and hotel sector, reflected in the complete renovation of the city’s emblematic hotels, the commitment of international chains to the area, as well as the investment of the main national and international developers in new projects in the city, as well as the investment of the main national and international developers in new projects in the city.
With the increase in residential tourism, and the consequent creation of stable and permanent jobs, last June the municipality registered the lowest unemployment rate for 14 years and the highest municipal budget in the history of the municipality, with 333 million euros for 2023.
Therefore, says Clover, “despite the many adversities we are currently facing around the world, confidence in Marbella’s future is at an all-time high. The city is in a much stronger position than ever before to cope with any future decline in financial confidence, thanks to the credibility and wealth generated by its thousands of residents, tourists and investors of all levels.
