David Beckham makes £1 million profit on sale of Spanish mansion

Observing the property transactions of the rich and famous is not usually the most accurate way to measure the strength of a nation’s property market, but one headline-grabbing sale this week has proved rather indicative of the recovering strength of the Spanish property market…

Former footballer and current fashion icon David Beckham has just sold his Madrid mansion that was initially put on the market nearly a decade ago – and has made a cool £1 million profit in the process.

The Beckhams snapped up the £3 million property not long after the star signed for Real Madrid in 2003. The Tuscan-style villa, complete with pool and tennis court, was a wonderfully luxurious home for the famous couple during their four years in Spain, but when Beckham moved to the US to play football stateside in 2007, the property was promptly put on the market in the hope of a quick sale.

That quick sale never materialised. At the tail-end of 2007, Spain’s property market began to crumble, and the barren years between 2008 and 2013 saw very few buyers interested in such a prestigious and expensive home.

But this week – and following a reported £350,000 worth of renovations – a buyer was found, with the home eventually changing hands for an eye-raising £4.2 million. All that is known of the buyer is that he is a wealthy (obviously) entrepreneur who owns a waste disposal firm.

The sale of the home means Beckham, 40, no longer has any physical ties to the region where he spent four successful years playing for Real Madrid. While living in Spain, Victoria Beckham gave birth to their third and youngest son, Cruz, and the five-bedroom, two-acre property was his first home.

Despite struggling to shift the property, the financial burden of owning such an expensive, unoccupied home would not have weighed heavy on the Beckhams’ shoulders. With a £30 million home in central London, a £13 million pad in Beverley Hills, a £2.6 million French villa and a property in Dubai, the famous family has a rather enviable property portfolio.

Back in 2011, the estate agent charged with trying to sell Beckham’s Madrid home said: “Spain is feeling the effects of the slowdown in the global economy and we have also problems in the construction industry that is having an effect on prices. It is very difficult to predict how long it will take to sell a house.”

Fast forward to today and, not only has the property been sold, but sold at more than a £1 million in profit, and it is clear that the troubles of the Spanish economy and housing market are largely in the past – which is great news for all, not just the Beckhams.