The luxury real estate market is on the rise in Malaga, oblivious to the economic ups and downs. Prices seem to have no ceiling in a city that has been placed on the map of the ‘premium’ segment and where the offer is clearly insufficient to meet a demand, mainly foreign, that does not stop growing.
Europeans and Americans are currently the main buyers of luxury homes in the capital of the Costa del Sol, where prices, which have skyrocketed since the pandemic, are already “inaccessible” for many Spaniards, although they must be “a gift” for international buyers, who are looking above all for a finished and quality product.
“Most buyers are foreigners and most sellers are local clients. For Spaniards, access to buying luxury housing in the city is a difficult challenge to overcome and the forecast is that this trend will continue and even accentuates in the future”, explains to EFE José Carlos Romero, general managing partner of the real estate agency Berkshire Hatahaway HomeServices Spain in Malaga.
On the American radar
If there is a buyer that is growing in Malaga -200% in recent years-, it is the United States, which is attracted by the climate, the beach, the gastronomy, the culture and the lifestyle of a city that just a few years ago it wasn’t even on his radar.
“This is a dream for them,” says Luca Tamburello, co-founder and partner of Berkshire in Malaga, who highlights two other factors that have driven the arrival of these clients to the city: the security offered by the region, in the face of the growing problem of weapons in your country, and how affordable the prices here are for your pockets.
“Not only is the purchase more affordable for them, but also the maintenance of the homes,” says Tamburello, who noted the recent launch of the flight from Spain.
mismatched market
Berkshire Hatahaway HomeServices, the real estate company of American magnate Warren Buffet, has offices in six Spanish cities, including Malaga and Marbella, which demonstrates the firm’s commitment to this province, where it has a portfolio of more than 1,100 high-end homes. standing’.
The supply, says Tamburello, is entirely insufficient to meet the great existing demand. “There is a very serious imbalance,” he maintains, which has caused a “barbaric” rise in prices in the last five years. In fact, the sector remains immune to the global economic slowdown and issues such as rising interest rates, mainly because the vast majority of these purchases are paid in cash.
growth potential
Although the luxury market in Malaga is still “a bit immature”, unlike Marbella, in the medium term it has “a growth potential that few others can offer, against much more consolidated markets, such as Madrid and Barcelona”, he affirms. Luca Tamburello.
In large capitals such as New York, Hong Kong or London, and also on some very select occasions in Marbella, the prices of houses in the most ‘prime’ areas can reach 50,000 euros per square meter. “Although Malaga has a long way to go in terms of prices, it is pretentious to reach those amounts. What is clear is that the price of luxury is going up, it is a matter of time,” says the real estate expert. Here the most exclusive properties, such as large penthouses in the center or on the seafront, are currently being paid at between 10,000 and 12,000 euros per square meter, prices that were “unviable” a few years ago.
investor in focus
Despite this increase in prices, Malaga continues to gain attractiveness and is “in the focus of international investors”, such as funds or family wealth management offices, at the level of Barcelona and Madrid and well above other relevant capitals in Spain the experts say. José Carlos Romero points out that in Malaga “there is a market for everyone” and that “the more purchasing power that comes to the city, the better”, since “luxury brings wealth. We believe that the city has a lot of potential to absorb luxury, it still has a long way to go”, precisely.
And all this, add these professionals, without the need to host an International Exhibition. “Seville is beautiful, but it is not in the focus of international investment at the moment. Malaga is achieving it without Expo, it does not need it, it is on par with Barcelona at an international level,” Tamburello asserts. Romero precisely, in this sense, that the organization of Expo 2027 would have put even more stress on the Malaga real estate market, with a shortage of affordable housing, while it would rarely have “contributed something” to the ‘prime’ segment.
exclusive properties
The market is healthy and the outlook is positive, according to Berkshire, which recently brokered one of the city’s most important real estate transactions: the purchase, by the founders of the technology company Freepik Company, of a building in the central Plaza Constitución in Malaga for around 12 million euros.
“It is an excellent purchase, an asset opportunity,” says Romero, who is pleased that it was a company from Malaga, in this case Blanes Capital, the holding group founded by the brothers Alejandro and Pablo Blanes, which has acquired the emblematic property , which was owned by another investment fund.
Berkshire Hatahaway HomeServices Spain has other exclusive properties in Malaga in its portfolio, such as two buildings on the busy Carretería street or the most expensive house in the city, located in the Parque Clavero area and for sale for 15 million euros.
