Appetite amongst buyers for property in Marbella has strengthened over the last year, particularly in the prime and super-prime end of the market, according to Knight Frank’s latest report.

The Marbella Insight 2018, which can be viewed in full here, found that prime areas such as the beachfront, Golden Mile and La Zagaleta remained highly popular, but new emerging prime markets are starting to offer some stiff competition. This is particularly evident in La Alqueria, Atalaya, El Paraiso and the New Golden Mile.

The research also revealed that 70% of purchases were made by cash buyers in the last 12 months, with buyers from Scandinavia, Germany and Benelux the most prominent.

Despite the ongoing uncertainty surrounding Brexit – and the planned exit date of March 2019 – demand for property in Marbella from British investors remains unwavering. In total, there were 49,553 sales to foreign buyers across Spain in the second half of 2017, with the UK accounting for the largest market share of all overseas buyers at 14.3%. This increases to 26% when analysing British demand in Andalucia, according to Spanish Land Registry.

Marbella remains popular with residential investors, with demand for both holiday lets and long-term rentals remaining strong. This is helped by the possibility of achieving gross rental yields of 3%-4%. The demand for holiday rentals is further helped by the lack of a limit on the length of holiday rentals made via short-let host platforms such as Airbnb and HomeAway, which is in stark contrast to the positon taken by Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca.

“Lack of buildable land continues to put pressure on prices, with some areas registering double-digit annual growth in 2017,” Mark Harvey, head of European sales at Knight Frank, said.

On Brexit, he added: “Assuming the withdrawal treaty is agreed, both sides have committed to a 21-month transition period which would postpone the full effects of Brexit until the end of 2020, providing expats with time to secure residency and lock in existing EU benefits.”