Marbella Luxury Property Market Insights: Drumelia’s 2024 First Semester Review

By Carmen Zambrana Castañeda August 8th, 2024 · 11m. reading time

Welcome to Drumelia's First Semester Report for 2024. This report provides a comprehensive overview of our activities and achievements in Marbella's luxury real estate market.

This year has certainly been an adventure from which we have learned a lot. Our team has grown, not only in numbers but also in expertise. And we are only talking about the first half of the year! We are looking forward to the second half of the year: we will work hard to continue to provide the best service.

In this report you will find information on sales, exclusive property listings and marketing from 1 January 2024 to 30 June 2024. Our goal is to present transparent data and insights that reflect the current trends and realities of the industry.

With two decades of expertise, Drumelia blends tradition with the latest real estate trends. We provide a unique mix of experience and modern marketing strategies, ensuring ease and innovation in every client’s journey. Drumelia is dedicated to building the finest human team, prioritizing experience and education in order to provide the best service.

During 2023, we made strategic decisions and improvements to reach our goal of tripling our sales volume in 2024. This included a comprehensive selection process that brought on board a new Sales Manager, Jörg Dombrowe, in January 2024. His task was to consolidate a stronger sales team, which now consists of 18 professionals:

• 2 Sales Managers
• 3 Senior Property Consultants
• 2 Heads of Exclusives
• 2 Property Advisors
• 6 Property Consultants
• 3 Sales Assistants

In addition to our sales team, we also have other great team members that work hard to reach our goal, bringing our total to 40 people, supported by strong in-house departments such as marketing, listings, after-sales, and legal.

The current information provides a snapshot of sales to date:

• In the first half of 2024, Drumelia completed 40 high-end property transactions (including PPC -Private Purchase Contract- and notaries).
• Out of these sales, 63% correspond to direct buyers and 37% to collaborator buyers.
• The average sale price of these transactions during the first semester of 2024 was €4,595,560, a 23% increase from last year's average of €3,714,077.
• Our sales volume this first semester of 2024 is €183,822,400, increasing Drumelia's sales volume by 160% compared to the same period in 2023.
• About price fluctuations in the market, we have observed that the overall average discount on property deals, representing the difference between the asking price and the final selling price, was 6%. This is very similar to last year's figure of 5%. It’s important to note that, generally, modern and newer properties have a less average discount.

Related to our sales growth, Artur Loginov, Drumelia’s CEO notes: "We established a strategy in December 2023 to achieve a 200% increase compared to last year's sales, i.e., to triple our sales volume in 2024 compared to 2023 and achieve over 80 property sale. Thanks to the team's efforts, Drumelia's sales volume by June 30th showed a significant increase in line with our strategies”.

To present a more realistic picture of the market and our business, we include notaries and PPC in this report to reflect the number of sales closing or about to close in the first half of the year. However, in our year-end report, as always, only notary sales will be counted.

The data we use to compare our growth is the final notary data from the past year, 2023, which can be found in Drumelia’s 2023 Sales Report. To make this calculation, we have taken last year's final data and divided it by two to approximate the half-year data, allowing us to compare it with the first half of 2024.

We are confident that we will be able to achieve this ambitious sales growth by the end of 2024, which will reinforce our status as a strong company with a professional team at its core.

Our real estate agency specializes in the luxury property market in Marbella and its surroundings, with our top business areas being:

• Properties Sierra Blanca & Properties in Cascada de Camojan
• Properties in La Zagaleta
• Properties in Nagüeles
• Properties in La Quinta & Properties in Nueva Andalucia

These prime locations are highly sought after, cementing their status as prime destinations for luxury real estate investments. This is why our transactions reflect the current state of the market, being concentrated in Marbella (52%), Benahavis (28%) and other areas (20%).

We serve a diverse international clientele, reflecting our broad reach in the luxury real estate market. In total, buyers from 19 different nationalities have invested in Drumelia properties from 1 January to 30 June 2024. The top six nationalities of our buyers include:

• Spain
• Germany
• Belgium
• Canada
• France
• United Kingdom

Currently, we have 36 properties listed as exclusive, of which 4 are under offer. These exclusive listings, mainly distributed between Benahavis and Zagaleta (44%), Marbella (44%) and other areas (12%), have an average price of €7,143,444.

In terms of Drumelia Exclusive Listings sold, we have conducted an analysis of the market trends that have affected their sales.

Properties sold in 6 months or less:

These properties are generally modern, aligning with current market demand. They tend to have fewer viewings before being sold, with an average of 7 visits before being sold. This suggests high buyer interest and quicker decision-making. These properties remain, on average, on the market for, approximately, 3 months and a half from the time the exclusivity contract is signed until they are finally sold. The prices between them vary significantly, indicating that uniqueness can be present in both mid-range and high-end properties, and that modern design is appreciated in all price ranges. However, exceptions exist where properties either had specific characteristics or conditions that influenced their sale:

• D3662 (Imara): Although not a modern property, D3662 was sold quickly due to its lower-than-market price, making it an attractive option for buyers. This shows that pricing can significantly influence the speed of a sale, even for properties that don't align with current trends.
• D3059 (Gloria): This classic property was in perfect condition, which appealed to buyers despite not being modern. The well-maintained nature of the house likely mitigated the need for renovations, contributing to its relatively fast sale.
• D3069 (Emare Pearl), D3747 (Golden One), and D3003 (Auli): These modern properties, despite being sold in less than 6 months, had a higher number of viewings. The combination of modern design and Drumelia's effective marketing strategies increased buyer interest, resulting in more showings even though they were sold in less than half a year.

Properties sold in more than 6 months:

As a general rule, these houses are not modern, which diverts the buyer's attention to other more modern houses due to market trends; they are often classic houses in need of renovation. Properties in this category take significantly longer to sell, also requiring a high number of viewings, with an average of 19 visits before being sold. This suggests potential issues such as being overpriced, having urbanistic problems, or possessing complicated plots. These factors likely make these properties less attractive to buyers, highlighting the importance of an agent advising on a price more in line with market demand. This can prevent the property from spending too much time on the market, which can further diminish its appeal. These properties typically spend an average of 12 months and a half on the market from the signing of the exclusivity contract until their subsequent sale. However, there can be exceptions:

• D3390 (Emare Jade): Despite being a modern property, it took 9 months to sell, possibly due to a much higher price, close to 10 million. With that said, it is still a good sales rate for a property of this price range. It also still needed fewer viewings than the other houses sold in more than 6 months because it's a modern property.

Conclusion:

Modern properties are generally favored in the Marbella market, selling faster and with fewer viewings. However, pricing, property condition, and effective marketing strategies also play significant roles in determining how quickly a property sells. For properties that are not modern, sales are slower, often requiring more viewings, unless they are priced attractively or in impeccable condition.

From 1 January to 30 June 2024, we have facilitated numerous visits to properties:

• 1,051 viewings, which translates to almost 6 visits per day during this period, including Saturdays and Sundays.
• 45% of the viewings were with direct clients and 55% through collaborators' clients.
• Out of these viewings, the closing rate for sales with direct clients was almost four times higher than those with collaborators’ clients. However, it's important to note that the final statistics will be shown in the end of year report, as many visits made during the first half will likely result in more deals, as some visits need more time to convert into sales.

This balanced approach highlights our network of partners and our broad client base, enabling us to deliver personalised experiences that cater to the tastes of luxury property buyers. Importantly though, our curated client base, when it comes to closing the sale, attracts greater results.

Our social media presence has grown significantly in 2024. Our video reels (Drumelia Real Estate Instagram) have accumulated over 28 million views and our Instagram followers have grown from 167,000 to 209,000, an increase of 42,000 new followers.

This impressive growth reflects our efforts and research into engagement strategies and the appeal of our luxury property content. The main focus behind this achievement has always been to bring properties to life and to convey feelings and our real estate knowledge in our social media.

In terms of the performance of our website, we have recorded a significant difference in the number of visitors (users) and visits to our web compared to the same period last year 2023:

• From January 1 to June 30, 2024, the number of users increased to 374,000 from 197,000 in the same period in 2023, representing an approximate user growth of 90%.
• The number of views surged from 1,264,058 in the first half of 2023 to 9,474,105 in the first half of 2024, marking a view growth of 650%. This increase demonstrates the trust and interest in our brand and content of properties.

These results are the sum of new strategies and process optimisation such as our Organic Google traffic.

For Drumelia, these metrics indicate the success of digital marketing efforts, improved efficiency in attracting online leads and increased visibility in Marbella's competitive luxury real estate market. What's more, they also represent increased online interest in Marbella's luxury properties, which is remarkable in a niche market such as ours.

The first half of 2024 has been a period of learning, achievement and hard work for us at Drumelia. With solid sales figures, new strategic listings and a strong growth in digital presence, we continue to consolidate our commitment to delivering exceptional service and exclusive properties to a discerning international clientele.

On the business side, and affecting all our departments and corporate structure, we are taking our first steps towards a completely new and, to say the least, ambitious strategy for 2025. We will take challenging steps to change, for the better, the real estate industry.

We are looking for the best professionals at Drumelia. During August, we have published 8 new vacancies which can be found in the Careers section of our website. Additional positions will be published in December 2024 in order to meet our 2025 targets. We seek to position ourselves as a leading company in creating a unique business model in the luxury real estate market in Marbella, transforming real estate sales and marketing, to set new, higher standards.

Now you know more about Drumelia. Interested in the Marbella luxury real estate market? Let our team of luxury real estate professionals guide you on your way.

Discover the potential of Marbella's luxury market with Drumelia!