For real estate professionals and international buyers understanding Marbella’s transformation into a year-round luxury destination — and the global forces shaping it.
Marbella is no longer a seasonal retirement destination. It has become one of Europe’s most sought-after year-round luxury markets — younger buyers, permanent relocations, and a pipeline of demand that held through 2025. This guide unpacks what’s driving it and what professionals need to know.
Drawn from Smadar Kahana’s episode on the JamesEdition Podcast, where CEO Eric Finnas Dahlstrom speaks with leaders shaping global luxury real estate.
Smadar Kahana
Managing Director, Engel & Völkers Marbella
Smadar has been based in Marbella since 2003, having previously served as international marketing director of a prominent company in Germany. She brings both a 20-year perspective on the Marbella market and a professional marketing background to her role leading one of the area’s most prominent luxury agencies.The insights in this guide come directly from that conversation.
Twenty years ago, the typical Marbella buyer was 50 to 70 — retiring, slowing down.
Today, they are 35 to 55. Internationally mobile, often working remotely, looking for one thing: intensive life, all year round.
What’s inside
- How COVID permanently shifted Marbella’s buyer profile — from retirees to internationally mobile families aged 35–55
- Who is buying and where — nationality-by-area breakdown and what motivates the €10M–€30M buyer
- The market in numbers — average prices, transaction volumes, and why the upper segment barely existed 20 years ago
- Why Marbella outcompetes Saint Tropez, Ibiza, Sardinia, and Mallorca on the one factor that matters most
- How to reach the international luxury buyer — and the emerging branded residences segment changing the market
