More Comparisons between Nicaragua and Costa Rica
Sep 21st, 2008 by Kevin
The Financial Times released an article a few days back where it compared Costa Rica to Nicaragua. It described the same situation this blog has many times over. The amazing price differences on property between the two countries that have essentially all of the same great qualities. Gaps like this are where great investments are made.
Interest from foreign investors in Nicaragua has only been really happening for about 10 years or less, whereas Costa Rica has been a hot spot since the 1980’s. This article backs up many statistics we present in our seminars on the Nicaraguan investment opportunity. Ocean view property in Costa Rica sits around a price point of $200/square meter. In southern Nicaragua you can find similar property anywhere from $40 - $100/square meter. The article doesn’t even talk about Northern Nicaragua which is sitting typically under $1/square meter currently… same coastline only separated by a few hundred miles…
There were a couple key points for me that were raised by investor Kirk Hankla who is also president of Coldwell banker Nicaragua:
- Nicaragua is both the safest and yet the poorest country in the region. Living is cheap, an attraction that is impossible to ignore for some 80m baby boomers in the US alone, whose pension system is looking precarious. Mr Hankla reckons that $800 will buy you in Nicaragua what $3,400 will in the US. Certainly, sheer demographics will drive Nicaragua’s property market if nothing else.
- So far there are more than 4,000 US citizens in the country, while some $85m has been invested in the property market. But analysts expect investment in the sector to surpass $1bn over the next decade.
