- The profile of the new buyer is that of young and foreign people who run technology companies
- Nine municipalities of Malaga are among the 50 most expensive in Spain to buy or rent a home
The Harmony villa, located in the luxurious urbanization La Zagaleta, in Benahavís.
Investment in luxury homes 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 young and foreign people who usually run companies related to new technologies .
The president of the Andalusian Federation of Developers and Residential Tourism , Ricardo Arranz, has indicated that during the years 2021 and 2022 the high-end housing sector is registering “the best data in its history in regard 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 infrastructure”, highlighting the ” sales boom of large villas” experienced in 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 “telework ” 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, going from the sector “from zero to being sold all” and “doubling the price” compared to 2019, highlighting that before the square meter was worth “3,000 or 4,000 euros ”, being the average cost of the villas between “2.5 and 3 million euros” and now that they are leaving the residential market for “5 and 6 million”. 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 is “suspended ” and “without the possibility of developing things”, while he has affirmed that Estepona is “the only city council that works in a dynamic because it 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)”.
The general director of La Zagaleta -one of the most luxurious urbanizations in Europe and which is located in the municipality of Benahavís-, Jacobo Cestino, has indicated that last year the company scored “a sales volume of between “28 and 20 million euros ”, pointing out that in the resort as a whole “200 million” were 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 porch of the villa Harmony, in the urbanization La Zagaleta.
“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,” said the manager, who highlighted ” the consolidation of working remotely , which is a reality”, and which 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 opt for the acquisition of these high- standing properties by “foreigners” , such as the existence of “communication infrastructures with the rest of Europe excellent”, an “offer of bilingual schools, private clinics or restaurants and leisure”.
In numbers, the average price per transaction in La Zagaleta is 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 exceeds 22. The characteristics of these houses are particular, since “they are houses with 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 personnel”.
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 that 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 has been processing for a long time years.
One of them is the construction of the Torre de Málaga , an initiative that “already reaches the 14th floor of a total of 21” and “the sales that have been made are at 75%”, highlighting 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.”
The Sierra Blanca Tower gym, in Malaga.
On the other hand, the company is developing the Epic development in Marbella , which consists of 3 phases of apartments designed by Fendi Casa . The first and second are “sold” with a ” total amount of sales is 200 million euros” , while the third registers 70% in sales volume, 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 profile of the buyer , which has changed compared to past decades, and is currently characterized by being “successful entrepreneurs or professionals” focused “in the technology sector”, with an age that “it has been considerably reduced” 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”.
The exterior of an apartment in the Epic Marbella development.
In the real estate company Engel & Völkers Marbella ” the total volume of sales in 2021 amounted to a total of 561,600,000 euros “, the company registering an increase of “up to 72%” during the years of the pandemic compared to 2019. At the end of July 2022, it already scored a sales volume “for a value greater than 300 million”, they have highlighted 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”.