A WORD WITH ERIC EBBING

Co-Founder and managing director of Homerun Brokers

What impact has Covid had on the real estate market in Marbella?

It may come as a surprise, but the pandemic has had a really positive impact on demand in the Marbella real estate market. You can sense it everywhere and sales have increased like never before here. Buyers are seeing Marbella as a good investment due to its focus on quality and outdoor living and its superb location.

What is the main challenge for Marbella real estate right now?

The biggest issue in Marbella at the moment is supply. While the demand has been so high, there are only a few new developments left that justify their price. The good news is that there is new construction under way at the moment – the number of new building permits in the province went up 12% last year – although this will take time to be ready for the market. As a result, prices have gone up a lot. A two- million-euro property is now three million euros. Client may need to raise their budgets in order to buy a decent property in Marbella.

How would you sum up Homerun Brokers’ growth since its 2020 launch?

We’ve had very strong growth, welcoming new team members and launching a rental department that has been a real success. A lot of clients who rented with us have gone on to buy or invest with us. Our overall expansion has been driven by setting out and being true to a clear brand positioning and spreading awareness of our brand and identity. All this has increased sales – in 2021 we completed 39 property sales for clients with a total value of more than 100 million euros.

How have you gone about establishing your brand and getting your name known?

We believe in the saying, ‘If you want to get to your goal fast, go it alone. If you want to go far, go together’. Therefore, we like to team up with other suitable partners and have enjoyed some great events since the company launched.

We have hosted several padel tournaments with Beyond Padel – Padel is huge at the moment, even in Scandinavia, which is our main market.

We have also collaborated with Ascari, one of Europe’s top racing tracks, where we hosted our own Homerun racing weekend and invited our key clients. We organised a lunch at La Zagaleta clubhouse – a top location in Marbella – and the final dinner was at Mamzel restaurant, Marbella’s most fashionable night restaurant. These are all venues that complement and support our branding and identity.

We have also partnered with I/O club, JCDecaux and others.

What are Homerun Brokers’ plans for 2022?

I believe we have managed to establish ourselves as a strong player in the industry; however there is, in fact, a lot of competition. If you snooze you lose! Therefore, there is still a lot of work to do, not only on maintaining our position but also in coming up with fresh and innovative ideas to stay ahead of the curve.

With our experience we can forecast and anticipate what is coming. Last year we launched our rentals department which has been a success, reacting in part to the upward trend in digital nomads and people working more away from the office in their colder, home countries. Now we want to build on that opportunity and do more ‘buy to rent’ and ‘buy to sell’.

All the indicators for the Marbella property market are good for 2022 and I think we at Homerun Brokers have positioned ourselves well to be able to deliver on our clients’ needs this year.