Price per Square Metre on the Costa del Sol: Town by Town
By Dmitry Mateshin, Founder
What homes are actually asking per square metre from Manilva to Marbella, what each area is like, and why some cost more than others.
A single average price per square metre hides more than it shows. Marbella has apartments at a little over €4,500 per m² and others at nearly €8,000, and both are "Marbella". This article gives you the median asking price per m² for each main town on the Western Costa del Sol, the range inside it, and a way to read the numbers when you compare a specific home.
Apartments: from Marbella to Manilva
These are median asking prices per m² of built area for resale apartments, rounded to the nearest €50. The median is the middle listing: half ask more, half ask less.
- Marbella: about €5,950 per m²
- Benalmádena: about €5,650
- Fuengirola: about €5,350
- Málaga: about €5,200
- Benahavís: about €5,200
- Estepona: about €4,800
- San Pedro de Alcántara: about €4,700
- Torremolinos and Mijas: about €4,450
- Sotogrande: about €4,400
- Casares: about €3,700
- Manilva: about €3,400
Measured against Marbella, Estepona asks roughly 20% less per m², Casares roughly 38% less and Manilva roughly 43% less. Benahavís apartments sit about 13% below Marbella.
Houses and villas
For resale houses (villas, townhouses and similar), the order changes:
- Benahavís: about €6,500 per m²
- San Pedro de Alcántara: about €6,250
- Marbella: about €6,000
- Estepona: about €4,550
- Sotogrande: about €4,250
- Fuengirola and Benalmádena: about €3,950
- Mijas: about €3,900
- Málaga: about €3,800
- Torremolinos: about €3,400
- Manilva: about €3,350
- Casares: about €2,200
Note that Benahavís is above Marbella for houses and below it for apartments. The mix of what is for sale in each town plays a part, which is why the type of home always matters when you compare.
The range inside one town is wide
The median is only the centre of the picture. Look at the middle half of listings, from the 25th to the 75th percentile:
- Marbella apartments: roughly €4,500 to €7,900 per m²
- Marbella houses: roughly €4,350 to €8,550
- Estepona apartments: roughly €3,850 to €6,150
- Benahavís houses: roughly €4,550 to €9,150
A home asking €7,000 per m² in Marbella is not out of line, and neither is one asking €4,800. What decides the price is the specific location, the building, the views, the plot and the condition. The town sets the context; it does not set the price of your home.
The areas in brief, and why they cost what they do
Price per m² follows scarcity, setting and distance more than the name on the postcode. Here is each area, from higher asking prices to lower, with what local sources say about the reasons. Figures from outside our catalogue are portal indices for the dates shown; they use different methods from ours and will not match our medians exactly.
Where asking prices are highest
Marbella is the benchmark of the coast. Local market commentary from February 2026 ties its higher values to brand, location and limited supply in the Golden Mile, Sierra Blanca and Nueva Andalucía. Inside the town the spread is wide. Idealista's asking-price index for August 2026, as reported in a September 2026 market report, shows about €8,300 per m² in Nagüeles–Milla de Oro (the Golden Mile), about €6,250 in Nueva Andalucía and about €4,600 in San Pedro de Alcántara and in Elviria–Cabopino. The same report says exact position and scarcity matter most, and that the mix of homes in an area also moves its average.
Benahavís is a hill village behind Marbella, and its houses ask more per m² than Marbella's. The reasons the sources give are private gated estates, large plots and a limited number of homes. La Zagaleta, about 12 km northwest of Marbella, covers roughly 900 hectares with two private golf courses and controlled access, and villas there often stand on plots of 8,000 to 11,000 m² (an agency description). Idealista put La Zagaleta–El Madroñal at about €7,570 per m² in December 2025, against about €5,463 for Benahavís as a whole. Apartments in Benahavís ask less than Marbella's.
San Pedro de Alcántara, on the coast at Marbella's western end, shows houses at about €6,250 per m² and apartments at about €4,700. The market report above notes that the area mixes urban apartments, beachside homes, new developments and villas, so the mix on offer shapes its average.
The western middle
Estepona sits at the western end of the coast, with newer coastal developments and lower density than Marbella. Idealista's February 2026 figures put Estepona's average at about €4,234 per m², against about €6,789 for Marbella's Golden Mile. Inside Estepona the index runs from about €3,900 per m² in Altos de Estepona to about €6,900 in Punta Plata. Local commentary points to a more agile planning process and more buildable land behind the town's growth, and says Estepona still offers more property for the same budget than prime Marbella, although the historic gap has narrowed in recent years.
Mijas lies between Fuengirola and Marbella, with coastal and hillside areas. La Cala de Mijas has modern coastal complexes; Mijas Pueblo is quiet and private. A January 2026 value review describes Mijas Costa as a practical middle ground between Fuengirola's density and Marbella's premium pricing, about 25 minutes from Málaga airport.
Sotogrande is just across the provincial line in Cádiz. Its draw is a marina, championship golf, polo, beach clubs, an international community and security. Idealista's January 2026 average was about €3,656 per m², well above the province's roughly €2,249, and the same article attributes the gap to those features. Against the rest of the Costa del Sol it sits mid-table: high for its province, not at the top of this one.
The central and eastern coast
Málaga is the main city and transport hub. Buyers there mostly look for permanent homes or long-term rentals, and local employers such as Málaga TechPark support steady housing demand. Torremolinos is close to Málaga and its airport, with a direct train link; many coastal buildings are older, so the condition of the building matters. Benalmádena has a beachfront zone, the Arroyo de la Miel district and the hillside Pueblo, and its marina supports apartment demand. Fuengirola has a long promenade, dense services and many permanent residents.
In our catalogue apartments clearly outnumber houses in these three coastal towns: 481 apartment listings against 82 houses in Fuengirola, 301 against 141 in Benalmádena and 111 against 34 in Torremolinos. The apartment figures are therefore the better guide there.
Where asking prices are lower
Casares is part of the western corridor. The January 2026 value review describes lower prices there, with fewer services and a car-dependent way of life. Houses in Casares vary widely in our catalogue (the middle half asks from roughly €1,800 to €4,450 per m²), so treat the median for houses with caution.
Manilva is the last municipality before Cádiz province, with an old village inland among vineyards, the marina of Puerto de la Duquesa and a string of coastal urbanisations. An August 2026 area guide attributes its lower prices mainly to position: Marbella-level pricing has not reached that far west, and it is a long drive from Marbella and the airport. Most of the homes on offer are apartments. A February 2025 report found the lowest prices of any beach municipality in the province, and notes that it lies about 97 km from Málaga city.
What moves the price
Five things explain most of the differences above:
- Scarcity and setting. Limited prime locations, such as the Golden Mile, Sierra Blanca and La Zagaleta, carry the highest values.
- Private estates and plot size. Gated communities with golf and security, as in La Zagaleta and Sotogrande, price above their surroundings.
- Distance. The further west from Marbella, the airport and the main services, the lower the asking price tends to be, as in Manilva and Casares.
- Land and planning. Where land and planning allowed more new homes, as local commentary describes for Estepona, buyers find more property for the same budget.
- The mix of homes on offer. An area's average reflects what is listed there: apartments or villas, new or old, beachside or inland.
A selection of homes in Marbella
Below is a selection of homes from our catalogue in Marbella, the benchmark town of this coast. They illustrate the range described above and are not recommendations or valuations. Check areas and sizes against the registry, and note that availability and price are confirmed on request:
To see homes in the other towns, browse the full collection.
How to read these figures
Four points keep the numbers honest.
- They are asking prices, not sale prices. Sellers ask first; the price agreed is usually a different number, and we do not have completed-sale prices for this comparison.
- Areas are declared by agents. Built area in a listing is what the agent reports. Check the registered area in the nota simple and the cadastral record, as covered in our buying guide.
- The mix matters. Median price per m² moves with the type of home on offer. Where listings differ greatly from one another, as with houses in Casares, the median says less about any one home.
- Scope. The figures cover resale homes only. New developments, land and rentals are excluded, and each town needs at least 15 comparable listings per group to appear. "Marbella" here is the municipality as defined in our catalogue, with San Pedro de Alcántara shown separately.
Comparing a specific home against the figures for its town and its type is part of how we search for our clients.
Using the numbers when you shop
- Place the home in its range. Compare its price per m² with the median and the 25th to 75th percentile for its town and type. A home above the 75th percentile needs a reason you can see: a front-line position, exceptional views, a large terrace or a full renovation.
- Compare like with like. A top-floor apartment in a complex with a pool is not comparable with a ground-floor flat on a busy road, even on the same street.
- Work from the registered area. If the registered area is smaller than the advertised one, recalculate the price per m² before you decide whether the home is fairly priced.
- Treat the asking price as the start of a conversation. Ask for comparable listings and for the history of the home on the market.
The right town depends on how you will use the home, your budget and how much time you will spend here. If you tell us the budget and the type of home, we will show you what is available in the towns that fit, and where the asking price sits against its neighbours.
Browse the collection, or tell us what you are looking for through How We Work.
This article is based on asking prices in the Vertex catalogue in October 2026. It is general information, not a valuation or investment advice. Asking prices change and differ from sale prices; confirm figures for a specific home with your independent adviser before you commit.
