Marbella escapes the decrease in property prices and registers a 2,15% increase.

Estepona is in lead in terms of decrease in the value per square meter on the Costa del Sol, with a 6,5% reduction from the last semester, according to a real estate report.  The municipality of Marbella, has registered the highest cost in second residence properties in the province.

Marbella, immersed in the processing of its new urban plan, has escaped the generalized deceleration of property prices of the Occidental Costa del Sol. Phenomena from which, contrary to the rest of the province, Marbella has managed to escape and even increasing by 2,15% the real estate market values, according to the quarterly report on property evolution elaborated by the Salvago Real Estate consultants.

Prices of the real estate market in the rest of the coast suffered a small reduction between 0,76% and 3,8%, except in Estepona where the fall during the second quarter was of 6,5% and in Marbella, where contrary to the generalized tendency to fall, there was a small increase.

The Province

More on the long term, annual statistics talk about a fall in property prices, throughout the province, of 2,3 %. The average price per square meter is at 2.556€, this figure being higher in the province’s capital and occidental coast, which initially escapes the negative tendency. Therefore, property prices resist the deceleration in places like Torremolinos, Benalmádena, Mijas, Marbella and Estepona. Only Fuengirola and Manilva show annual recessions of 1,3 and 2,2 per cent, respectively.

Despite the recession being registered in the real estate market, Salvago foresees that in the Golden Mile, location of the most expensive properties in the province, prices will “possibly” increase due to lack of plots – in absence of a new Urban Master Plan - and available properties.

In fact, Marbella now has the highest prices of the province, with prices per square meter amounting to 3.145 euros, followed by Torremolinos and Benalmádena where prices vary between 2.700 and 2.900 euros, similar to the capital of Malaga. The average property being that of 101 m² costs 318.600 euros in Marbella, as opposed to the 279.500 euros it would cost for a 97,4 square meter in Malaga.

Benalmadena follows closely on Marbella’s footsteps as the square meter there has reached 2.909 euros.
On the other hand, the property decline is more visible in the oriental part of coast and in the interior of the province. At the same time, prices have fallen in Rincón de la Victoria by 8% in the last year, and they have practically stayed the same in Vélez-Málaga, a place immersed in a process of residential expansion, which seems to be developing in spite of the crisis, according to the data given in the report. The greatest price fall is found in places inland, which as a whole represents a fall of 10,5% if compared with data from last year.

According to Salvago’s report, the ‘behaviour’ of the so-called ‘second residences’ and/or ‘tourist properties’ has barely varied even though analysts had announced a decrease due to a drop in demand.

Tourist residences

On the Costa del Sol, Marbella has the highest incidence of  land cost level in the province, even though, according to Salvago, it is very much below that which it had in June of 2006, with prices per built square meters amounting to 7.405 euros, in comparison to 4.011 euros, and given that the accumulated annual decrease nearly reaches 22%. According to the report, the average 164 square meter property in Marbella costs nearly 660.000 euros, which shows how second residence developments currently maintain price levels which are “more sensible than what they where just 2 years ago”. The report also shows that just a few years ago, the influence of property offers in Marbella was of 40%. A few years on, this has fallen significantly and at present it does not surpass 15%.

Estepona and Benalmádena have similar incidence values, above 3.800 euros per square meter built. However, the highest incidence in Estepona brings the cost of similar properties to 502.000 euros, while those in the municipality of Benalmadena are around the 340.000 euros.

Source: Diario Sur 24-06-2008
http://www.diariosur.es/20080624/marbella/marbella-escapa-caida-precio-20080624.html
Translated by Pia Arrieta, DM Properties Marbella.

Diana Morales, 02 Jul 2008 - Intelligence