Property for sale in El Paraíso

108 properties for sale in El Paraíso · € 249,000 to € 15,000,000 · median € 4,517/m²

El Paraíso is the eastern end of Estepona, the last district before the municipal boundary runs into Benahavís above and San Pedro de Alcántara beyond. It was laid out around a golf course — eighteen holes designed by Gary Player and opened in the early 1970s — and it has been lived in ever since. That is the first thing to understand about buying here: this is not a district waiting to be finished. The streets are wide, the gardens are fifty years old, the trees are tall, and the plots were drawn when land on this coast was still cheap enough to be generous with.

What property for sale in El Paraíso actually is

Both halves of the market, in strength. Most districts on this coast are one thing or the other — apartment schemes on the beach strip, villas on the hill — and El Paraíso is the rare one that carries a real villa stock and a real apartment stock at the same time. The villas sit on the slopes above and around the course; the apartment schemes sit lower, nearer the coast road and the commercial centre. Plots come up occasionally and go quickly, almost always to someone who intends to knock down what is standing.

The villa market

Detached villas here run at 5,512 € per square metre against 5,206 € for Estepona as a whole — a premium, and an honest one. What you are paying for is plot size, privacy and position on an established street rather than square metres of house. A good part of the stock dates from the 1970s and 1980s and has been through one or two renovations; another part has been demolished and rebuilt in the last decade in the flat-roofed, glass-fronted style that now sets the top of the market. Both are on sale at the same time, often on the same street, and the difference in asking price between them is the largest single gap in this district.

The apartment market

Apartments go the other way. They run at 4,278 € per square metre across 49 comparable listings, against 4,775 € for the municipality — below the average, not above it. The reason is distance from the sand. These schemes are a drive from the beach rather than a walk, and the market prices that in, even though the same buildings sit minutes from Puerto Banús.

Townhouses, which is where the value usually is

At 4,007 € per square metre, townhouses are the cheapest way into this address with a private garden and a garage. They are also the stock most often overlooked, because buyers arrive wanting either a villa or an apartment and do not think to look between the two.

So why do houses cost more here and apartments less?

Because they are not selling the same thing. A villa price in El Paraíso carries the plot, the mature street and the golf frontage — all of it scarce, none of it reproducible. An apartment price carries the walk to the beach, and there is no walk to the beach. The same geography that makes the villas expensive makes the flats good value. If you are choosing between districts, that is the sentence to take away: come here for a house, and you pay for the address; come here for an apartment, and the address comes nearly free.

Getting around

The A-7 runs along the foot of the district and the AP-7 toll road is a few minutes away. San Pedro de Alcántara is around five minutes, Puerto Banús about ten, Estepona town twelve to fifteen, Marbella twenty. Málaga airport is roughly fifty minutes; Gibraltar is about the same, which matters in winter when the Málaga flight schedule thins out. Benahavís village, and the row of restaurants it is known for, is a ten-minute drive up the valley.

Everyday things

The El Paraíso commercial centre covers the basics — supermarket, pharmacy, bars, a couple of restaurants — and the larger shops at Benavista and San Pedro are a short drive. Two international schools are close enough for a daily run, which is the reason a good share of the permanent residents here are families rather than retirees. You will still want a car: parts of El Paraíso Alto are a genuine climb.

What to check before you buy here

Four things. If you plan to rebuild, the plot ratio before anything else — the edificabilidad in the municipal plan decides how much house you may put on the land, and it is the number that makes or breaks a demolition purchase. On an older villa, the cost of putting it right: roofs, wiring, pools and single-glazed windows from 1978 add up to more than most first estimates. On an apartment, the community accounts — the quota, the reserve and the minutes of the last two general meetings. And which tier you are actually in: Alto buys you the view and costs you ten minutes of driving every day; Bajo buys you the convenience and usually looks at the neighbours.

Where to go from here

By type across the whole municipality we list apartments in Estepona, houses and villas in Estepona and plots. The neighbouring districts are Atalaya immediately west, with the other golf club, and Benamara below it towards the sea; further west the slope districts Cancelada, Selwo and Estepona Golf are markedly cheaper. If nothing here fits today, our property alarm mails you when it does.

What is for sale in El Paraíso right now

Our listings for El Paraíso currently hold 108 properties: 55 apartments, 50 houses and 3 plots. The typical home here is built over 170 m² with 1 to 10 bedrooms.

Type	For sale	Price from	Price to	Typical size
Apartment	55	€ 249,000	€ 1,250,000	115 m²
House	50	€ 395,000	€ 15,000,000	380 m²
Plot	3	€ 750,000	€ 2,750,000	573 m²

By property type that breaks down into 35 detached villas, 19 ground floor apartments, 14 townhouses, 9 middle floor apartments, 7 duplexes, 7 penthouses, 7 penthouse duplexes and 5 top floor apartments.

What property costs in El Paraíso

The median asking price in El Paraíso is € 772,500, the range runs from € 249,000 to € 15,000,000. Per square metre that is € 4,517 — 6 % below the median for the wider Estepona area.

By budget: 4 under € 300,000, 26 between € 300,000 and € 500,000, 19 between € 500,000 and € 750,000, 19 between € 750,000 and € 1,000,000, 14 between € 1,000,000 and € 2,000,000 and 26 over € 2,000,000.

Condition and what comes with the property

How the 108 properties in El Paraíso are described: 50 in excellent condition, 31 in good condition, 24 recently renovated, 23 new construction, 18 recently refurbished and 3 in fair condition.

102 of 108 have a pool, 97 of 108 have a garden and 93 of 108 have parking. Where there is land, the median plot measures 1206 m².

Pools are 69 communal, 40 private, 13 heated, 10 children`s pool and 3 indoor.

Gardens are 61 communal, 47 private, 31 landscaped and 18 easy maintenance.

Parking comes as 55 private, 39 garage, 33 underground, 25 more than one and 21 covered.

On security: 60 gated complex, 38 alarm system, 34 24 hour security, 23 entry phone and 23 electric blinds.

For heating and cooling: 85 air conditioning, 45 hot A/C, 45 cold A/C, 29 fireplace and 20 U/F heating.

Kitchens are 84 fully fitted and 4 partially fitted.

How the agents file them: 47 resale, 42 investment, 41 golf, 39 luxury, 30 holiday homes and 21 contemporary.

What the location is like in El Paraíso

Every listing records how it sits in its surroundings. Across the 108 properties in El Paraíso that reads: 86 close to golf, 62 in a gated urbanisation, 61 close to shops, 54 close to schools, 51 close to the sea, 37 close to town, 11 frontline golf and 7 suburban. The counts overlap — one property can be both close to the sea and close to golf.

Views and orientation

What you look at from El Paraíso: 69 garden views, 57 sea views, 43 mountain views, 37 pool views, 29 panoramic views, 19 golf views and 9 country views.

Which way they face — the figure that decides how much winter sun a terrace gets: 54 facing south, 25 facing south west, 17 facing west, 11 facing east and 9 facing south east.

Urbanisations in El Paraíso

Our El Paraíso listings sit in 1 named developments. The ones with the most on offer right now: El Paraíso (9).

Questions about property in El Paraíso