Competition for Land Makes Prices Rise in Marbella

Good news for landowners; the value of land in prime real estate locations is once again rising, and in the best areas it is naturally increasing at a faster rate than others. This is a striking contrast to the situation of a few years ago, when land values were static or declining. Those owners who held on to their plots of land in Marbella, particularly in some urban areas, should now feel happy that they did.

Across Spain, the average price per square metre of urban land rose by 5.9% to reach 149.9€ in the first quarter of 2015. However, this is an average rise and not entirely universal. For example, the figures released by the Ministry of Public Works, and published on government website La Moncloa, show that the greatest increase in land values are in municipalities with over 50,000 people.

Indeed, when we look at land values in the more urban areas, then the increase is closer to 38% over last year, which equates to an average price per square metre of just over 304€. As you would expect, the most expensive land is in the provinces of Madrid (546€ per m2), Barcelona (448€ per m2) and the Balearic islands (353€ per m2). However, Málaga province has certainly outstripped the rest of Andalucía, and urban land prices in the province have risen by 19.2% to a cost of 205.60€ per m2.

One of the reasons that land prices have had a healthy boost this year is that the demand for property is continuing to rise. In the Marbella area, most of the resale properties have flown off the market this year as overseas buyers have returned looking for great investment opportunities. With these properties gone, a void in the market opened up, and the way to fill it has been with modern new-builds.

In the Marbella area, we are seeing some excellent new developments of upmarket, modern homes, which is the style of architecture most in demand. Developers are focusing on small, exclusive developments in top locations and given the competition for land that these are creating, we can expect land prices around Marbella’s most appealing areas to grow quite quickly.

If you are considering building a property yourself, an alternative that appeals to a number of people, and certainly has its advantages, then now is a good time to look at the ‘parcelas’ (plots of land) that we can offer you. You may be pleasantly surprised at what a good investment land is; and at this rate it can only keep rising, even if you don’t build on it.

Information sourced from the Spanish Ministry of Public Works.

Pia Arrieta, 24 Aug 2015 - News - Property