Budgets from €350,000 to €1,100,000, worked against the 2026 price of a square metre in each Costa del Sol town. The method is the same at every level. Take the budget, divide it by the town’s price per square metre, and you have the size of home the money reaches there. Then add the buying costs, which are a percentage of the price and rise with it. Every figure below is one I already use elsewhere on this site, and the working is shown so you can run your own number.
A word on what the figures are. The town prices are 2026 averages from idealista, the same ones on what your money buys, town by town and across the areas pages. The Marbella district prices are idealista asking prices for August 2026. An average is a middle, so the home you actually view will sit above or below it, and asking is not the same as achieved. Read the sizes as the shape of what each budget reaches, not a promise.
The price of a square metre, 2026
Cheapest to dearest:
- Torrox: €3,123/m².
- Mijas: €3,684/m².
- Málaga city: €3,937/m².
- Nerja: €3,952/m².
- Benalmádena: €4,139/m².
- Torremolinos: €4,229/m².
- Estepona: €4,307/m².
- Fuengirola: €4,451/m².
- San Pedro de Alcántara: €4,600/m². The cheapest district inside Marbella.
- Benahavís: €5,413/m².
- Marbella: €5,956/m² across the municipality. Inside it, Elviria and Cabopino ask €4,623, Marbella Pueblo €5,170, Nueva Andalucía €6,239, and Nagüeles and the Golden Mile €8,336.
Those numbers are the whole toolkit. Here is what they do at four budgets.
Around €350,000
This is the budget the cost guide works line by line, and a very typical Costa del Sol purchase.
- Torrox: €350,000 ÷ €3,123 = about 112 m². Three-bedroom territory.
- Mijas: €350,000 ÷ €3,684 = about 95 m².
- Málaga city: €350,000 ÷ €3,937 = about 89 m².
- Nerja: €350,000 ÷ €3,952 = about 89 m².
- Benalmádena: about 85 m². Torremolinos: about 83 m². Estepona: about 81 m². Fuengirola: €350,000 ÷ €4,451 = about 79 m².
- San Pedro de Alcántara: €350,000 ÷ €4,600 = about 76 m².
- Marbella average: €350,000 ÷ €5,956 = about 59 m². On the Golden Mile, at €8,336/m², about 42 m².
At this level the money reaches a proper two-bedroom apartment along the eastern and central coast, something larger in Torrox or Mijas, and a small apartment in Marbella.
The costs on top. On a resale, transfer tax (ITP) is 7% of the price, and 7% of €350,000 is €24,500. With your own lawyer, the notary, the registry and the admin, plan for 10 to 11% all in: €35,000 to €38,500. On a new build the tax is 10% IVA plus 1.2% AJD, which is 11.2%, so €39,200 in tax before any fees, and 12 to 14% all in: €42,000 to €49,000.
Up to €500,000
- Torrox: €500,000 ÷ €3,123 = about 160 m².
- Mijas: about 136 m². Málaga city: about 127 m². Nerja: about 127 m².
- Benalmádena: about 121 m². Torremolinos: about 118 m². Estepona: about 116 m². Fuengirola: €500,000 ÷ €4,451 = about 112 m².
- San Pedro de Alcántara: about 109 m². Elviria and Cabopino, at €4,623/m²: about 108 m².
- Marbella Pueblo, at €5,170/m²: about 97 m². Benahavís: €500,000 ÷ €5,413 = about 92 m².
- Marbella average: about 84 m². Nueva Andalucía, at €6,239/m²: about 80 m². The Golden Mile: €500,000 ÷ €8,336 = about 60 m².
At this level a three-bedroom apartment is realistic across most of the coast, and Marbella’s cheaper districts come into range at a two-bedroom size.
The costs on top. ITP at 7% of €500,000 is €35,000. All in on a resale, 10 to 11%: €50,000 to €55,000. On a new build, 11.2% in tax is €56,000, and 12 to 14% all in is €60,000 to €70,000.
€650,000 to €800,000
Worked at €800,000.
- Málaga city: about 203 m². Nerja: €800,000 ÷ €3,952 = about 202 m².
- Estepona: about 186 m². Fuengirola: about 180 m². San Pedro de Alcántara: €800,000 ÷ €4,600 = about 174 m².
- Marbella Pueblo: about 155 m². Benahavís: about 148 m².
- Marbella average: €800,000 ÷ €5,956 = about 134 m². Nueva Andalucía: about 128 m². The Golden Mile: €800,000 ÷ €8,336 = about 96 m².
At this level the sizes are large enough that the question is usually the type of home and the street rather than the room count, and the whole of Marbella is in play at apartment size.
The costs on top. ITP at 7% of €800,000 is €56,000. All in on a resale, 10 to 11%: €80,000 to €88,000. On a new build, 11.2% in tax is €89,600, and 12 to 14% all in is €96,000 to €112,000.
€900,000 to €1,100,000
Worked at €1,100,000.
- Nerja: about 278 m². Estepona: about 255 m². Fuengirola: about 247 m².
- Marbella Pueblo: €1,100,000 ÷ €5,170 = about 213 m². Benahavís: about 203 m².
- Marbella average: €1,100,000 ÷ €5,956 = about 185 m². Nueva Andalucía: about 176 m².
- The Golden Mile: €1,100,000 ÷ €8,336 = about 132 m².
The costs on top. ITP at 7% of €1,100,000 is €77,000. All in on a resale, 10 to 11%: €110,000 to €121,000. On a new build, 11.2% in tax is €123,200, and 12 to 14% all in is €132,000 to €154,000.
The percentages never change with the budget. The amounts do. Work out the all-in number first, then choose the town from what is left.
What does not change with the budget
The process is the same at €350,000 as at €1,100,000. You need an NIE, your own independent lawyer, a reserva, an arras contract with a 10% deposit, and a signing before the notary. I set the order out in the Spanish buying process in plain English. The checks are the same too: title, debts, licences and the community accounts, before a cent is committed.
The tax rates are the same at every level. 7% ITP on a resale in Andalucía, and 10% IVA plus 1.2% AJD on a new build, whoever the buyer is and wherever they are from. The proposed “100% tax” on non-EU buyers is not law and adds nothing to any of the sums above. I keep the dated position in Spain’s ‘100% tax’ on foreign buyers. The costs above are the one-off costs of buying, and the charges that arrive each year once you own are set out in what it costs to own a home in Spain each year. Where the new builds are and what they start at is in new developments on the Costa del Sol.
For a British buyer, owning does not change how long you can stay. The 90 days in any 180 apply to a homeowner exactly as they apply to a visitor, at every budget. That is explained without the panic in the 90/180-day rule.
Settling on the number
My approach is the same at every price point: proper research on the property and its area, a straight assessment of what it is genuinely worth, and careful negotiation on your behalf. The budget sets which towns I look at. It does not change how carefully I look. If the choice is between stretches of coast rather than between budgets, where to buy on the Costa del Sol compares the six on price, the drive from the airport and the buyer each suits.
If you have a number in mind and want to know honestly what it reaches, that is the first conversation on the buying service, and you can book a call whenever suits. Bring the all-in figure and I will bring the towns that fit it.
Town figures are 2026 averages from idealista. Marbella district figures are idealista asking prices for August 2026. Tax rates are the 2026 Andalucía rates, set out with their sources in the cost guide. All of them move over time, so take independent legal and tax advice before you commit.
Common questions
What does €350,000 buy on the Costa del Sol?
How much do I need on top of the price?
Where does a budget go furthest on the Costa del Sol?
What does a square metre cost in Marbella?
Is the transfer tax the same at every budget?
Do the budgets change if I am buying from the UK?
What this relates to
The same subject, for buyers abroad
Pages written for buyers in other countries, in their own language, covering what changes for them.
