North Pacific Guanacaste

North Pacific Guanacaste, Costa Rica Investment origins and update

By Allen Lungo President, Costa Rica
Global Association
of REALTORS

By 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 important economic engine in Costa Rica (after San Jose, the capital), and the most important tourist destination in the country, welcoming 52% of all tourists comingto Costa Rica on vacation, in recent surveys.

In the years after 2002, Guanacaste attracted much attention as a vacation 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 to include retirees, families seeking a new experience, individuals trying a new life path, businesses serving the needs of the residential investors, global corporations 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 companies.

Even with the significant blow taken by international investors in the Global Financial Crisis (2007-2008), and the related damage to worldwide real estate values, Guanacaste has stabilized and resumed its upward development 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 resumed a slow, steady upward trend. The real estate and development environments in Guanacaste have also benefitted from a combination of several factors, and the long-term expectations are for sustainable growth and stable or increasing values.

WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN THESE ENVIRONMENTS?

1) The government and utilities have invested in infrastructure – Most significant regional and local roads have been paved, electric power grids have been upgraded, and significant water projects are adding to existing resources in the most desirable, dry areas.

 2) The Liberia Airport has been replaced with a new, world-class structure, that immediately increased its capacity. It has already been expanded after just 3 years of operation of the new facility

 3) Business and personal communication has greatly improved. The availability 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 taxes. The basic annual tax rate for nonluxury, titled property is 1/4 of 1% of value.

 5) The quality and availability of privat schools has steadily increased. This has become a significant factor in attracting families to relocate to Costa Rica. Developers now feature intentions to have a school within their projects as a marketing asset.

 6) The quality, affordability, and availability of health and dental services has increased. In response to the influx of visitors and new residents, both the public and private healthcare systems in Costa Rica have expanded and added services. The government has announced plans to invest $42 million (USD) in new facilities and locations.

Most private hospitals are adding Guanacaste clinics, urgent 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 recently surpassed 3,000,000, and 52% of them came to Guanacaste. The historic trendline has been consistently positive.

 8) Long-awaited projects of global interest are moving forward. The most significant is the development of a new, 211-slip, ocean marina in Flamingo, approved 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 airport in Liberia, has rippled many times, and those activities have evolved to now support a stable, integrated economic foundation for long-term investment success in the province.