The strength of the dollar, an increase in direct flights and an appetite for the ‘Spanish way of life’ have driven more U.S. buyers to the country’s real-estate market
Ron Hale ushered in 2023 by relocating from landlocked Orlando, Fla., to a primary residence in Marbella, on southern Spain’s Mediterranean coast. In January, the 59-year-old founder and CEO of Natural Tone Organic Skincare, a Florida-based beauty-supply company, closed on a 3,000-square-foot, three-story townhouse, with four bedrooms, spacious balconies, sea views and a sale price of $1.1 million.
Mr. Hale, who wanted a base to better supervise his company’s diverse European interests, chose Marbella, a glamorous resort known for its balmy year-round climate, because of “the food, the golf and the international flair of it all,” he says. And his newly remodeled turnkey purchase—what he likes to call a place to lock and leave—has easy access to Málaga airport, the gateway to Spain’s Costa del Sol region, a 45-minute drive away.
“Golfing interests me,” he says, citing his townhouse’s proximity to a number of courses, such as the Real Club de Golf Las Brisas. “But the airport is key.”
Florida native Ron Hale, beauty-supply entrepreneur, just relocated to Marbella from Orlando.
American buyers of primary residences and vacation homes are shaking up the Spanish real-estate market. Mark Stücklin, a Barcelona-based real-estate analyst who owns the website Spanish Property Insight, says Spanish notary records indicate that sales to Americans were up 76% in the first half of 2022 compared with the year before, making it the highest half-year by volume on record.
Mr. Stücklin says the plurality of Americans are buying in Andalusia, the region that includes Marbella, Málaga and Seville. Sean Woolley, managing director of Cloud Nine Spain, which handles sales of coastal properties between Málaga and Gibraltar, says Americans “were never really on our radar before,” but they now make up 25% of his sales and 20% of his inquiries.
This new wave of expat American is coming for a “Spanish way of life” that his clients regard as a respite from political divisions and the threat of gun violence, he says.
Newly resettled Americans typically arrive with school-age children, he adds, but maintain their home ties, spending summers and holidays back in the U.S. “We have American buyers coming in every single week,” he says. “I have never seen anything like it.”
Find your perfect Property