When it comes to investing in bricks and mortar, Marbella is one of an exclusive band of locations that attracts the attentions of the world’s super rich.
Looking at the facilities on offer it is easy to see why. Málaga airport is close enough to park your private jet, while if seafaring is your preferred mode of travel there is of course Puerto Banús to moor that floating palace of opulence, the super yacht.
The gated urbanisations in areas like The Golden Mile, complete with private security and every facility imaginable to hand, offer those with the means the perfect haven from the stresses of the modern world.
Serving them are restaurants offering some of the finest cuisine in the world, as well as a wealth of top-end options catering to every need.
It all goes to show why a survey earlier this year revealed that 87 per cent of what were termed ‘superproprietors’─ defined as people who owned a property worth at least €950,000 ─ who invested in Spain headed for Marbella.
Wealth-X consultants looked at data from 211,000 investors with a net worth of $30 million or more for the survey. Of those, 15 per cent invested in Spanish property, the majority in Marbella, which may help to explain why the top end of the property market in the area is performing so strongly.
While the figures put Spain behind Monaco, France, Switzerland, Singapore and Austria on a country by country basis, they put Marbella second only to that other Mediterranean haven for the super rich, Saint-Tropez, yet ahead of Monte Carlo and Porto Cervo.
The credit for a continuing rise in the worldwide market for homes worth €1million plus, a segment that is growing two per cent a year faster than the general property market, is given to mainly Russian and Asian investors. The survey said that 114 Russian billionaires controlled 56 per cent of the super rich property investments worldwide, while there were now more Asian super rich than in South America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, the Pacific region and Africa put together.
View full article in Callum Swan Realty