Sun, sea and great weather: good value holiday home options for golfers on the Costa del Sol

British buyers have an ongoing love affair with the Costa del Sol.
Top-notch: Britons flock to Marbella for its superb golf courses and Costa del Sol weather
Alamy Stock Photo
Cathy Hawker23 November 2018

Fifty years have passed since the rich and infamous first started bowling up in Marbella — but our love affair with sunny southern Spain still sizzles.

The 2008 global recession caused turmoil in Spain and average property prices today are still 20 per cent below their 2007 peak.

Yet through good years and bad, Britons are the main international buyers of second homes on the Costa del Sol.

“In 2005 Britons made up 70 per cent of our customers and probably two thirds of the entire Costa del Sol market. In 2007 Brits bought just over 17,000 homes in Spain,” says Marc Pritchard of Taylor Wimpey Spain. In 2009 they bought about 5,000.

Last year the numbers buying in Spain were back up to 9,200 with the UK still the largest single overseas market, but they have been joined by Germans, Belgians, Dutch and Scandinavians among others, all drawn by the Mediterranean beaches, easy access from across Europe, a safe environment with a strong infrastructure and of course, the golden weather.

“The joy of the Costa del Sol is its variety,” says Pritchard. “From the Golden Mile in Marbella to Benahavis, Spain’s richest community and on to affordable Estepona, buyers have excellent options.”

VALUE IN ESTEPONA

With prices on average at least half those in glitzy Puerto Banus, the well-kept town of Estepona is 20 minutes west of Marbella and 15 minutes east of Sotogrande.

The additional hour’s distance from Malaga airport is a worthwhile trade-off for buyers seeking value.

Estepona boasts six golf courses, a new inland swimming lagoon and a popular marina in a beautiful natural coastal setting under the Sierra Bermeja mountains.

Its charming Old Town is significantly less developed and less crowded than Marbella’s.

In Estepona Pueblo Chestertons International is selling a three-bedroom flat in a modern block for £288,000 and an eight-bedroom end-of-terrace potential B&B for £332,000.

£288,000: Chestertons International is selling a three-bedroom flat in this modern block in Estepona 

Two miles inland looking directly at the greens of Estepona Golf, the first 20 of 48 three-bedroom, three-storey townhouses at Green Golf are £261,000 through Taylor Wimpey Spain.

Due for completion in 2020, these homes have good terraces, private garages and storerooms.

NEW-BUILD IN MIJAS

Southern Europe’s largest golf resort is La Cala, established nearly 30 years ago near Mijas, just 25 minutes from Malaga.

The resort is five miles inland with about 500 houses and plans for another 500 but even when fully built it will only have a maximum density of 12 per cent.

Homes are built in clusters across the hilly resort and share good, established facilities of spa, gyms, indoor and outdoor pools and restaurants, with the golf academy and three courses taking centre stage.

Most owners are keen golfers and a third are full-time residents.

£261,000: with direct views of Estepona Golf, new three-bedroom, three-storey townhouses with generous terraces, underground parking and communal swimming pool at Green Golf. Through Taylor Wimpey Spain

Taylor Wimpey Spain is selling Horizon Apartments, handsome new-build homes overlooking the golf course at La Cala, from £250,000 for two-bedroom flats and £297,000 for three-bedroom flats.

The largest would rent from March to November for £611 to £1,135 a week with owners receiving 65 per cent of income and paying about £2,710 annual service charges.

Immediately outside La Cala, the final five apartments at La Floresta, a scheme of 210 units divided between 11 three-storey buildings, are priced from £197,000 for two-bedroom 970sq ft homes. They share a communal pool and have distant sea views.

“The market is active up to £262,000 on the Costa del Sol but over £305,000 it is slow,” says Taylor Wimpey Spain’s Marc Pritchard.

“Further inland you can find a villa and pool priced from £175,000 but few buyers are willing to drive more than 15 miles from the coast.”