The Costa Property Podcast

#45 The California of Europe? Why 2025 is the Year to Invest in Costa del Sol Real Estate

• Warner and Sandra Laurie - WL Costa Properties Real Estate Spain • Episode 45

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In this episode of The Costa Property Podcast, we dive into the hottest trends shaping the Costa del Sol property market right now. Whether you’re dreaming of a second home, a lifestyle upgrade, or making Spain your permanent base, this is your essential guide to navigating 2025’s real estate landscape.

From the surge in American buyers to the latest changes in tourist licenses, we share our on the ground insights to help you make informed decisions. Plus, we reveal why the Costa del Sol remains one of the most desirable destinations for expats and investors alike.

Tune in to discover:

✅ What’s driving demand in the Costa del Sol property market in 2025.
✅ The rise of younger second-home buyers - and what they’re looking for.
✅ How recent changes in tourist license regulations impact investors.
✅ The truth about property prices: Are they still rising, or leveling off?
✅ Why international buyers, including Americans, are flocking to the "California of Europe."
✅ Expert tips to simplify your buying journey.


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 If you're looking at the cost of del Sol for your next property investment, you're probably wondering, is now, in 2025, really the

right time? What's the market actually doing? And you've probably heard about the influx of US buyers here, right? Well, here's the thing, whether you're eyeing up a villa or looking for a rental property for investment, these trends are shaping the market In a big way.

Today, we're going to give you the inside track on what's happening right now? on the 

cost of del Sol property market. Where is it headed? And most 

importantly, how can you make these trends work for you in 

2025? We'll break down the latest markets trend, touch on why US buyers are flocking to Spain, and explore how these changes could affect your personal investment strategy.

But first, as usual, let's jump into our Spanish word of the day.  And our Spanish word of the day today is the word for tendency or trend. In Spanish it's Latencia.  Now let's jump into today's

episode. 

Warner, let's cut to it. What is happening right now? What's happening on the ground? And can you give us a little bit of an overview of what you're seeing right now? We're in 

January

2025. What you are seeing 

happening right 

now on the Costa del Sol. So right now, Sandra, the Costa del Sol is still booming.

Every year from 2022, 

we've been seeing

You know, the cost of del Sol is rising and rising and rising and

25 

with the feedback And all the statistics and everything coming 

in. is going to be another bumper year for people buying their dream home in

the sun. Absolutely. And what, what's happening in terms of things like demand?

What is happening with the demand right now? So there's lots of different buyers in the market just now. So the demand for properties is soaring across the, across the Del Sol, especially with luxury properties, you know, your Marbella. There's a lot

of action happening down there. There's a lot of talk about Marbella  on social media.

So there's a lot of hype there. But anything along the  coastline is really attracting investors. Obviously because of the investment opportunity. And obviously Malaga as a city is just absolutely booming. There's so much. Infrastructure and economics is, is looking very healthy. So. All of this is bringing a feel good factor and people just 

want to be

here.

Let's take it closer to home. So we're based in Benamadena. You know, we're 

definitely more specializing from formalinous Benamadena fuengirola type hatch. You're probably the busiest agent when you are. The busiest 

on the ground in Benamadena with the most properties listed, selling large volume. What are you seeing in Benamadera?

What's 

happening on the brands here right now?  Yeah, 2024 was a fantastic year and probably our best year yet for WL Costa Properties. 

It was our 

best year yet. It was our best 

year yet.  

At the start of 2024, we had a lot 

of buyers come into the 

market to buy for investment, to rent these properties out, an 

Airbnb. Towards the end of 2024, we're starting to see, because of the changes in the tourist license laws, 

we're starting to see 

a drop in people buying for investment 

and we're starting to see the second 

home holiday owners come back into the market.  

Which is really 

refreshing. I agree with you on that, and  I had heard of that trend 

starting, probably the back end of COVID, you know, 2022,  2023, when 2022, especially when people started to travel over here again, and we start to see that influx of people again.

But 

I hadn't seen it in the volume that we've 

seen it this year. So this year. I agree with you, we've absolutely seen people buy for a second home. They've realized over the course of what's happened in the world in the last few years that they don't want to wait for that opportunity anymore. They want to follow that dream and they want to start living that life now where they divide their time between their home country around the warmer climate here in Spain and really soak up all that life has to offer them.

And they're younger in age group as well. So when we make that assumption or we visualize that avatar, that customer in our head. Typically before we would have thought that they were maybe that older in profile, closer to retirement age or after, but that's not the case anymore, right? They're younger, they're in the prime of their career, or they still have quite a few years to go to retire and they just don't want to delay.

their life anymore and they want to start enjoying what Spain has to offer now. Would you agree with that? Yeah, I would totally agree with that. The genre of people coming through now to, to buy a second home is between 45 and just under 60. So they're starting to, to start to really realize going on holiday or if you've got a family is very expensive.

If you're paying for hotels,  your flights, etc. So they're starting to realize, look, we can buy a holiday home in Spain and really use that holiday home and  get the lifestyle that we want. When they come here, they know the supermarkets they go to, they know the places where they can go to eat, they like that.

And from when I lived in the Costa del Sol for over 20 years, When I was here when I was younger, that was the kind of people would, because when they had holiday homes, their families would come over and all of a sudden they would buy a property and then that's how the Costa del Sol, especially here in Benomadena, a lot of people call it a family area. 

Because of the generations that are buying properties, it's really, really good for them to come back into the market. So that type of buyer has come back, but that did stop for a period of time, but they're from different places, right? We've seen the Irish buyer come back in force this year because cost of living in Ireland and property prices in Ireland have just become so expensive.

So rather than buy a second investment property in Ireland, they're going, Hey, ho, I'm going We'll, we'll sell that and we'll, we'll buy in Spain and. The good thing about the Costa del Sol is, as you correctly say, is you can make it as budget friendly or as expensive as you want to. It just really depends on what you're looking for when it comes to that lifestyle that you want to enjoy.

We've seen Polish buyer come in and force this deal. We're seeing the British buyer back again so that they're not being so deterred by Brexit. They're getting used to the amount of time and the rules and regulations that they can spend in Spain, and they're starting to come back into control. market enforced again, right?

Yeah, absolutely. We're seeing every nationality coming back into the Costa del Sol and investing in the Costa del Sol, which is driving demands. And obviously we're starting to see when the people that were buying for investment that had four or five different ones with the change of the laws for the tourist license, we're starting to see more product come on the market for these type of buyers.

Which is great because it brings a different generation, different culture. Yeah, I think there's a few things to clarify there as well that are still relevant. You've mentioned a few times now the change in the rules around rental properties, tourist license. Yes, there has been changes in the rules, but it's still possible to obtain a tourist license.

You just need to ensure that you comply with the latest regulations. And you just also need to make sure that the town, Or the location that you're purchasing in has not been indicating any red flags towards tourist lessons. But your real estate agent that you're working with will be able to guide you and advise you in connection with that.

So if your plan is to purchase, utilize it yourself.  But optimize for short term rentals when you're not in the area, you just need to make sure that you're sensible about where you're purchasing and you're complying with the correct legislation. But I just, I think it's important. So just to set the record straight on this while we're talking about this topic as well, you know, Tourism recovery.

Tourism is strong. It has bounced back massively in recent years. Despite the reports in the press last year, some of the scaremongering that went on that tourists are not welcome, this is absolutely not the case. The reaction is very strongly connected with local accommodation shortages for the locals, where they're struggling to get on the property market as a direct result of people buying.

Uh, for short term rental, but with the change in the legislation, the plan is to appease that situation. But tourists are still very, very, very welcome in, in Spain. So we shouldn't be deterred by that or feel that that negative sentiment is brewing in the area, because certainly here where we live in Benamadena, I haven't seen any indication of that at all.

On the contrary, tourists are welcome all the time. That is the bread and butter of what we do. Speaking of the buyers, then we talked a little bit about who's coming in. Talks about Polish buyer. We talked about lots of Northern European, uh, buyers coming in from locations that we haven't seen before this year, but we can't forget the American buyer and the fact in 2023 and 2024, we really did see the U S buyers.

blocking to the Costa del Sol in force, you know, which was a big, big change to what we had seen in previous years where they never really made it into the top list of buyers in the area. They just didn't exist in the volume that we've seen recently, right? Yeah, the Americans have really taken over and I think it's the fact that they called the Costa del Sol the California of Europe. 

I think they like the idea that the lifestyle that brings. I know from my American clients that I've sold, they do love the lifestyle, they do love the culture of the Costa del Sol, and that's what was, was drawn them to come and buy in Malaga. It was a dream for them, and they're very happy, and they love touring around.

The culture, I think,  is a really big draw for them. Yeah, and I think we've been quite lucky over the course of this last year to really sit down with our American clients and get to know them close as friends. And I think what I took away from our discussions with them is the fact that, certainly in the parts of the States where they came from, they work incredibly hard. 

Very much work, work, work, ethos, work, work, work, work, work to get ahead, very driven by that work culture. And I think in Spain, I'm not saying that we don't work hard in Spain, but we work differently and there's a very much of a different attitude towards work life balance, which I don't think that our clients experienced in the States.

So that was certainly. The allure of Spain, just that really been able to experience that different approach to life and work life balance. So I think that's definitely been a factor, that lifestyle factor, just very much drawn to the fact that Spain allows you that opportunity to slow down and be present, to really enjoy that relaxed pace of life.

And you know, it's the same as what you said, it's just that perfect location for US retirees. Or those coming close to retirement to really have that bolthole in Europe and be able to access other countries, other cultures, other locations very easily from Malaga. Such a bonus. Yeah. And over the last couple of years, a lot more flights have started to fly from New York  The USA, so it's a platform there that it's easier to get to now, so there's a lot more coming to explore it.

And Malaga offers direct routes to various different destinations. In the U. S. So that is massively, I guess, supporting the decision, just in terms of ease of transfer. Obviously, I think it's, it's incredible to something to mention here that in the first half of 2024, U. S. buyers in Spain saw a 13 percent increase in property acquisitions compared to previous years with the Costa del Sol being one of their favorite destinations in Spain.

I think, as you mentioned, Werner, very much connected to. That Marbella, sorry if I quote you correctly, is considered the California of the cost of alcohol. So we're definitely seeing that in the numbers, which is fantastic. Okay. So I want to put your thinking hat on now, you know, get your crystal ball out, start to, to look ahead, what's coming down the tracks now in 2025, what should we expect?

If I had my crystal ball for 2025, I see a very, very, very good year ahead. And why is that? Because in 2024, we changed the business a lot to actually  offer more educational, like our buyer's guides, the checklists, even to designing a digital course so that when we do have clients that come to us, we can offer all those facilities to them.

What makes it easier? So a lot of the real estates in the Costa del Sol, people think, Oh, it's easy to be a real estate agent. Yes, as easy to be a real estate agent when everybody's  But the problem is that there won't be enough clients and there won't be enough leads to support every real estate agent in the Costa Del Sol.

You have to adapt your, your techniques so that when somebody is looking to buy, they've got the trust in you. So like doing the podcasts,  like being on video and having the best website, all this educational that we are offering. And it proved the last quarter of 2024. It actually proved because the clients we fought, they knew us because they listened to the podcast or they'd done the digital course and they were just so happy and just so confident that we were the right real estate agents for them.

So that for me, I think we've laid the mark in 2024 to have a very prosperous 2025. So if I could just dissect that a little bit in terms of what you've said, you feel that.  You're comfortable for WL Cost Properties that it's set up and primed for a good year ahead because of how the business model has pivoted to be more of value of service,  educational to our clients, where that trust factor  has been built up front because we're interested about people feeling confident and informed.

To navigate their journey. And, and that's, you know, the core basis of the business. What I'm also hearing from you is that the market will be good next year for real estate agents that are diversifying and that are offering value and supporting their clients in that way.  But the footfall of people that we experienced post COVID.

And maybe I'm adding my own version in here. That high demand football and people are kind of free for all. So many people coming directly after the pandemic. That's now dried up. So we have less people coming through the door, but the, the buyer that is coming through the door is of higher quality because they are ready to buy.

And especially if they have made that commitment to get to know you and work with you or WL Acosta Properties, then they're, they're committed. They're all into working with us. So it's going to be a good year. Yes. Well, I think people have to 

work hard to ensure 

that they're. The customer that wants 

to work with them feels connected to them and they need to work harder on their business model to ensure that they're providing 

that upfront value.

So people feel that they trust you and know 

you even before they start working with you or have a 

conversation with you. Exactly. So it's all about trust. 2025 is all about trust because you have your selection of real estate agents that 

you trust. you can choose, but the ones that you trust and, and build rapport with and who 

offer that value is going to be the tip of the iceberg 

where they're going to buy from you.

As you know, in the Costa del Sol, we, we do share  

all our properties, different properties with other agents. So it's an opportunity there, but if you have the client and the client is comfortable, then he'll be happy for you to find them the property. So just to kind of sum up then in terms of what to expect in 2025, we expect to have a good year, but we expect that the footfall  of clients to be less than potentially 2023. 

But that being said, the buyer is well primed and quality and ready to buy. But there is a need for agents, for real estate agents to diversify, to ensure that they offer more upfront, that they give more. To the clients before the client even mentally engages to make a commitment to work with them. So there's that trust factor is built in advance and that's done through information, education, resources.

support like this, like this podcast, for example? Yeah, absolutely. I think the real estate agents that have adapted and brought on video, casts, anything, value adds about the cost of their install, they're the ones that are going to benefit for the certain type of buyer in 2025. The real estate agents that have the old photos on the window and expecting people to come through, come through the door and buy all the properties, I think, in those days are gone.

And it's all about online business. They're talking about AI now. So there's just so many things. It's exciting. But have you haven't adapted in 2024? And I think you could get lost. Yeah, absolutely. It's about making it easy for people. So, yeah, we're excited on that front as well. In terms of prices, Warner, what's going to happen with pricing?

Yeah, I see a rise in prices because there's just going to be that, still that supply and demand element. And we still have a problem with the supply because they can't build enough properties just now  because of the demand is so high. So the prices will grow.  But I wouldn't be expecting to see 10 or 15 percent.

I'd expect to see a steady growth with that. So, which is great, because then, like all around the world, the prices are increasing, but the cost of the whole soul. If you look at it from different cities, it's good value for money. I think we welcome a steadier increase rather than a fluctuation that we've seen, you know, recently has been, has been crazy,  crazy, crazy.

Okay, great. And I think it's worth to mention as well, when we look at  advice from government and governmental projections in terms of the state of the economy. Bain's economy is expected to remain stable with, you know, a lot of  emphasis still being placed on foreign investment. Mortgage rates are still relatively low.

Banks are still lending, which is good, good, good indications all around, right? Yeah, so it's amazing. Everybody's open for business and the cost of those sold. And so if you're thinking about buying your, your dream home in the sun, then 2025 is definitely the year to get in and buy that property. So the Costa del Sol market is super hot right now.

Great. Exciting to follow this space in 2024. Watch this space. And by all accounts, we can certainly expect, uh, continued growth. So, you know, if you are sitting at home looking out at the bad weather. In this new year, this new January, if it's cold where you are, if it's dark, if it's wet, if it's gloomy, if you're just getting over the snow, or you still have the snow, and the Costa del Sol has been on your radar for a while, why not make 2025  the year that you finally take that plunge, that you take that step and you start to make your dream.

A reality, we know from Warner's update today that the cost of market is hot right now. And that is not expected to slow down by any stretch or indications. Thank you, Warner for your insights today.  Adios and bye for now.

Adios.