Costa Rica Retirement Vacation Properties

Firstly US chipmaker Intel have announced that they are to plough substantial investment into their Costa Rica plant and increase the numbers of jobs available to the local labor force, secondly a major UK based tour operator are launching direct flights to Costa Rica from London, and thirdly the Costa Rican government have extensively relaxed their immigration policies for investors bringing funds or skills to their country.

As Costa Rica is already one of our preferred emerging markets to watch, all this good news has got us excited! And property investors who were wondering whether the time is right to commit to Costa Rica may well be positively influenced by the abundance of positive news coming from this Central American country today.

First up, Intel has announced that they will commit one hundred and twenty million US dollars to improve and expand their Costa Rica processing plant. The direct investment will help create five hundred new jobs which will directly assist the local economy and help boost the appeal of commercial property in Costa Rica.

This news coupled with the fact that the Costa Rican government has just announced a significant easing on immigration restrictions for investors, employers and key employees means that the country just became an even more attractive prospect for companies looking for a more tax efficient, lower cost location for their operations. This will likely have a direct effect on the demand for commercial property, it may well boost demand for residential property in the main Costa Rican towns and it will undoubtedly raise the profile of Costa Rica globally.

IT giants Hewlett-Packard are another company expanding operations in Costa Rica in 2006; they are to double their locally sourced workforce by 500 and to begin a massive expansion of business interests in Costa Rica. Both HP and Intel will benefit from the fact that the immigration procedures their expatriate management will have to go through have been simplified by the government. According to the Costa Rican Minister of Foreign Trade Manuel Gonzalz Sanz, the new policies will help make foreign direct investment into Costa Rica more attractive and therefore boost the amount of investment the country receives annually.

This fact alone could result in an intensification of investor interest in the property market in Costa Rica…but the additional news out from the UK this week that First Choice are to begin direct flights from London in 2007 to Costa Rica means that hungry British property investors are probably about to descend on Costa Rica in their droves! There is much promotion of this stunningly beautiful and ecologically diverse country in the British press as a result of the First Choice announcement, and those who were unaware of the property investment potential in Costa Rica are now rapidly making themselves aware! Direct flights will begin from London’s Gatwick airport from May 2007 and already the flights and holidays from First Choice have gone on sale.

So, in terms of Costa Rica investment property news there is much to be positive about – but as always, we recommend that any real estate investor considering making a commitment spends time doing their due diligence on the potential profitability of a given property type before buying.

Best Destination

At the International Tourism Fair (FITUR in Spanish), held in Spain, the U.S. Travel Weekly chose Costa Rica as the best destination in Latin America. The variety of attractions and the many chances a visitor has here to enjoy the best of vacations were among the reasons to bestow the award on Costa Rica, whose competitors included Panama, Chile, Peru, Argentina, and Brazil.

The Costa Rican Minister of Tourism ,Ricardo Benavides, pointed out that the best feature of the award is that it results from the choice of the magazine’s 140,000 readers, who belong to the U.S. tourist industry.

The readers also remarked that Costa Rica is one of the most saleable destinations in Central and South America because of its mild tropical weather, natural and adventure attractions, exotic sites, and the warmth of its inhabitants.

Spanish Company to Build a Billion Dollar Project Near Puerto Caldera

Akasvayu and Islas Pitusas S.A. Will spend $970 million developing La Roca project near Puerto Caldera, Puntarenas on the Pacific Coast. The project will include three five-star hotels, over 1000 homes, a casino and a golf course designed by Australian Greg Norman.

2006 was the Year of a Construction Boom in Costa Rica
by Karen Retana

Foreign investment and better access to credit contributed to Costa Rica’s construction and real estate boom in 2006. Construction permits increased 70% during the year. In 2005 construction permits were issued for nearly 3 million square meters of construction. This year the figure reached 5 million square meters. About one third of the permits were for the Central Valley because of the variety and infrastructure found here.

New Marinas on the Way

More than 21 new marinas are scheduled to be built in the coming years in Costa Rica. There will be a total investment of around $400 million dollars required to build the new marinas. With the construction of thee marinas almost 6000 boats will be able to dock in Costa Rica.

The Spanish firm Grupo Nyesa says it will invest $600 million in a hotel and resort complex in Esparza.

The location is in the area known as La Roca in the province of Puntarenas east of the city by that name. The company is a principal player in the United States and Europe, frequently linked to Sol Meliá, but this is its first effort in Latin America. The company had purchased 200 hectares for development, about 494 acres.

The company made a courtesy call on President Oscar Arias Sánchez Tuesday. Later Casa Presidencial said that the project would generate 5,000 new jobs. The work would begin in three to four years and be finished in 10, said Casa Presidencial.