More than 80% of properties purchased in Marbella are bought by foreigners, according to a new market index.

The surprising figure is one of many insights into Spain’s smartest city’s property market, revealed by the Marbella Property Market Report 2016, from Panorama Properties Marbella, the area’s longest established real estate agency.

The figure is vastly higher than the country’s average, with data from the Spanish Regsitradores showing that 13.18% of all properties purchased in Spain were by foreigners in Quarter 4 2015. Of those, more than 60% were buyers from within the European Union.

Christopher Clover, Managing Director of Panorama Properties Marbella, and a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, as well as an international associate of Savills, says, “Buyers from the EU have been delighted by Marbella for many years and the area’s popularity continues unabated. While global events have made certain other resort destinations less attractive in recent years, Spain – and in particular Marbella – remains a safe, low-rise and high quality destination for those looking to enjoy its unique lifestyle and cosmopolitan nature.”

Iranian buyers emerging as new market for Marbella’s top properties, says Mr Clover. “From 2016 onwards we also expect to see an influx of Iranian buyers thanks to the newly opened Iranian market. Marbella has been a popular tourist destination with Iranians for decades and the property market looks set to benefit strongly from that affection over the coming years.”

The 23 June EU referendum has caused some British buyers to put the purchase of their dream Marbella home on hold, but in the medium to long term the trend of British purchasers for property in the Marbella area will not be greatly affected whether Britain stays in the EU or exits, he says.

“The distraction of Britain’s potential exit from the EU, which will be decided by referendum on 23 June 2016, has caused a few to hold fire on purchasing property in other EU countries. Assuming the UK remains within the EU, a surge of property purchases by British buyers in and around Marbella can reasonably be expected during the late summer months.”

While British buyers stop and think, Spanish buyers are using the pause to gradually return to the Marbella property market. The number of Spanish residents visiting Marbella plummeted from well over 350,000 in 2006 to just over 100,000 in 2013, but numbers have since been rising, returning almost to 250,000 visitors in 2015. As Spanish visitor numbers pick up and the national economy continues to improve, so too will Spanish interest in the Marbella property market.

Those buying in Marbella right now are after a wide range of property types. Within walking distance of the upscale Puerto Banús, properties can vary in price from €250,000 to well over €10million, depending on the neighbourhood they are in.

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