Palms International Costa Rica has released a mid-year report on the Costa Rica real estate market for 2014. According to our experts, gated communities in Guanacaste and Puntarenas are generating sales and witnessing new construction at exponential rates, largely accounting for the rebound in Costa Rica real estate.
Guanacaste, Costa Rica – June 25, 2014
Five years after finding itself caught up in the U.S. recession and subsequent real estate bust, the Costa Rica property market is finally on the rebound. With the first six months of 2014 well underway and sales continuing to surge, experts are looking back at 2013 statistics and the present year’s sales to determine emerging trends for the booming Costa Rica real estate market in the months ahead. According to experts, the increased investment in Costa Rica real estate is largely due to foreign investors and growing sales in gated communities in the Puntarenas and Guanacaste provinces.
Luxury Gated Communities in Puntarenas and Guanacaste are Largely Responsible for Increased Investment in Costa Rica Real Estate
The Costa Rica Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE) reports that in 2013, real estate investment grew to $1.16 billion, with an estimated 43% of purchases from foreign, mostly North American investors. CINDE emphasized that Costa Rica real estate purchases in the Pacific coastal areas of Puntarenas and Guanacaste, the country’s most popular destinations for tourism and retirement, are largely responsible for increased sales. The Costa Rican College of Engineers and Architects (CFIA) also reported that Costa Rica’s gated communities and condo developments have grown 85% in the past two years.
Hacienda Pinilla, a luxury residential beach and golf community, both gated and located in Guanacaste, is proof of both CINDE’s and CFIA’s findings. The 4,500-acre property sits on three miles of unspoiled coastline, near the popular beach town of Tamarindo along Costa Rica’s Gold Coast – a strong draw for vacation and retirement real estate investors.
According to Hacienda Pinilla Sales Director Deborah Landon, the community’s serenity, safety and authenticity appeal to both North American and Costa Rican investors. “Buyers today are drawn to established gated developments, both for security in their real estate investment and the sense of community. In the last year, sales have tripled with sales of golf course and beachfront home sites and villas, including one beachfront lot well over the $1 million mark. We have six luxury homes currently under construction, with more approved and scheduled to begin this year, a big jump from last year,” adds Landon.
Hacienda Pinilla also reports that their new Hacienda Club, a fractional luxury Private Residence Club, accounts for some of the new energy and real estate sales at Hacienda Pinilla. “The Hacienda Club allows people looking for a luxury vacation home to purchase through a proven fractional ownership program in either three- or four-bedroom luxury Spanish colonial Villas. Since luxury Residence Club ownership comes at a fraction of the “whole” price and is professionally managed and maintained, it is an affordable and carefree way to own luxury Costa Rica real estate,” explains Landon.
With Costa Rican property sales finally rebounding, experts caution that now is the time to buy, before the market fully recovers. In the coming year, inventory in gated communities is expected to fall and purchase prices to rise to meet or exceed pre-recession levels.
For more information, please contact Hacienda Pinilla Co-Sales Director Deborah Landon via email [email protected] or by phone (239-243-0791).