Marbella Property Market Update May 2018

The best latest report comes from Survey Spain, a company of Chartered Surveyors in Estepona, that does building surveys and valuations. The report is the most informative and best researched that I have seen and is impartial. It is really useful for people who might be asking themselves where to buy and how values vary accross the districts and which areas represent best value for money.

Here is the link.

What I like about this report is that they comment on each area separately, which is very useful, and they give the average asking prices per district. Whilst broad trends are interesting as reported in many other studies, they are not as interesting as the local market conditions. Property markets, unlike almost anything else, are local.

Here are the regions and news there that most interest me because they are where we, at Eco Vida Homes, are most active (scroll down to page 4 in their report):

San Roque and Sotogrande
We have evaluated plots for three separate clients so far this year in this area.

According to the report average valuation prices (not asking prices!) are 2,427€ per square metre.

This is a significant discount from prime Marbella prices and in my opinion well worth taking advantage of. There are plenty of open areas with low density development, that are low rise and unspoilt. The views can be extensive. There is always a cool breeze and fresh sea air. Motorway connections are excellent so the airport to the East and beautiful unspoilt Atlantic beaches to the West are all within reach. I love the iconic palm trees and the marina. There are first class facilities such as the international school, horse riding, sailing, golf and more.

I think its good value for money.

Apparently the owners of Sotogrande SA will be investing which may boost the local economy and improve the area further.

Casares, Estepona and Benahavis

We are active in El Madroñal with one large villa recently finished and two in the design phase. One of these will be available to buy off plan.

I love El Madroñal. You are surrounded by trees and mountains and feel a part of them. There is plenty of wildlife and yes there are neighbours yes but the plots are large and neighbours are not too close. All the houses are attractive and well looked after. It is also close to the coastline and many plots have extensive views south over the Mediterranean.

According to Survey Spain average asking prices in Benahavis are 4,528€ psm which I have to say sounds high to me and especially as an average. I think this must reflect some extreme luxury villas in La Zagaleta a very exclusive gated estate. I am quite certain that, shall we say, timeless good taste, can be designed and built at a fraction of the cost. Indeed we are in the business of proving it!!

Marbella
We have two clients in this area although our clients seem to avoid the area if they can because of the delays in getting building licences at the town hall. One of our clients is doing a complete renovation and we are able to work around the licence problem by applying for a certain kind of building licence. For the other we are implementing an existing building licence (12 years old) which has its own problems but we have overcome them.

The average asking price is 3,124€ with a range from 1,308€ to 6,379€ psm. I recently viewed the expensive ones with one of our clients to assess the quality of the finishes and what influence it could have on her development appraisal. I have to say they are very nicely done. They are beautifully designed, with high quality specs and good brands in the kitchen and installations. They are energy efficient with modern layout and intelligent solar orientation. Are they expensive? Well they sell well so we cannot say they are overpriced. People want them and will pay.

If I were to be ultra-critical I would say that the 6300€ psm villas I saw are play things rather than homes. In other words they are luxurious holiday homes but not family homes. But they are certainly popular and very pricey. One of our clients is considering building one and selling it as a commercial enterprise.

Mijas, Fuengirola, and Benalmadena
We are in the design phase now with clients that have plots in La Cala Golf, Benalmádena, and Torremolinos.

The average value is 1,596€ psm with a narrow range +/- 10%. Personally I think this represents excellent value for money compared with Marbella. Of course is doesn’t quite have the cachet of the Marbella location but it is such a short distance this area must be an alternative.

Each of our three clients has bought a unique plot having searched hard for just-what-they-want. In La Cala Golf panoramic views, in Benalmadena a unique plot tucked away and undervalued by the vendor in our opinion because we have been able to design around the “problems”. Their villa will almost hang over the sea but they paid a regular price for it. In Torremolinos it’s a flat urban plot, in town, and we will be self sufficient and energy efficient with super insulation, PV panels and Tesla battery and an air source heat pump.

Author: Eco Vida Homes is a team of Architects, Technical Architects, Builders, an Engineer, and a Chartered Surveyor. We help people design and build beautiful energy efficient homes designed for Mediterranean living in Marbella and Southern Spain. There are two things that make us stand out: a sharp focus on our clients’ needs and every we do is comfortable and energy efficiency. It’s like Grand Designs only without the drama.