Diana Morales Properties Issues Annual Marbella Market Report for 2011 and Forecasts for 2012

Property prices in Marbella, Spain, have largely stabilized this year, reports exclusive Affiliate Diana Morales Properties in their 2011 Marbella Real Estate Market Report. The company registered a solid volume of enquiries, as well as some significant sales. The report noted that top end of the market has proved more robust than other segments. This particularly holds true for the best real estate and for areas that are

highly desirable to an international clientele.

At the time of preparing this market report the world, and Europe in particular, is once again facing great uncertainty. Many of us thought the worst was over when our economies seemed to have weathered the initial storms and begun their slow return to growth, with gradual recovery a reasonable expectation. Now, just three years on from the financial crash brought on by the subprime crisis, we seem to be facing another financial crisis – and the dark clouds of recession gather menacingly once again.

A normal macroeconomic downturn has been exacerbated by a private sector crisis in 2008 and a public sector crisis in 2011. As a result, the little solid footing we thought we had is fast turning to quicksand and the markets are reacting accordingly, fluctuating wildly but mostly downwards. In times like these, confidence is a concept lost and economic boom an almost unimaginable state, so we turn to those things that offer solidity – like gold, land and, in some cases, bricks and mortar – and wait out the storm.

The end of 2011 should bring clarity one way or another, and though many possible scenarios are currently being sketched, from dissolution of the Euro and even the European Union to a satisfactory solution to the sovereign debt crisis and accompanying financial instability, it is important to remember that things are never quite as critical as they might seem at a time like this, just as they are never quite as wonderful as they seem during periods of boom and plenty.

As the year nears its end, we look anxiously towards 2012. This year was the best so far for Marbella since the credit crunch in 2008, but the crucial point is whether this recovery will continue or whether a second financial crisis will throw Europe back into a much-feared "double-dip" recession.

Recently the pace for infrastructure improvement has been slower. However, road improvements, the new airport terminal, and the political will to improve the region and provide rail links, parks, and more beach promenades still appears to be solid. 

Marbella Real Estate Report 2011