New information was released last month that confirms the impressions of those working in the real estate market of Marbella and Benahavis that is that the market slowed down last year. We still have to see the data for the last quarter that will be published in March but I do not expect a recuperation at the end of the year that showed also little activity.
As it can be seen on the attached chart, all quarters were worst than the precedent one for a total decrease in the number of Closed Transactions of almost 10% for a one year period. The situation in Benahavis is even worse with a decrease of almost 20% over one year period and 34% when compared with the precedent quarter. The question is: Why are we hearing on TV that the market is recovering? That is a reality in fact for most of the Costa del Sol but not in Marbella & Benahavis. The fact that 2016 was year full of uncertainties with the Brexit vote, the Spanish Elections and the canceling of the Planning Permission for Marbella did not help the local market at all. However, that should also affect the market in Torremolinos and Benalmadena and did not.
If we take a look to the distribution of the Closed Transactions as a function of the selling price, we may be able to see that most of the transactions in the province of Malaga, almost 64%, were closed below 150.000 € with only 0,4% on top of the one million figure. That means that most of the buyers are coming with budgets below 150.000 € and that product hardly exists in Marbella & Benahavis. That may be the key of the decrease vs the market in Malaga, Benalmadena, Torremolinos and Fuengirola.
