In a region such as the Costa del Sol it’s natural that the main attention is aimed at the coastal areas in particular. This is true of tourists and prospective homeowners alike, so it is the area radiating out from Marbella that has always had the strongest real estate and tourist market, as it is here that demand is most keenly focused, prices the highest and economic recovery and growth most concentrated.
Indeed, whenever the market recovers following a cyclical downturn it is in the area directly around Marbella that the revival begins, incorporating such iconic locations such as the Golden Mile, Puerto Banús, Nueva Andalucía and Sierra Blanca. From here on recovery and growth, both in visits, sales and prices spread out to surrounding zones such as San Pedro Alcántara, Benahavis, Estepona and Marbella east before continuing further east and west along the coast.
One could therefore speak of a primary, secondary and tertiary market, each of which could be seen as a concentric ring radiating outwards from the Golden Mile, but there is a fourth one that is now coming back to its old pre-crisis levels.
The inland market
Because it is located inland from the Costa del Sol, beyond the mountain ridges that separate the coast from the hinterland, this is a difficult area to define geographically. Where the Costa del Sol itself extends approximately from Sotogrande towards Málaga, its corresponding inland area incorporates a large region ranging from Castellar, Gaucín and Casares in the western Serranía, to Ronda and those Andalusian white villages and country areas north of Málaga city.
Here you will find charming village and country properties ranging from little cottages and farmhouses to luxurious villas and proud country estates, some with hunting grounds or equestrian facilities. While this is a smaller, more niche market than the mainstream coastal area, both for tourism and real estate, it is a well-established one, long since popular with foreign buyers from across Europe and beyond.
“Over the past two years we have seen enquiries for country properties increase,” says Jesús García, managing director of Inmo Andalucia, “and now this segment has built up a solid momentum that harks back to the years before the financial crisis. We welcome this as the Andalusian countryside offers not just a beautiful setting in which to live or enjoy holidays, but also a wide range of interesting properties ranging from fixer uppers to modern villas and tastefully restored country estates.”
