Browse Costa Sunsets homes for sale across Marbella and the wider Costa del Sol.
Estepona East, Estepona
Located in the prestigious area of El Campanario, LYRA RESIDENCES offers an exclusive residential boutique style complex that epitomises luxury living on the C…
Estepona West, Estepona
This stunning semi detached villa is situated within the exclusive Azata Golf gated community in Estepona West, Malaga, presenting a sophisticated opportunity…
We're Bianca and Omèr, and we know this town street by street, urbanisation by urbanisation. We'll show you where the sea breeze actually reaches, which blocks bake in August, and which asking prices we think are a stretch. No pressure, just straight talk.
“They found us a frontline villa that wasn't even on the open market. Smooth, honest.”
“Three viewings, no pressure, sound advice on schools. Best agency on the coast.”
“Bianca speaks Dutch, knew our notary, and introduced us to other Dutch families nearby.”
A semi-detached villa here sits between a townhouse and a standalone home: you share one party wall, but you keep a private garden, often a solarium, and frequently a small private pool or plunge pool alongside the community one. Three bedrooms over two or three floors is the common shape, typically 130 to 180 square metres of build, though some of the newer schemes run larger with a basement and off-street parking. They cluster on the New Golden Mile and the eastern side of town — Nueva Atalaya, the El Paraiso and Atalaya golf fringes, Bahia Dorada near the beach, and the newer gated phases around Selwo and Cancelada.
Pricing covers a wide band. An older resale pareado in an established urbanisation generally starts in the mid hundreds of thousands; newer, well-finished or sea-view units on the golf side more often sit in the higher hundreds and into the low millions. As a rule the gap between a tired one and a turnkey one is large, and we'll always tell you which side of that line a given home falls on, and why.
Estepona sits on the coast roughly 80km west of Málaga airport and about 20 minutes short of Marbella, with Sotogrande, Gibraltar and the Sierra Bermeja mountains all close at hand. It is the town that got its regeneration right. The 'Garden of the Costa del Sol' project repainted and replanted the Casco Antiguo into an old quarter of geranium pots and ceramic murals, while keeping a genuine working fishing port and marina at its heart. That mix — a proper Spanish town that also happens to be international — is exactly why people who view Estepona tend to buy here rather than further east.
The buyer mix here is broad, and that is part of the appeal. The British are the largest single group and have been for years, with a deep network of clubs, cafes and charities behind them. Scandinavians have a long-standing presence, and Belgian and Dutch buyers have grown into a serious bloc, drawn by the value compared with home and the new-build developments that went up around the New Golden Mile and Selwo. Germans, French and a steady flow of Spanish buyers from Málaga and beyond round it out. You will find year-round residents and remote workers in and around the town centre and the port, retirees and second-home owners spread through the golf valleys inland, and families clustering near the international schools. It feels less of a holiday enclave than some of its neighbours and more like a place people actually live.
Apartments dominate the Estepona market, from town-centre flats a short walk from the beach to large, modern complexes along the coast with pools and landscaped gardens. Ground-floor apartments with private terraces are common and popular with anyone who wants outdoor space without the upkeep of a garden. Villas are the next big strand, ranging from established homes in the golf urbanisations to contemporary new-builds on elevated sea-view plots. Penthouses and duplex penthouses are well represented and prized for their roof terraces and views, and you will find town houses, semi-detached villas and the occasional building plot for those who want to design their own. Styles span classic Andalusian whitewash, the cream-and-arches Mediterranean look of the 1990s and 2000s golf developments, and the clean, glass-fronted minimalism of the newer schemes.
Estepona generally trades at a meaningful discount to equivalent locations in Marbella, and that gap is much of its appeal. As a rough guide, a two-bedroom apartment in the town or along the New Golden Mile typically runs in the low-to-mid hundreds of thousands of euros, with quality and sea views pushing toward the upper end of that band. True seafront and brand-new prime stock is a different conversation, generally starting around the seven-figure mark and climbing from there. New-build per-square-metre rates on the best elevated plots reach into the higher bands you would normally associate with Marbella, while older resale apartments inland offer some of the better value on this stretch of coast. Villas cover an enormous range depending on plot, position and age. We always quote you typical bands rather than a single number, and we will always tell you when we think a particular home is over-priced and exactly why.
Daily life in Estepona is genuinely easy. The promenade and port give you restaurants, a Sunday market and a working fishing fleet; the old town gives you tapas bars, the Orchidarium and a proper square to sit in; and the beaches stretch for more than 20 kilometres, from town sands to quieter coves out toward Guadalmansa and Bahía Dorada. Golf is everywhere inland, with El Paraíso, Atalaya Golf & Country Club, Estepona Golf and Valle Romano all within easy reach. Families are well served: Atalaya International School and the British-curriculum International School Estepona sit in and around El Paraíso, Colegio San José is a long-established bilingual option, and Atlas American School brings a US curriculum to the Selwo Hills. For getting around, the AP-7 toll motorway puts Málaga airport roughly 55 to 75 minutes away depending on traffic, Marbella around 20 minutes east, and Gibraltar's airport a similar run to the west. There is no train, so a car is more or less essential outside the town centre, but the coastal roads are good and Sotogrande and Puerto Banús are both quick hops.
We have spent 20 years on this coast, and we treat Estepona the way we would if we were buying here ourselves — because in a sense we already did. We will walk you through the difference between a breezy front-line flat and an inland golf villa that needs air-conditioning by July, between an urbanisation with healthy community fees and one with a tired pool and a reserve fund that worries us. We will point out the over-priced listings as readily as the good-value ones, flag the works the town has planned near a given street, and tell you honestly when somewhere is not right for you. If you want a sensible, local read on buying in Estepona, with no hype and no pressure, drop us a line.
A semi-detached villa (pareado in Spanish) shares only one wall with a single neighbouring property and usually sits on its own plot with a private garden on more than one side. A townhouse (adosado) is part of a terraced row and shares walls on both sides, typically with a narrower footprint. Semi-detached homes generally offer more outdoor space, more light, and often a private or plunge pool, which is why they tend to price above townhouses in the same urbanisation.
Three bedrooms is by far the most common layout, arranged over two or three floors with a garden at ground level and frequently a roof solarium on top. Two-bedroom and four-bedroom versions exist, but three-bed pareados are the staple of the New Golden Mile and the golf-side urbanisations such as Nueva Atalaya, El Paraiso and Atalaya.
They suit families and couples who want the privacy and garden of a villa without the maintenance, cost and large plot of a fully detached home. Buyers are often a mix of full-time residents, second-home owners using the property seasonally, and those buying with holiday or long-term rental in mind, since the gated communities, shared pools and proximity to beaches and golf make them straightforward to let.
Estepona is about 80km west of Málaga-Costa del Sol airport, roughly a 55 to 75 minute drive via the AP-7 toll motorway depending on traffic. Marbella is around 20 minutes east and Gibraltar a similar distance to the west. There is no train line to Estepona, so while the town centre and port are very walkable, a car is effectively essential if you are living in the golf urbanisations or the New Golden Mile inland.
Estepona generally trades below equivalent Marbella locations. As a guide, a two-bedroom apartment in town or on the New Golden Mile typically runs in the low-to-mid hundreds of thousands of euros, with sea views and quality pushing higher. Seafront and brand-new prime stock generally starts around the seven-figure mark, and villas vary widely with plot and position. These are typical bands rather than fixed figures; we'll always give you the realistic range for the type and area you're after.
It depends on how you want to live. The town centre and port suit anyone wanting walkable, year-round Spanish life near the beach. The eastern New Golden Mile, taking in Casasola, El Paraíso, Atalaya, El Campanario, Selwo, Guadalmansa and Bahía Dorada, is where most of the golf villas, modern apartment complexes and sea-view new-builds sit. Inland spots like Valle Romano and Estepona Golf offer more space for the money. We'll match the area to your budget, your need for breeze versus quiet, and your school run.
Yes. Atalaya International School and the British-curriculum International School Estepona are both in and around El Paraíso on the eastern side of town. Colegio San José is a well-established bilingual school covering infant through to Baccalaureate, and Atlas American School in the Selwo Hills offers a full US curriculum. Most international families base themselves in the El Paraíso and Selwo areas to keep the school run short, which is worth factoring into where you buy.
Value and atmosphere, mainly. Estepona typically costs noticeably less than comparable Marbella property while sitting only about 20 minutes away, with the same beaches, golf and airport access. It has also kept the feel of a real Andalusian town, with a working fishing port, a carefully regenerated old quarter and a strong year-round community, rather than being purely a resort. For many buyers that combination of lower prices and genuine local life is exactly the trade they want.
