House prices spiralling!
Belize has attracted US real estate buyers for a quarter of a century. Ambergris Caye, the country’s exclusive high-end area, is a particular focus of attention.
Belize prides itself on being the seat of Mayan civilization, with well-preserved archeological sites throughout the country, such as Lamanai and Xunantunich, which are easily accessible to tourists.
It is also an ecological paradise, to which tourists flock each year to marvel at the pristine beaches and virgin forests, with the second largest reef barrier in the world, including the Blue Hole, which can be seen even from outer space. Numerous varieties of wildlife shelter in the inlands. Bird watching, nature trailing, and water sports are popular in Belize.
“Especially in the last five years it has gone crazy,” says Claudio Azueta of Southwind Properties, which specializes in properties in Ambergris Caye, the country’s exclusive high-end area. “Four or five years ago the price for a frontage foot was US$1,000-US$1,500.
“But we have gotten to US$4,000 per frontage foot and we have people listing at US$5,000.”
Prices in Ambergris Caye tend to be expressed in frontage feet, and the price is not very much affected by the property’s ‘depth’ i.e., whether it is 100x100 feet, or 100x400 feet. This does not apply to town-centre areas of San Pedro, which now fetch US$15,000 per square foot, up from US$5,000 per foot 20 years ago.
Small-scale developers
Who are the buyers? Mostly small-scale developers, according to Azueta, a condominium developer. “People buy a 100 frontage foot lot for US$300,000, and then they build on it. For instance in Mata Grande 100 frontage feet costs US$300,000-US$400,000, then you build a 2,000 square foot house for US$200,000, i.e. there is an all-in cost of US$500,000.”
“The drive is to sell units and to have rental properties for travelers and vacationers,” says Azueta. Developers build multi-housing units like Belize Beach Resorts, which sits on a 245 foot x 600 foot lot and has 60 condos.
“The original prices six years ago were US$130,000 to US$160,0000, now they are US$220,000.” Such developments are being encouraged by an increase in tourism even beyond the main November to June season. “Lately we have had a pretty good slow season,” says Azueta.
Wide price range
By Western standards real estate prices are inexpensive in the rest of Belize. But of course it depends where you are. You can pay as little as Belize dollar (BZ$)10,000 (US$5,000) for residential lots in rural districts. Home prices can range from as little as BZ$30,000 (US$15,000) for a simple Belizean-style house in a village, to about BZ$1,000,000 (US$500,000) for a property on the beaches of San Pedro.
For Belize as a whole, the average selling price of prime coastal properties was around US$3,000 per sq. m. in early 2006, up from about US$1,650 per sq. m. in 2005, according to Regent Realty Limited.
According to Global Property Guide research, the average price for apartments in Ambergris Caye is around US$2,500 per sq. m. in 2005. While the average price in Placencia, the island’s southern coastal area, is around US$1,300 per sq. m.
It is worth mentioning that Belize and Guatemala have not yet settled their long drawn out territorial dispute - Guatemala still claims half of Belize, and this is a concern for potential investors.
