Marbella Property

Most people arrive at Marbella property with a budget and a vague sense of the name. The useful first question is not price — it is how you will actually use the place, because that decides the area, and the area decides the price far more than the specification does.

This page is organised by that question.

What each budget buys in Marbella

€290–450K: a two-bedroom apartment in San Pedro, Marbella centro's outer streets, or the older Nueva Andalucía blocks. €450–800K: a good three-bedroom apartment in Nueva Andalucía, Elviria or central Marbella, or a townhouse with a garden. €800K–1.5M: a penthouse, a frontline-golf apartment, or a modest villa in Elviria or El Rosario. €1.5–3M: a proper villa in Nueva Andalucía, Los Monteros or Guadalmina. €3M+: Sierra Blanca, La Quinta, Guadalmina Baja, and the entry level of the gated estates.

Choosing the area by how you will live

Year-round family living with school runs: Elviria, Nueva Andalucía, San Pedro, Guadalmina. Walkable town life with restaurants at the door: Marbella old town, Puerto Banús, San Pedro's boulevard. Golf-centred: Nueva Andalucía's valley, La Quinta, Río Real, Aloha. Quiet beach and pine forest: Los Monteros, Río Real, Cabopino. Privacy above everything: Sierra Blanca, Cascada de Camoján, La Zagaleta.

The purchase costs, in numbers

On a €700,000 resale in Marbella: ITP transfer tax at 7% is €49,000; notary roughly €900; land registry roughly €650; lawyer at 1% plus 21% IVA is €8,470; gestoría €400. Total around €59,400, or 8.5%. Add a mortgage and budget another 1–1.5% for valuation, arrangement and AJD. On new build, swap ITP for 10% IVA plus 1.2% AJD and the total lands nearer 13%.

Timeline from offer to keys

Reservation contract and €6,000–20,000 deposit takes the property off market for two to four weeks. Your lawyer runs due diligence — nota simple, debts, licences, community fees, planning. Then a 10% private purchase contract (contrato de arras), and completion at the notary six to ten weeks later. Cash with NIE already issued: eight to twelve weeks total. With a Spanish mortgage: twelve to sixteen weeks.

Frequently asked questions

How much do you need to buy property in Marbella?

Entry to the Marbella municipality is around €290,000 for a two-bedroom apartment in San Pedro or the outer centro streets. A comfortable three-bedroom in a good area starts around €600,000, and villas start around €1.3M.

What are the total buying costs in Marbella?

Roughly 8.5–9% on a resale (7% ITP plus notary, registry and legal) and 12.5–13.5% on a new build (10% IVA plus 1.2% AJD plus fees).

How long does the purchase take?

Eight to twelve weeks as a cash buyer with a NIE already in hand, twelve to sixteen weeks with a Spanish mortgage.