Costa Rica Real Estate Magazine

ARTICLE | REAL ESTATE

bility of health and dental services has in-creased. In response to the influx of visi-tors and new residents, both the public and private healthcare sys- tems in Costa Rica have expanded and added ser-vices. The government has announced plans to invest $42 million (USD) in new facilities and locations. Most private hos-pitals are adding Gua- nacaste clinics, ur-gent care centers, and other satellites in Guanacaste’s most active areas. 7) Global interest in Costa Rica and Guanacaste remains very high. The annual visitor volume to the country re- cently surpassed 3,000,000, and 52% of them came to Guanacaste. The his- toric trendline has been consistently positive. 8) Long-awaited projects of global in- terest are moving forward. The most significant is the development of a new, 211-slip, ocean marina in Flamingo, ap- proved by the government in late 2018, and expecting to be completed in 2022. In general, it can be seen, that the initial wave of interest in Guanacaste, created by the addition of the international air- port in Liberia, has rippled many times, and those activities have evolved to now support a stable, integrated eco- nomic foundation for long-term invest- ment suc-cess in the province.

been paved, electric power grids have been upgraded, and significant water projects are adding to existing resourc- es in the most desirable, dry areas. 2) The Liberia Airport has been re- placed with a new, world-class struc- ture, that immediately increased its capacity. It has already been expanded after just 3 years of operation of the new facility 3) Business and personal communi- cation has greatly improved. The avail- ability of fiberoptic internet service and speeds is now widespread, and cellular phone networks have been expanded and become much more reliable. 4) In spite of recent tax changes and increases, Costa Rica still applies very attractive rates to property-related tax- es. The basic annual tax rate for non- luxury, titled property is ¼ of 1% of value. 5) The quality and availability of pri- vate schools has steadily increased. This has become a significant factor in attracting families to relocate to Costa Rica. Devel-opers now feature inten- tions to have a school within their proj- ects as a market-ing asset. 6) The quality, affordability, and availa-

Photo by Allen Lungo

Photo by Allen Lungo

Photo by Allen Lungo

Photo by Marcos García

COSTA RICA REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE 71