Super wealthy foreigners and digital nomads boost the luxury real estate market in Costa Brava

Seafront villas, exclusive vineyard farmhouses, and homes embedded in surrounded nature and in the mountains make up the luxury real estate market in Catalonia's northern Girona area.

Homes like these start at €1.5 million and can go as high as €20 million. The luxury real estate market in the Girona regions has taken off in recent years due to the attractiveness of the area.

Quality finishes, marble, high-end woods, avant-garde architecture, privileged views of the sea or mountains, swimming pools, home automation systems, energy saving and other private services - such as wineries, spas or even discos and cinemas - are common features in many of these homes.

Foreigners represent 80% of sales in this super wealthy subsect of the market, while the trend is to pay in cash.

Alongside those looking for second homes, digital nomads also look to buy houses to settle for a while, before often moving to another place, is another growing trend.

Real estate agents, however, tell the Catalan News Agency (ACN) that the luxury market is "so exclusive" that it stands out from the rest and "does not aggravate" the problems of access to housing.

There are no official statistics on the luxury housing market in Catalonia, but data from the Association of Real Estate Agents (API) is a good thermometer to put numbers on this market segment.

"In the region, there are currently around 2,700 properties on offer that cost more than €1 million; they represent approximately 13% of the entire housing stock in the Girona area," explains the president of the association in Girona, Joan Company.

"They are mostly houses, both designer villas and well-located farmhouses, but with a significant presence on the Costa Brava," he specifies.

Around 2,000 of these properties are offered for a price that ranges between a €1-2 million, 500 more are in the range of €2-3 million, and the rest are higher than this figure, in some cases, even exceeding €20 million.

The most exclusive villas are located in Begur, S'Agaró, or Sant Feliu de Guíxols, while there are also manor houses and rustic estates in the Empordà area that cost more than €5 million.

Girona attractiveness

Alongside services, there are other reasons attracting people ot the area.

"The first thing that the Costa Brava offers our clients is security, both on a personal level and when it comes to preventing theft; and this is what people prioritize when investing here," explains the CEO of the real estate company Corredor Mató, Marc Piferrer. The cliamte and gastronomy are the second and third factors.

In recent years, the luxury real estate market in the Girona area has taken off. "There has always been demand, but it has increased since the pandemic," explains the managing partner of Barnes International Realty on the Costa Brava, Jordi Mercader. people value being able to increase their quality of life, and the Costa Brava is a privileged destination in the Mediterranean", 

Around 80% of the contracts that Barnes ends up signing are with foreign buyers. 

However, the API association points out that, precisely because of its foreign dependence, the luxury market is subject to "fluctuations according to the international panorama," such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Luxury real estate is also not usually synonymous with a mortgage, as a significant proportion of buyers pay in cash. "It happens in most cases," explains the president of the Girona API.

Separate from the rest of the market

Luxury homes are located in areas where there is not much demand, as buyers seek exclusivity and privacy, and therefore the Girona APIs separate this segment from the general difficulties of accessing housing. 

"I would say that it has no influence at all", Joan Company says, referring to the tensions in access to housing. "Luxury real estate is in a very localized segment, with high purchasing power, which is different to everything else."

"Luxury real estate works as a specific niche with a completely different type of client, often international, and is not affected by the same conditions, such as access to mortgages," he adds.