Marbella
Four towns wearing one name, and the one you buy in decides almost everything about the life.
- 160,478 people (1 January 2025)
- 27 km of coast
- 60 min to the airport
- the coast's public hospital is here
The downside
What we'd tell you on the phone.
The parts that aren't in the brochure.
The average here is €5,967 a square metre, the highest on the coast.
That average hides an enormous spread: San Pedro and Las Chapas are a different market from the Golden Mile, and a Marbella postcode on a listing tells you almost nothing until you look at where the pin is.
It is an hour from the airport, and the AP-7 toll is what makes it an hour.
The free coastal A-7 through San Pedro and Banús in August is a different journey entirely.
There is no train and there is no plan for one that anyone should count on.
Everything here assumes a car.
The schools are the real draw for families, and they fill.
If a school place is part of the plan, ring the school before you shortlist the house, because the catchment for a private school is wherever you can stand the drive from at 8am.
Puerto Banús is a place people visit rather than live in, and living beside it in July and August is a decision, not a bonus.
Walk it late on a Saturday before you commit.
Marbella is a municipality of 160,000 people spread along twenty-seven kilometres of coast, and the name covers four quite different places. There is the old town, whitewashed and walkable, with the Plaza de los Naranjos in the middle of it. There is the Golden Mile and Puerto Banús, which is what the name means to most people. There is Nueva Andalucía behind the port, the golf valley, where a lot of the family housing is. And there is San Pedro de Alcántara at the western end, a proper Spanish town with its own market and its own centre, and prices noticeably below the rest.
It suits buyers who want the schools, the restaurants and the medical care all within twenty minutes, and who will pay for that. It suits families in particular: four international schools are inside the municipality. The range is the widest on the coast: detached villas east of the town and around the Golden Mile run from about €1.65m to several million, while at €5,967 a square metre on average a smaller budget buys a flat some way back from the sea.
Photos via Wikimedia Commons, cropped: Mark Gilbert (CC BY-SA 3.0), Zarateman (CC0), Cabeza2000 (CC BY-SA 4.0), Konrad Hädener (CC BY 2.0), Harvey Barrison (CC BY-SA 2.0), Cimoi (CC BY-SA 3.0)
District by district
Marbella is several places under one name.
Each district has its own guide: what it is like, what it costs, the schools and the drive times, and what we'd tell you on the phone.
Swipe for more.
Property
What your money buys here.
The average asking price in Marbella was €5,967 per m² in September 2026, +3.2% on a year earlier (idealista price report). The examples below were opened and read on 18 September to 8 October 2026. Stock moves weekly, so treat them as the shape of the market, not as houses to buy.
A three-bed, two-bath flat of 94 m² in Nueva Andalucía, built in 2001, third floor with a lift, parking, a pool and gardens in the complex, twenty minutes' walk from the beach.
Opened and read. Near Puerto Banús without being on it, which is the part that makes the price work.
A three-bed, two-bath flat of 110 m² on the main avenue in San Pedro de Alcántara, built in 1978, first floor with a lift and a terrace.
Opened and read. San Pedro is where the square metres still are in this municipality; a 1978 build wants its surveying done properly.
Two-bed flats in Elviria, Santa María Golf and Los Naranjos sit in this band.
Listed, not opened.
A five-bed, four-bath Andalusian villa from 1980 east of the town, 450 m² built on a 1,000 m² south-facing plot, with sea views, a mature garden and its own pool.
Opened and read on 2 October 2026, and one we can show you. Resale, so 7% transfer tax on top: about €1.77m before notary, registry and legal fees.
Modern three-bed villas with their own pool, lift and roof solarium in an established area about five minutes by car from the centre, one finished and five about to be built.
Read on 8 October 2026, and one we can show you. New build, so 10% IVA and 1.2% stamp duty on top if the price excludes them.
Add 10 to 13% on top of any price for taxes and fees. The cost calculator gives the real number for a given price.
At the top end. Above about €750,000 the Marbella market lives in its districts, and each has its own page with listings we opened, what to check and what we'd tell you on the phone. At this level we work a little differently: a first consultation, a written brief and a shortlist from every agency and developer.
The Golden MileNueva AndalucíaMarbella EastThe private serviceCosts at €1m
Homes we can show you
Homes we can show you in Marbella.
Resales and new builds from agencies and developers we work with, each one read, priced with its tax and with what we'd check before an offer. We arrange the viewing, and if a developer or agency pays us, we tell you in writing before you sign. See them all on Properties.
Off-planMarbella EastGarden apartments and penthouses on the hill at Elviria2 and 3 bed · 4 pools, gym and co-workingFrom €690,000 + 10% IVA
New buildEast Marbella, a few minutes' drive from the cityFinished three-bed apartments on the front line of a golf course, east of Marbella3 bed · ready now · frontline golf · pools and sports facilitiesFrom €1,250,000 + 10% IVA
Off-planMarbella EastThe last apartment by the golf at Cabopino3 bed · 3 bath · 133 m² built · garden and covered terrace€1,350,000 + 10% IVA
ResaleGolden Mile, MarbellaA renovated three-bed with sea views on the Golden Mile3 bed · 2 bath · 126 m² built · south-facing terraces€1,499,000 + 7% ITP
New buildValdeolletas, MarbellaContemporary villas a few minutes from the town3 bed en suite · own pool · lift · roof solariumFrom €1,890,000 + 10% IVA
ResaleGolden Mile, MarbellaA three-bed duplex penthouse on the Golden Mile3 bed · 3 bath · 276 m² built · 114 m² of terraces · three pools€1,995,000 + 7% ITP
Off-planMarbella EastFour contemporary villas a minute from the beach4 bed · 4 bath · pool, gym, sauna and solariumFrom €3,400,000 + 10% IVA
New buildGolden Mile, MarbellaFinished six-bed villas in a gated estate on the Golden Mile6 bed · 1,440 m² plots · ready to move inFrom €6,400,000 + 10% IVA
Off-planGolden Mile, MarbellaA seven-bathroom villa with sea and mountain views on the Golden Mile6 bed + staff room · 7 bath · 1,177 m² plot€7,800,000 + 10% IVAThe practical page
Where things actually are.
Every link below was opened and checked on 18 September 2026. Drive times are measured on Google Maps at a normal hour, not guessed.
01Getting there and around60 min to Málaga airport, and the rest
- 60 minto Málaga airport (52.2 km, via AP-7)
- 66 minto Málaga city centre (Alameda) (61.7 km, via A-355 and A-357)
- 34 minto Estepona (33.8 km, via AP-7)
- Avanza coaches to and from Marbella
The bus station on Avenida Trapiche runs the airport, Málaga, Estepona, Algeciras and the Banús shuttle. There is no train, and there has been no train for fifty years.
- All Avanza Málaga lines, with PDF timetables
- Puerto Banús marina
- Málaga airport (AENA)
02Everyday life4 places, each link checked
03Health5 places, each link checked
Residents register with the public system through the local health centre. How that works for Irish owners is in the healthcare guide.
- Hospital Costa del Sol
The public reference hospital for the whole western coast, and it is in the municipality. That is a real argument for Marbella that nobody puts in a brochure.
- Centro de Salud Leganitos (the town centre)
- Centro de Salud Las Albarizas
- Centro de Salud La Campana (Nueva Andalucía)
- Centro de Salud San Pedro de Alcántara
04Schools5 schools, each link checked
- Aloha College, British curriculum and IB, Nueva Andalucía
- Swans International School, British curriculum, Marbella
Two campuses, one in the town and one at Sierra Blanca.
- Laude San Pedro International College, San Pedro de Alcántara
- Atalaya International School, IB, on the Estepona side
- State schools: the Junta's school finder (catchments and places)
05Sport and outdoors4 places, each link checked
- The beach catalogue: every beach in the municipality
- Golf in Marbella
The Nueva Andalucía golf valley alone holds Las Brisas, Los Naranjos and Aloha.
- Municipal sports facilities
- Sport and activities on the tourism site
Golf
7 courses in and around Marbella.
Each has its own page: the courses, who can play, green fees where the club publishes them and how far it is from the airport. Every course on the coast.
Start your search
Thinking about Marbella?
We've set the search to Marbella. Tell us your budget and what you want, and we'll tell you honestly whether it fits, and what else to look at.
Rather talk first? Call +353 87 440 5321 or message us on WhatsApp.