Archive for the ‘Data, trends and statistics’ Category
Nicaragua real estate: least expensive and most environmentally friendly
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009
Great infographic from Reveal Real Estate looking at the international real estate market in Central America. The two takeaways for us:
- Nicaragua real estate is more affordable than Belize, Panama and Costa Rica across all categories, and
- Nicaragua has the greatest percentage of real estate developments with public information on social and environmental responsibility.
Check it out on the Reveal Real Estate blog.
Getting in early by investing in Nicaragua real estate
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009Critical to any successful real estate investment is the question of timing. Ideally, you want to get in early, before the rest of the world catches on to a new purchasing destination. Ten or fifteen years ago, you could describe Costa Rica or Belize as an ‘early-in’ investment destination. Today they welcome millions of people from all corners of the earth and property values have risen significantly over the years. Right now, many commentators are calling Nicaragua the ‘early in’ investment destination for the region, set to follow a similar growth trend as Costa Rica or Belize.
Comparison shopping
The key indicator to look at to determine where a market lies along a development curve is the cost of property. Problem is, it can be hard to get hold of comparative market statistics in Central America, particularly in areas where there is no functioning MLS.
So we turned to Reveal Real Estate, a market research organization focusing on international real estate in Central America. They have aggregated listing prices from real estate developments and master planned communities in Nicaragua, Belize, Costa Rica and Panama and put this information online. The chart below shows their analysis of median price per square foot for houses in 2008 across the four countries.
Nicaragua emerges as the lowest cost property destination across all categories, and second cheapest (after Panama) for ocean view houses. The 2009 data, which has just been released for Nicaragua and Panama real estate, backs this up with Nicaragua emerging as a cheaper investment destination across all property types. Costa Rica real estate and Belize property data will soon be released so we’ll run the comparison when it is available.
And it’s not just property values that are paving the way for early-in property investors, Nicaragua has the lowest cost of living in Central America. (Calculated using implied Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) conversion rate from the IMF.)
It’s a buyers market in Nicaragua
Right now it’s a buyers market in Nicaragua. The country is not immune to the global economic crisis. Developers are offering incentives and there have been some price reductions. But what’s clear is that Nicaragua is not experiencing the double digit declines we’re accustomed to seeing in headlines across the globe.
As noted by Reveal Real Estate, the key reason for this is the low levels of lender-mediated activity in the Nicaragua property market. With most property purchases being made in cash, foreclosures are very rare.
A second factor is the emergence of a new type of ‘lifestyle investor.’ These are buyers who are seeing their chances of retiring in, say, Florida unwind but they’re not ready to give up on the lifestyle they had planned for their retirement. So they’re looking at countries like Nicaragua where the real estate is cheaper and, crucially, the cost of living more affordable. And they’re getting in early by investing in Nicaragua real estate.
Real estate at a fraction of the price
Thursday, February 28th, 2008“Nicaragua is next in line for fractional real estate offerings after Costa Rica and Mexico” according to Scott A. Preston of law firm Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, speaking at a recent event hosted by the Association of Nicaraguan Investors and Developers (ANID).
Fractional real estate is broadly defined as vacation real estate sold in intervals of more than one week and less than whole ownership. It sits alongside destination clubs, condo hotels, timeshare and private residence clubs on the spectrum of real estate models being used in the second home and vacation market.
Despite being new to the market here, Nicaragua has an advantage over Mexico (where fractionals are booming) when it comes to the legal basis of fractional ownership. With a simpler legal system and an environment where foreigners can own land with fee simple title, fractional offerings are set to flourish.
Hassle free absentee landownership
For investors not equipped or not willing to be absentee landlords, fractionals offer a compelling proposition. It is often not a matter of being unable to afford a vacation home, but a case of not wanting the hassle and expense of maintaining a home 52 weeks of the year when they are likely to occupy it only for two or three weeks each year.
We know of a number of developers in Nicaragua planning fractional products. All part of a wider trend towards mixed use offerings in the vacation real estate world.
Nicaragua one of “Five Top South American Investment Opportunities”
Saturday, November 24th, 2007Overseas property mall have highlighted Nicaragua as one of the five top South American Investment Opportunities. Joining Chile, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay here is the excerpt on Nicaragua.
“Tourism in Nicaragua is booming, and along with it, many buy-to-let opportunities. Tourism is currently the second largest industry in the nation and over the last 7 years tourism has grown about 70%. Nicaragua has seen positive growth in the tourism sector over the last decade and is expected to become the first largest industry in 2007. The increase and growth led to the income from tourism to rise more than 300% over a period of 10 years. The growth in tourism has also positively affected the agricultural, commercial, and finance industries, as well as the construction industry
Every year about 60,000 U.S. citizens visit Nicaragua, primarily business people, tourists, and those visiting relatives. The majority of tourists that visit Nicaragua are from the U.S., Central or South America, and Europe. According to the Ministry of Tourism of Nicaragua (INTUR), the colonial city of Granada is the preferred spot for tourists and this is where many overseas property investing opportunities are to be found.”
For the full article click here.
Four google earth maps showing real estate developments on Nicaragua’s Pacific coast
Sunday, April 29th, 2007Selection of google maps showing the location of the major real estate developments on the Pacific coast.
- Map of real estate developments south of San Juan del Sur
- Map of real estate developments in San Juan del Sur and to the north
- Map of real estate developments on the Tola Riviera
- Map of developments on Nicaragua’s Central Pacific Coast
10 Trends in Nicaragua real estate
Monday, April 2nd, 2007As real estate buyers become more sophisticated and developers more adventurous, we are seeing the following trends in the property market:
- More turnkey product on the market with the promise of rental income
- Emergence of fractional ownership products supported by strong property management offering
- Growth in developer / owner financing
- More brand name offerings and franchise products in different locations
- World class amenity based products (e.g signature name golf resort)
- Increase in eco-sell products being marketed as ecologically sound
- Better technology offerings (e.g full wi-fi access)
- Special commercial sites (tourism and business)
- The emergence of luxury real estate
- A spreading out of real estate options from the South West of the country
