While you don't have to go too far to find negative news on the Spanish property market, it is currently, for the first time in 3 years, almost as easy to find glimmers of positive news on certain locations and sectors of the market.
This is especially true of the luxury sector in the Spanish crown of Marbella. Luxury apartments in Marbella are currently available at prices much lower than they would have been in 2007, but have not fallen in price by anywhere near as much as properties in some of the worst affected areas of Spain, holding true to the two adages of "location, location, location," and that prime property holds its value better than other classes.
Around the world there are reports of increasing sales on prime property. This is thought to be because fear over the extent of the financial crisis has now subsided, and those who weren't directly affected, now unlikely to be, are treating themselves to a dream home in the sun. More recently fears over currency devaluation because of government debt, fuelled by the crisis in Greece, is thought to have made those with substantial cash savings nervous enough to put their savings into tangible assets like prime property.
Spain is different to most of the places that benefited from this trend, because of the depth of the crisis the Spanish property market has seen. Thus, though luxury apartments for sale in Marbella are seeing increasing sales volumes, they still have to be heavily discounted in order to clear the final hurdles.
That said: discounts of up to 25% have proven to be enough to bring back the buyers in force. In fact, with such discounts in place, Taylor Wimpey was successful in selling over 80% of its luxury property in Marbella and throughout the Costa del Sol in 2009. This success has led to Marbella's first new development in 3 years, from the aforementioned Taylor Wimpey.
Luxury apartments in Marbella are currently available from £400,000 upwards, but for the ultimate in luxury prices are currently around the £800,000 mark for 1-2 bedrooms, and over £1 million for larger apartments. For a luxury villa in Marbella expect to pay well over £2million.
In today's climate those prices sound incredibly expensive, but while the credit crunch has shown us that property prices can fall as fast and as hard as they can grow, it has also shown us that prime properties in prime locations are always highly sought after, and as such will always command a high price tag.