Costa Rica Real Estate Magazine

NORTH PACIFIC

Guanacaste, Costa Rica Investment Origins and Update

Photo by Irving Dávila

to include retirees, families seeking a new experience, individuals trying a new life path, businesses serving the needs of the residential investors, global cor- porations expanding operations, hotels accommodating rising visitor volumes, healthcare providers, and Costa Rican businesses extending themselves from San Jose. Among the new businesses investing in Guanacaste are Coca-Cola, Pricemart (Costa Rica’s Costco), and international hotel and air cargo compa- nies. Even with the significant blow tak- en by international investors in the Global Financial Crisis (2007-2008), and the related damage to worldwide real estate values, Guanacaste has sta- bilized and resumed its upward devel- opment trajectory to such a point that currently available inventories of homes, condominiums, and hotels, in certain popular areas has dwindled to almost nothing, and real estate prices have re- sumed a slow, steady upward trend. The real estate and development en- vironments in Guanacaste have also benefitted from a combination of sev- eral factors, and the long-term expecta- tions are for sustainable growth and sta- ble or increasing values.

By Allen Lungo President, Costa Rica Global Association of Realtors B y now, real estate investors around the world have heard of the Guanacaste Province of Costa Rica , as a diverse and growing opportunity. Since its emergence as an international destination with the arrival of the first US-based commercial airline flights to its own international airport at Liberia in December, 2002, Guanacaste has grown into the second most impor- tant economic engine in Costa Rica (af- ter San Jose, the capital), and the most important tourist destination in the coun- try, welcoming 52% of all tourists com- ing to Costa Rica on vacation, in recent surveys. In the years after 2002, Guanacaste attracted much attention as a vaca- tion destination for its natural beauty, biodiversity, stunning beaches, world- class surfing, tropical climate, sense of freedom, and welcoming attitude of its people. From a base of tourists wanting vacation home investments, the profile of Guanacaste investors has expanded COSTA RICA GLOBAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS

Photo by Allen Lungo

Photo by Allen Lungo

Continued Page 62

58 COSTA RICA REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE