Living on the costa

The investment in luxury housing has skyrocketed after the pandemic on the Costa del Sol, highlighting residential destinations such as Marbella and its surroundings, with the profile of the current buyer being that of young and foreign people who often run companies related to new technologies.

The president of the Andalusian Federation of Developers and Residential TourismRicardo Arranz, has pointed out that during the years 2021 and 2022 the high-end housing sector is recording “the best data in its history what concerns to the sale of high quality villas”.

The promoter has pointed out that “for the first time, the Nordics have valued the 3 values ​​of Marbella and its surroundings, such as the climate, security and infrastructures”, highlighting the “boom sales of large villas” experienced in the urbanizations of Marbella, Estepona or Benahavís, where the acquisition of this type of second-hand properties “has doubled” and “many are being built”.

The influence of the pandemic and the effects generated by the total or partial lockdowns decreed during the Covid-19 health crisis have made a dent in the high-end housing sector in the area, which together with the establishment of the “teleworking” the purchase of these properties is projected to spend more time throughout the year.

Thus, the businessman has valued the increase in sales of high-end houses, passing the sector “from zero to sold all” and “doubling the price” compared to 2019, highlighting that before the square meter was worth “3,000 or 4,000 euros”, with the average cost of villas being between “2.5 and 3 million euros” and that now that they are leaving the residential market for “5 and 6 millions”. This is due, according to Arranz, to the fact that “competition does not exist as there is no new land” and there is “less supply than demand”.

On the other hand, the businessman has alluded to the existing problems in cities such as Marbella and Benahavís, whose urban planning are “suspended” and “without the possibility of developing things”, while he has stated that Estepona is “the only town hall that works dynamically because he did not want to make a new General Urban Planning Plan (PGOU) and has adapted the old one to the Andalusian Urban Planning Law (LOUA)”.

CEO of The Zagaleta -one of the most luxurious developments in Europe and which is located in the municipality of Benahavís-, Jacobo Cestino, has pointed out that last year the company scored “an sales volume of between “28 and 20 million euros”, noting that in the set of resort “200 million” was exceeded due to transactions between individuals. The businessman has highlighted the “boom” experienced in the luxury housing sector in “the entire Costa del Sol”. Thus, it has indicated that the residential complex has registered an increase in sales since 2019, the year in which “9 villas were sold, 13 in 2020, 24 in 2021 and in the first half of 2022 a total of 13 transactions”, for which expects to close this year with the departure of more than 30 houses. In addition, he has underlined that “prices have undergone a very positive evolution”.

“The pandemic changed customer behavior and people have invested in housing and in places where they can spend more time protected from similar situations that may happen in the future”, pointed out the manager, who remarked “the consolidation of working remotely, that it is a reality”, and that it has had a positive impact on the purchase decision of other residential destinations other than work. As he pointed out, the health crisis has made many rethink “their type of life” and “people with money who had financial products” have decided to invest in “real estate assets that they can enjoy and live more comfortably.”

To this it has added certain elements that bring together the area between “Marbella and Sotogrande” to qualify for the acquisition of these high-rise real estate standing by “foreigners”such as the existence of “excellent communication infrastructures with the rest of Europe”, an “offer of bilingual schools, private clinics or restaurants and leisure”.

in numbers, the average price per transaction in La Zagaleta it is located between “8 and 9 million euros”, highlighting as the most expensive properties two villas that were sold last year “one for over 30 million euros” and another for over 22 million. The characteristics of these homes are particular, since “they are houses of more than 2,500 or 3,000 square meters of construction, on plots of over 10,000 square metres” and with all kinds of elements such as “indoor or outdoor swimming pools, all the technology in terms of enclosures, alarm systems, sound, television or home automation”. The spaces are complemented by “SPA, cinema, games room, garage for 8 or 10 cars, and over 10 bedrooms, including those of the service staff”.

The founder of the Sierra Blanca State developer, Pedro Rodríguez, has also pointed to the good dynamics of the luxury real estate market, closing the developer in 2021 with the sale of 19 properties and a turnover of “43 million euros”of which 35 correspond to the sale of “the first phase of the Epic Marbella development” and “8 of a villa”, highlighting that 2022 is being “the best in our history” after consolidating the urban projects that the company for years.

One of them is the construction of the Tower of Malagaan initiative that “already reaches the 14th floor of a total of 21” and “the sales that have been made are at 75%”, emphasizing that “the total value of the project” stands at “100 million euros”. The average cost is “1.2 and 1.5 million euros” apartment, where “prices are rising.”

On the other hand, the company is developing in Marbella the epic promotionwhich consists of 3 phases of apartments designed by Fendi House. The first and second are “sold” with an “itotal amount of sales is 200 million euros”while the third registers 70% in the volume of sales, the businessman has reported, who has highlighted “the situation, the design, the quality of the materials or the quantity of common services that are offered”.

The promoter has coincided with other representatives of the sector in the buyer profilewhich has changed compared to past decades, and is currently characterized by being “successful entrepreneurs or professionals” focused “on the technology sector”, with an age that “has been reduced considerably” between “40 and 50 years”. Nationalities such as “the Scandinavian or the Finnish stand out and countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic, Turkey or the Americans have been incorporated”.

At the Engel & Völkers Marbella real estate “the total sales volume in 2021 amounted to a total of 561,600,000 euros”, registering the company a increase of “up to 72%” during the pandemic years compared to 2019. At the end of July 2022, it already had a sales volume “for a value greater than 300 million”, have stood out from the company. In this way, they have indicated that “the average price of properties is 1.7 million”, highlighting “6 properties” that have been sold “between 10 and 21 million” and “more than 70% of the clientele comes from from Northern Europe or Scandinavia” with “a younger buyer profile, between 35 and 55 years old”.