Costa Rica Real Estate Investment – Do we ‘wait and see?’

The global financial news this week was nothing short of catastrophic:

1. ‘Bear Stearns crisis sparks UK recession fears’
2. ‘Fed takes boldest action since the Depression to rescue US mortgage industry’
3. ‘Debt Reckoning: U.S. Receives a Margin Call’
4. ‘Dollar plunge sets off global alarm bells’
5. ‘Irish banks may need life-support as property prices crash’

“Speculation has swirled for months about the collapse of an American bank… It is the first time since the Great Depression that the Fed has lent in this fashion to any entity other than a bank.”

For many of you, our newsletter may be an escape from the turmoil at home and I apologize for sending this domestic news to you all the way from Costa Rica, but there are some important things to bear in mind about our real estate market.

Costa Rica real estate buyers come from all over the world and although the number of buyers from the USA has fallen and may fall further, this is not because they do not have the money, most of them do, it’s just that with so much turmoil in the financial markets that many people I speak with are in a ‘wait and see’ mode.

Many of our US VIP Members do not even have mortgages on their homes in the USA and the majority buy real estate here without financing, and although they may not have lost money, our US buyers are losing faith and confidence in a system that many of them thought was invincible.

Trouble is, I think that people who do ‘wait’ will ‘see’ the prices of quality Costa Rica real estate move higher in the future than they are now… The plummeting dollar combined with rapidly increasing commodity prices worldwide will push real estate prices higher for new construction projects in Costa Rica.

The ‘perception’ may be that everything, everywhere is bad but, over the next 20 years we will see 80 million Americans retiring – plus millions more from Canada, Europe and other Central and LatAm countries – retiring, and they will retire no matter what the economic climate is… In fact, because of this turmoil many of them may accelerate their retirement plans.

So if you have a well thought out plan to live, retire and buy real estate in Costa Rica, I would suggest that as long as you have done your homework and are comfortable with the idea of living in this land of stunning scenery, sunshine and smiles and buying real estate here – it’s still a good idea, and I don’t honestly believe that waiting around will make much of a difference except you’ll probably pay more next year!

PS. Last week, a sophisticated and very successful real estate investor from New York bought a massive and truly magnificent, ultra luxurious penthouse apartment in Escazu for over US$1 million so people are still buying.

Long-term real estate investors still see real value in the Costa Rica real estate market.

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Written by Scott Oliver, author of How To Buy Costa Rica Real Estate Without Losing Your Camisa and Costa Rica’s Guide To Making Money Offshore.

If you have a serious interest in buying real estate and would like a highly recommended, trustworthy and reference checked real estate professional to help you, please visit our Costa Rica Realtors section here.

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.