The hottest properties on offer across the in-demand Spanish archipelago

Ruth Bloomfield checks out the best properties on offer across the Balearic islands...

Set in the mountains just outside Palma, Son Vida is Mallorca’s answer to Beverly Hills, with luxurious villas surrounded by sun-drenched gardens with views of the Mediterranean. Buying into this rarefied enclave, just six kilometres from the city centre, costs a minimum of €8 million (£6.8m). 

But despite its high entry price, Iris Grünewald, managing director of Balearic Properties, Savills’ associate on Mallorca, estimates that prices have increased by around 10 per cent in 2023, with more growth expected this year. While many of the world’s prime locations are struggling to cope with multiple political and economic headwinds, the party across Spain’s Balearic Islands shows no sign of stopping.

“Buyers come for the scenery and the weather, which are both beautiful, for the really good infrastructure and because there are lots of things to do, winter and summer,” says Grünewald. “The connectivity is amazing, and it is very secure.”

The vast majority of Grünewald’s buyers are looking for a holiday home rather than a main residence. Buyers come from the UK and across mainland Europe, and have been more recently joined by Americans encouraged by the direct flights from New York, which were launched in 2022. Such has been the popularity of the route that American Airlines is now reported to be planning to add direct flights from Miami.

There are several marinas in Palma’s city centre, although many yacht owners will know that competition for berths can be fierce. The oldest of these is Real Club Náutico, and each summer King Felipe VI skippers a yacht at its annual Copa del Rey Regatta. At Club del Mar, just up the road, an €80 million redevelopment will soon allow it to accommodate yachts up to 170 metres. Spain’s digital nomad visa system, launched in 2023 and allowing non-EU citizens to live and work in the country for up to a year, is another reason to consider investing here.

Buyers looking for a more modest base could invest €1 million in a two-bedroom waterfront apartment in downtown Palma. Grünewald also recommends the spectacular north coast, where you could pick up a two-bedroom apartment for €1.3 million or a four-bedroom villa for €3.5 to €4 million. The hottest spot right now is Cap de Formentor, with its stunning scenery and peaceful vibe. Complete with a private vineyard, the Four Seasons Resort Mallorca at Formentor opens its doors later this year, sealing the region’s appeal.

If Mallorca is the upscale grown-up Balearics choice then Ibiza is its hipper, younger cousin. Buyers love it for its laid-back vibe and – of course – its buzzing nightlife. “The difference between Ibiza and Mallorca is that here [in Ibiza] you can go to a beach club in shorts and flip flops and nobody will look at you,” says Florian Fischer, managing partner of Engel & Völkers Ibiza.

Despite its small stature – Ibiza measures 570 square kilometres – there is a distinct north-south divide. The south is where younger buyers go to find beach clubs and nightclubs, around villages like Cala Jondal or pretty Es Cubells. Buyers looking for a more peaceful way of life look to the centre and north; Fischer says towns like Santa Gertrudis and San Carlos attract relocating families as well as second-home owners.

Prices shot up in Ibiza between 2020 and 2022 as buyers fled the pandemic. Fischer says growth slowed in 2023, although he has not seen prices fall. In the first half of 2023 a combination of rising interest rates and the rising cost of living resulted in a drop in buyer enquiries, and this slackening demand forced over-ambitious owners to rethink their sales strategy. “Many properties were on the market with unrealistic prices but as soon as they come down the requests start to come,” he says.

By late 2023, however, buyers had begun circling Ibiza again, giving Fischer reason to believe that prices will rebound in 2024. Back on Mallorca, Grünewald says that prices increased by an average of 10.9 per cent last year, and she expects a similar result this year. “There is a real lack of stock at the top of the market,” she says, “and prices for these homes are growing even faster.”

First published in the March 2024 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.