Based on both internal and external sources, this report presents information on the property market in Ibiza and the Balearic Islands for the year 2021, as well as its projected forecast for 2022. Based on data and figures received in 2020 and 2021, the analysis covers four main topics of discussion:

1. The General Balearic Property Price Curve & Sales 
2. The Ibiza Property Price Curve 2021 Summary
3. The Ibiza Luxury Housing Market Report 2021 with Prestige Properties
4. The Forecast for 2022 

1. The General Balearic Property Price Curve and Sales

Over the past decade, as discussed in our year-end property market review for 2020, both sales and house prices have shown continual and stable growth across the Balearic Islands. Here we can see, although the real estate market took an abrupt decline following the Spanish financial Crisis in 2007, the market has since stabilized and experienced a steady recovery, reaching a peak increase for both sales and price by 2017.  

The first marked fall in prices and sales only occurred in late 2019 through until 2020, suggesting that the market as a whole was experiencing minor stagnation.  This minor stagnation was only exacerbated by the fact that the property market industry, like many other sectors, started to experience less movement due to the uncertain status of COVID-19 as well as three months of physical inactivity due to complete closure. 

However, as early as the summer of 2020 and moving through until the end of 2021 we have been very pleased to see buyers’ activity quickly restart, and thriving again with property sales continuing to rise in all sectors of real estate across the Baleares. 

There should be no doubt, however, that this growth has been influenced not just by the characteristics of the local market, but also by global interest in real estate as a whole.  

According to Forbes, 2021, "In the wake of the lockdowns in March, Americans discovered that existing homes were not adequate for the new work, teach, exercise, cook and live at home reality. Based on realtor.com surveys of consumers, we learned that home shoppers are looking for more space, quieter neighborhoods, home offices, newer kitchens, and access to the outdoors, traits which have revived a strong interest in the suburbs and smaller metro areas." 

This is further supported by Savills Global Real Estate Service who claim our changing priorities since Covid-19 are shifting global residential real estate. Here the international agents describe, "tastes shifted during the pandemic as home became the centre of the universe… We have (also) seen a step-change in second home ownership too. In Dubai, 2021 has seen an ‘unprecedented influx’ of international high net worth buyers looking for a second home and as Hugo Thistlethwayte, Head of Global Residential Operations, notes: ‘There has been a realisation that a second home doesn’t need to be an hour from the main city residence, but could be in Aspen, Jackson Hole or Switzerland. This trend could make places like the Algarve, Mallorca and the south of France 52-weeks-a-year locations." (2021)

As we can see from the Balearic year-on-year variation in house prices (below), despite a temporary pause in buying activity, the interest in moving location, and seeking a new property has not only since recovered, but has quickly regained the highest pricing since 2007, supporting the argument that living priorities and significant interest in real estate have increased as a result of the pandemic.

2. The Ibiza Property Price Curve 2021

There is no doubt that the pandemic has altered our notion of home, finally allowing us to dare to create our dream life, working a city position amid a coastal or countryside second-home alternative, and, of course, complemented by the chance to also secure a strong investment.

Here in Ibiza, it is evident that we are experiencing similar "unprecedented influxes" and a small boom in the luxury sector of Ibiza’s real estate market for second-home international buyers, brought on by Covid-19. The pandemic has motivated buyers with means to invest in properties located in safe and more natural surroundings, away from overcrowded so-called ‘hotspots". Ibiza’s high-end and upscale property market, therefore, continues to be a desirable location for second-home buyers particularly from Europe, and naturally, we continue to experience a situation of low supply versus high demand, which means that many villas and properties are seen as rare products, driving price booms, resulting in a strong and an unwavering price curve right here in Ibiza (see section ii price per square metre comparison below). 

While prices and sales lowered during autumn 2019 and early 2020 in the Baleares as a whole (as seen from the graph above), it must be noted that Ibiza’s luxury real estate market has often shown to be more resilient than its neighbouring islands, and set-backs or downturns in the market and price curves never hit quite as strongly.

3. The Ibiza Luxury Housing Market Report 2021 with Prestige Properties

All data discussed below is a representation of our internal data related to the Luxury Housing Market in Ibiza and is solely taken from our internal database.

i) Average Price per Square Meter

Our internal statistics from our sales database with Prestige Properties Ibiza calculated an average increase in price per square metre, from 6.569 to 7.927€, approximately a 21% increase between 2019 and 2021.

ii) Average Price & Price per m2 by Municipality

On the whole, all areas on the island have experienced price-per-square-metre increases between 2019 and 2021.  

N.B The price per square meter, per municipality, may need to be flexible as the figures depend solely on our internal sales, and weighty factors may apply, as noted in our analysis hereafter.

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Eivissa – Average Price & Price per m2 by %

The entire city is in high demand and continues to demonstrate a strong market presence. Overall, Eivissa has something for everyone, like most cities in Europe, and has increased in popularity in line with the rest of the island. Eivissa has experienced a 15% increase in price per square metre since 2019.

Average Property Size: 168m2 | Average Property Price in Euros: 1.3M 

Sant Josep – Average Price & Price per m2 by %

San José has always been high in demand among affluent luxury second-home buyers.  In 2021, if we segmented San José, areas such as Es Cubells and Ses Salines would still naturally appear at the very top of the island property portfolio, where many other San José developments and properties would now be on par with some of the properties and prices on offer in Santa Eulalia. Sant Josep has experienced an 18% increase in price per square metre since 2019.

Average Property Size: 256m2 | Average Property Price in Euros: 2M

Santa Eulalia – Average Price & Price per m2 by %

In 2021, a particularly large property sale occurred in Santa Eulalia, leading to an unusual rise in the overall average price per square metre and as previously mentioned, some flexibility is required here. However, if we take the current average as gospel, Santa Eulalia would have experienced a 48% increase in price per square metre since 2019. It is clear that Santa Eulalia (despite margin for slight error) is catching up rapidly to the highly sought-after area of San José. 

Average Property Size: 311m2 | Average Property Price in Euros: 3.5M

Sant Antoni – Average Price & Price per m2 by %

The area of San Antonio de Portmany is slowly making progress, becoming more sought-after than clients may first assume. Although the area is often in less demand than other areas, potential home buyers are often encouraged to look at the abundance of opportunities and great investment prospects here.  San Antonio has seen a 12% increase in price per square metre since 2019.

Average Property Size: 299m2 | Average Property Price in Euros: 1.6M

San Juan – Average Price & Price per m2 by %

In the last couple of years, Sant Joan seems to be where the most prestigious and expensive villas are located, with a price tag that has almost doubled on average over the past few years. The new demand for properties in the municipality is a reflection of the property market’s high-end price valuation. San Juan has seen a 6% increase in price per square metre since 2019.

Average Property Size: 344m2 | Average Property Price in Euros: 3.7M

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According to Tinsa (2021) Living on the Coast Report, the market in Ibiza has exhibited different behavior depending on the segment. However, as per our internal analysis, the demand for detached homes for sale or long-term rental has increased. There have also been price increases, more notable in detached homes than in new developments.  They summarised:  

Standard multi-family homes sit between 3,000 and 4,000 €/m2, with a surface area from 50 m2 to 140 m2, with one to three bedrooms. Single-family homes typically register between 6,000 and 7,000 €/m2 and those larger family homes value between €10,000 and €20,000/m2. These properties were mostly located on the seafront promenade of Ibiza or on the front line of a marina. The most expensive single-family home registered between 12,000 and 15,000 €/m2 for a detached house. This product was mostly located on the west coast of the island of Ibiza in the municipality of Sant Josep and around Ibiza in the neighbouring municipality of Santa Eulalia. 

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iii) Sales per Year

Our internal statistics from our sales database with Prestige Properties Ibiza between 2019 and 2021 calculated a very minor decrease of 4% in sales and only 3.5% in volume, which despite the 3-month closure of offices and ability to partake in property viewings is basically a non-existent comparison.

Properties sold to date in 2021 (up until October 2021) have calculated an increase of 56% more sales than 2019 and a turnover of 95% increase in Euros related to direct sales.

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iv) Enquiries per Year

Even with pandemic news, lockdowns, and restricted movement, we still saw an ongoing and steady flow of users visiting the website and generating inquiries throughout the year 2020. During the year 2021, since restrictions began to ease, an increase of over 36% has been recorded as active inquiries conducted by individuals seeking an Ibiza property whether through sales or rentals.

Conclusion: The Luxury Real Estate Market Ibiza 2021

Even with the pandemic looming during 2020, luxury housing in Ibiza continued to make progress regardless. As we can see from the information and data above, the way we are changing and prioritising our home lifestyle has led to a definite increase in global (and island-wide) interest which has only resulted in a growing buyers market in 2021. As more and more clients seek out their ideal lifestyle in a more relaxed environment, away from the hassles of the big cities, it is evident that international buyers continue to dominate and strengthen the luxury real estate purchasing market.  In fact, "user behavior data shows Ibiza remains the most popular among the three main Balearic islands, achieving 22% more listing views than Mallorca (even though it has half the number of active listings)." – James Edition, October 2021

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4. The Forecast for 2022

It is expected that house prices will continue to rise steadily and consistently in the luxury property market in Ibiza as there are no signs of crisis at present, making for attractive investment opportunities. In general, this speaks of Ibiza’s upscale market, which not only survived but flourished during the pandemic, giving us confidence that the island will continue to be attractive on an international level for the foreseeable future 2022. However, we do not envision a continuation in the number of sales we have witnessed during 2021.  We anticipate the sales boom of 2021 will potentially slow down as the post-pandemic effect fades away, especially as we are increasingly seeing a case of low numbers of sellers in the market as we continue towards the end of 2021.

Long-term rentals for larger properties have become increasingly popular, especially with families. Prestige Properties Ibiza was required to hire more staff by the summer of 2021 in order to deal with the influx of inquiries, especially for long-term rentals. This is also confirmed by Morna International School, which has received a record number of new student applicants, who are also seeking residency (James Edition, 2021), indicating a potential anticipated interest for families in 2022 who may be keen to stay in the rental market until the right property for sale arrives in the future, or on the opposite side of the coin, they may return back to the metropoles once the effects of the pandemic and lockdowns are both a distant memory, (which at the moment, seems like is not likely to happen anytime soon). Either way, it is still undeniably the international buyers and overseas investors who are still the main market for second luxury homes in Ibiza and are expected to be in 2022.

Additionally, the island is exhibiting even greater growth in general, becoming an even more desirable and trendy place to live. Since small, local businesses have struggled to cope with lockdowns and business closures, we have also seen an influx of new, innovative bars and restaurants opening, and signs that continued investment is underway.

Thank you for staying updated with us at Prestige Properties. We hope to see you soon!