Tag: red tape

27 July 2015 – Málaga Hoy

The property market on the Costa del Sol is showing signs of recovery. After years of crisis and turmoil in the construction sector, domestic and international investors are putting their faith in the region once again as they undertake new developments and generate profits. In the last three months, three large million-euro initiatives have been launched in Estepona, Marbella and Mijas, together with others, on a smaller scale, along other parts of the coast.

In Estepona, the company Ikasa has announced that it will invest €205 million in the construction of 400 luxury homes in an urbanisation that will be called ‘Panoramia Estepona’. It will be built over eight years, in a series of phases that will depend on the behaviour of the market; work will begin on the first phase this summer. (…).

The second mega-project is in Marbella and will involve the injection of €150 million from one of the largest US investment funds, for the construction of 200 luxury homes next to the Santa Clara Golf urbanisation. The first of the four phases could be completed by the end of the year and will include the creation of 20 independent villas, each with its own exclusive design, styled under the supervision of six of the country’s leading architects and with prices that will range between €900,000 and €2.5 million. 70% of the units in this development have been sold in just one month. And this is just the first of several projects that the developer Urbania International is planning in the area. (…).

Finally, last Monday, the company Taylor Wimpey España announced that it will invest €21 million on the construction of 48 apartments and 55 terraced houses in La Cala Resort, in Mijas, over the next five years, mainly aimed at foreign customers. (…)

In the international real estate market, Marbella portrays an image of quality, exclusivity, privacy and security. It is not surprising that the most luxurious private urbanisation in Europe, La Zagaleta, ended 2014 with a record turnover of €40 million and a three-fold increase in its profits compared with the previous year. So much so that the stock of newly constructed properties on the site has now dried up, and so plans are afoot for the construction of six new villas in 2016, which will have prices of between €8 million and €15 million.

The Costa del Sol is a gold standard, but the experts insist that the local and provincial administration must be more efficient in their bureaucratic management to secure continued investment and ensure greater legal security. (…).

Who are the buyers of these luxury homes?

Most of the buyers are foreigners, but “they are no longer seeking out the bargain that they thought they were going to find in years gone by”, says Pía Arrieta Morales, Partner at the real estate company Diana Morales Properties – Knight Frank. (…)

Kristina Szekely, Director of the real estate company that bears her name says that clients with less cash to invest are mainly looking for apartments with a price tag of between €200,000 and €300,000, not far from the beach, but not necessarily within the Golden Mile. Whereas, those with more capital prefer residences of between 800m2 and 2,500 m2, with an average value of €2.5 million, located in the Golden Triangle, including in La Zagaleta. But customer preferences are also a question of culture. “Russian and Arabs look for large, light-filled spaces, whilst Scandinavians prefer quiet places with views that are not necessarily overlooking the sea”.

Ricardo Arranz, the President of the Andalucían Federation of Town Planners and Residential Tourism added that the three most important factors for buyers on the Costa del Sol at the moment are: the best climate in Europe, security and infrastructure. There is a special emphasis on the integration of foreign residents with the opening of 12 international schools with pupils from 42 different nationalities in the Golden Triangle alone. Arranz notes that more than 30,000 homes worth more than €1 million have been constructed and sold in this area and another 35,000 homes that are worth between €400,000 and €600,000. (…).

Original story: Málaga Hoy (by A. Recio and E. Moreno)

Translation: Carmel Drake