The 2011 Costa Rica Real Estate Market Report

Sept. 19, 2011 - PRLog -- Through the years between 1995 - 2005, Costa Rica  was midst a gold rush of sorts.

Except this was a rush for land.

During this time, Costa Rica real estate values were exceptional with both buyers and sellers on the receiving end of fantastic opportunities. It was really during this period that Costa Rica began to get noticed.

It was both a buyer's and seller's market. Supply and demand. The supply was abundant and the demand was immense. This would be the precursor to the eventual majority sellers market to come.

All markets, whether it is real estate, precious metals, publicly traded corporations or mutual funds, there are plenty of determining factors to help dictate it's current and future conditions. Insights assisted by a plethora of data from various sources is all we have to help us in determining the viability of any particular market.

Fast-forward to 2011 and we can now see the bi-product of what the 'boom years' created.

Throughout the country, Costa Rica real estate companies and developers are reporting varied results. While one section of the country might be experiencing a low in Costa Rica property sales, in another, there might be strong sales.

Take Guanacaste for example.

Guanacaste (http://www.guanacaste.net) is located along the Nicaragua border in the northern section of the country. In previous years it was well known that the area was experiencing the largest investor growth rate of anywhere else in the country outside the Central Valley. For this reason, one of the world's most reputable and luxurious hotel chains, Four Seasons, constructed their flagship Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo. This hotel quickly became the poster child for luxury hotels in the country and is repeatedly visiting by some of the biggest names in Hollywood.

After the construction of the mega resort, investor confidence dropped in unison with the world's economic crisis. This forced developers in Guanacaste to reconsider while many chose to remain in a holding pattern until investor confidence returned.

On the other hand, a few hours drive to the south in the province of Puntarenas, you will find another mega development, Hacienda Matapalo (http://www.haciendamatapalo.com), however in this case the Costa Rica real estate market is seeing strong growth. So while Guanacaste developers are in a holding pattern, their southern zone counterparts forged ahead.

Agents throughout the country are reporting an increase in attention for gated communities. This is due to the fact that when expats pick up and move their families to a foreign country, they typically look to each other for comfort and security in reassuring they've done the right thing. This creates a tremendous sense of community that many families become comfortable with and in some regards, never want to leave. This is a popular occurrence in the Central Valley where population density is high.

A fantastic example of this is with the premium gated community Catalina Cove (http://www.guanacaste.net/catalina-cove). Situated along the Gold Coast of Guanacaste and surrounded by 5-star luxury, Catalina Cove could be classified as a true and legit "fire sale property".

Moving forward we can expect investor interest to return, albeit slowly, however there still are pockets of the country where sales are strong and interest in gaining momentum.

Although the future looks bright for Costa Rica real estate we still recommend caution and do-diligence in any purchase of Costa Rica real estate.

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The name Don Halbert is synonymous with Costa Rica marketing and SEO. As a professional copy writer and marketer, Don Halbert has created a vast network in order to promote Costa Rica and it's many businesses.

Visit his website at: http://www.donhalbert.com