In a decision with far-reaching implications for Spain’s property business, Marbella’s plan to legalize more than 17,000 illegal homes along the Costa del Sol was approved by a regional commission last week.

Marbella, which bills itself as Spain’s version of Monte Carlo, was the poster child for corruption and backroom deals in the go-go days. In the wake of the scandals, tens of thousands of homes were found to have been built illegally, including an estate owned by homegrown hunk Antonio Banderas.

Years in the making, the Marbella town plan is something of a bellwether for the country. If implemented, it could provide a framework for other regions to move forward, without destroying people’s homes.

Headlines from the world of property:

Dubai: Older Offices Have a Vacant Look

New buildings are gobbling up tenants, leaving older buildings to struggle. From the National.

New York: Priciest Condo Takes a Tumble

Price of condo in Philippe Starck building drops $7 million. From Curbed.

If there is one thing European property experts agree on, it’s that housing data out of Spain is fairly worthless.

For example, the most recent report from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) shows the market bottoming out, down only 7 percent in the last year. Catalonia and Madrid saw drops of more than 11 percent, but the rate of declines is slowing, the data shows.

“But it is always worth pointing out that the official index is so detached from reality it is close to meaningless,” Spanish Property Insight’s Mark Stucklin reports. He cites numbers suggesting Murcia prices dropped only 1 percent in the last year. “That is farfetched, to put it mildly,” Stucklin said. .

Any hint that Spain’s horror stories would fade into the past were ruined last week, when three British expats in Almeria were served with demolition orders for their homes. In total, eight homes in the town of Albox may be facing the wrecking ball, according to media reports.

Throughout Spain, municipalities are wrestling with how to deal with homes built illegally in the boom years, usually at the direction of corrupt local officials. Two weeks ago, 10 homes were demolished in Chiclana, after the developer ignored orders to stop construction. Homeowners climbed on their roofs to try to stop the demolitions and 28 people were arrested in protests, typicallyspanish reports.

Dubai

Prices in Dubai fell 47 percent in the last year, the largest drop reported in the latest Knight Frank Global House Price Index.

Overall, Knight Frank’s news was fairly upbeat, with 68 percent of the countries reporting upticks in the third quarter. However 57 percent of the countries were still lower than a year ago, led by Dubai, Bulgaria (down 28 percent) and Thailand (down 18.4 percent).

The report spotlights the rollercoaster in Asia, where Singapore is down 14.5 percent from a year ago, but posted a 15.2 percent jump in the quarter. Hong Kong prices are up 5.6 percent from a year ago.

Talking to residential investors in Europe these days, Spain is almost never mentioned as a target. Even groups with vulture funds say they’re not quite ready to dive into that market, despite prices down 20 to 40 percent, in many areas.

It happened again last week. I was talking to Stuart Johnson of U.K.-based Experience International. The company is working investments in the U.S., France, Brazil, Panama and even the Philippines. But he said they are steering clear of Spain.

“Spain is a very difficult market now,” said Johnson, project sourcing manager for EI.

Despite the carnage of the last year, investors are ready to place more money in property, according to a new report from Barclays Wealth and the Economist Intelligence Unit. A survey of 2,000 high net worth individuals found 35 percent ready to increase the property allocation in their portfolios in the next two years, compared to 17 percent planning to decrease their property exposure.

The long-term confidence in property was global, the report found, with investors in nine out of 10 countries expressing optimism about the long term prospects for the market. The lone exception was Spain, where investors said they were still downsizing their property exposure.

Foreigners who sold property in Spain may be entitled to a hefty tax refund, thanks to a recent European Court of Justice ruling.

Non-Spanish citizens who sold property in 2005 and 2006 were charged a whopping 35 percent capital gains tax, compared to a 15 percent rate for Spanish citizens. The European Court of Justice ruled the rate was discriminatory and violated EU law.

Latest government data showing a 7.7 percent decline in Spain property prices from a year earlier may be a sign of stabliziation in the market, some analysts believe. The numbers from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) suggest the rate of decline maybe slowing, which would be welcome news to the industry.