Site Offers Data On Central
America Developments
A Web site launched this month seeks to help investors sift through
the muddle of property markets in Central American, where reliable
numbers are often hard to find.
Revealrealestate.com offers a database of developments in Costa
Rica, Panama, Nicaragua and Belize, allowing users to compare asking
prices and trends in the different markets. Information for 320
projects targeting international investors is included at this
point, says Claudia Gonella one of co-owners.
“The website is in part a response to the notoriously untrustworthy
data coming out of the region,” said Gonella, who is based in
Nicaragua.
In addition to prices, the site allows “smart” searches, separating
out the data by such characteristics as location and views.
Data is collected “by hand and manually verified,” using publicly
available asking prices, Gonella says. “We are using the same data
that developers provide directly to prospects that are interested in
purchasing with them.” The median numbers may not reflect the
reality of actual sales prices, but they do help establish trends
and comparative benchmarks.
Going forward, the site plans to add data for Honduras, El Salvador,
Guatemala and Mexico. It also hopes to add premium services for
investors.
Some of Gonella’s early observations from the data:
- Costa Rica real estate is more expensive than Belize, Panama and
Nicaragua, which is hardly surprising. However, “the differential is
less than people may expect,” especially among high end properties,
Gonella said.
- Panama is more expensive than Nicaragua, but again the
differential is less than people may expect, as Nicaragua add newer
developments.
- For beachfront and ocean view lots, Belize median prices per
square foot are a one-third to half less than Costa Rica. |
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