• View Properties
  ALAJUELA CARTAGO GUANACASTE HEREDIA LIMON PUNTARENAS SAN JOSE

Costa Rica Investment in Playa Zancudo Land

for Affordable Investments in Costa Rica's Real Estate Market?

Over the past ten years, thousands have made investment deals in Costa Rica land and beachfront real estate market along the upper Pacific Coast, mainly around and to the north of Quepos.

Numerous others have investments in Costa Rica land that is less expensive land and ocean view real estate overlooking the Pacific, farms and riverfront land in the interior, but mainly still near the ocean. Many others have purchased investment vacation homes, second homes, and retirement land due to the cheap cost of living when compared to the United States and Europe.

Both the investor and casual purchasers have already made, or stand to make HUGE PROFITS, when they sell their real estate investments along the coast. In today's market, it appears most owners could profit around 500% for beachfront investments held over a five-year period.

Many in the Jaco, Quepos, Puntarenas, Tamarindo, and the Flamingo areas stand to profit considerably more, but the market in the northern region is rapidly surpassing &qupt;affordable price levels". Much of the beachfront real estate in these areas is being gobbled up by large corporate concerns to build gated subdivisions, condos, mega-hotels and resorts for the sun loving, vacationing Americans and Europeans. This corporate rush for prime beachfront land is essentially putting it out of reach for the average investor or retiree.

The new airport near Liberia has resulted in a marked escalation of property prices in the beach towns surrounding Liberia. The region to the south of Liberia has experienced price increases in the neighborhood of 100% in the past two years and the Costa Rican government projects that real estate prices near Marbella will double in the next three to five years. A beach front  access lot or parcel of land in this area is currently listed for around $300,000 for 54,000 square feet or 1.2 acres.

Dominical, south of Quepos, is currently experiencing a huge boom in prices as beachfront condos are springing up like Palm Trees, and of course, the prices are escalating at an astonishing rate. I personally passed up a $150,000 cliff side lot near Dominical seven years ago. I recently saw a cliff side lot in the same area that was asking $450,000 -- a three percent increase in seven years! You can now expect to pay $350,000 for a beach view lot near Dominical.

The same can be said for Palo Seco. In 2000, I considered buying a huge lot there for $70,000. Today, lots on Palo Seco are being developed into condos. According to a realtor in the area, property on Palo Seco has escalated by 400% in the past two years -- this does not include the escalation in the prior five years. 11,000 square foot building lots and land are selling for around $115,000.

With the approval of a new marina in Golfito property prices should shoot through the sky. There is great potential for making a lot of money on real estate in Golfito right now, but there is no beach or infrastructure development that most Americans or Europeans expect when investing in "city" property. Before Golfito really takes off, someone is going to have to foot the bill for these improvements, and you should not expect local taxation to pay the bill.

In the past seven years the small village of Zancudo has shown tremendous growth in real estate sales and land prices, but Playa Zancudo real estate still remains affordable for most investors, retirees, and those looking for second homes or vacation houses. As I stated, many of the beachfront properties in Costa Rica have escalated in price by 300 - 400% (or more) over the past six to seven years. However, large "unimproved" beachfront tracts of land on Playa Zancudo only sold for around $35,000 each in 2000, some for less. Today, those same large lots -- unimproved -- are selling for around $150,000 each - these are NOT small building lots, but rather large tracts of vacant real estate. Compare these prices to beachfront, or riverfront property up north, and you will see why Playa Zancudo is one of the last frontiers for affordable land investments on the Pacific Ocean.

Prices here WILL probably be comparable to those we are seeing on the upper coast in another three to five years, possibly even sooner once the new airport north of Golfito is completed. This means buyers today could make substantial profits over the next five years, if the past history of real estate prices in Costa Rica continues.

Investment Opportunity Knocks -- will you open the door?

For more information on Playa Zancudo Contact Us at (506) 2776-0168 or email us: don at zancudo (dot) net.

Latitude 8 Realty