House Hunting in El Salvador: A Beachfront Campus for $249,000


this low villa complex It’s tucked into a lushly landscaped tropical garden, steps from a private beach and beach club on El Salvador’s Pacific Coast.

Situated on one third of an acre in the Bahia Dorada beach community, the property features two residences, one with two bedrooms and one bathroom and the other with a master bedroom suite.

Seller Anna Rooney said the house, which is sold furnished, is arranged in the traditional Salvadoran farm layout, with living spaces divided between indoor and outdoor spaces. Bizarre touches include brightly colored walls and handmade textiles. The dining room, living room and kitchen are outside, while the bedrooms and several sitting areas are inside. The property also has room for a housekeeper.

“The green spaces are indescribable,” said Jose Cortez, the Oceanside El Salvador agent who owns the list. “It’s like you’re in the forest.”

From the street, a long walkway leads into the center of the property, passing a 26-metre swimming pool and the adjacent pavilion with a hammock and barbecue. The walkway continues into the heart of the property, past the indoor, open-air kitchen and living room. A bathroom, closet, and housekeeper are added to this patio. The kitchen has a central island with granite countertops and a propane four-burner stove.

After passing the kitchen, the passage splits to reach two buildings: On the left is a cottage with a bedroom suite and a living room. To the right is the two-bedroom, one-bathroom cottage currently used for guests. Each has a covered patio with tiled floors raised by a few steps.

Ms. Rooney said that the residence, which was built nearly 40 years ago, has approximately 1,650 square meters of indoor space, excluding patios and patios, and is constantly updated. The roof was replaced this summer.

The private Bahia Dorada community offers 24/7 security, along with a private beach and pool within walking distance. The area is a surfing mecca, 10 and 20 minutes away, with the El Mizata and El Zonte surf breaks. San Salvador, the capital and largest city of El Salvador, and Monseñor Óscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport are about an hour and a half away.

After years of home prices driven by a weak economy, gang violence and political instability, El Salvador’s real estate market rallied in 2020 before pandemic lockdowns and travel restrictions curtailed growth. But local brokers and other market watchers noted that the Central American nation of about 6.5 million residents is recovering steadily and is beyond recovery in coastal areas.

Aaron Varquero, founder and CEO of Oceanside El Salvador, which specializes in beach properties, said Salvadorans could own a beach house at a traditionally cheaper urban housing price quite early in the midst of the pandemic.

“In general, living on the beach will always be better than living in the city,” Mr. Varquero said. This desire, combined with the option to work remotely, has pushed many Salvadorans to the country’s shores, particularly the La Libertad area, 45 minutes from the capital. “As soon as the economy reopened, demand for beach houses took to the skies,” he said. “People started selling their apartments and investing in beach houses.”

He added: “There were only one or two houses on the moon. Now we are closing five to six homes a month.”

Mr Varquero said that prices in beach areas have recovered accordingly, exceeding 15 to 20 percent of their early-2020 levels. A traditional three-bedroom home that would have cost $150,000 18 months ago can cost $180,000 today.

“We’re almost back to where we were before the epidemic,” he said. Mauricio RamirezA representative of San Salvador-based RE/MAX Central stated that the market “starts to see nice jumps” in demand during the spring months. He said his agency is now seeing more foreign buyers than before the pandemic. Some are Salvadoran immigrants returning home, others have no ties to El Salvador and want to retire there.

From the first group, “El Salvador is very attached to hermanos lejanos – to foreign siblings – to people outside of El Salvador. People from the USA, Australia, Spain. So they relayed the news to family members outside, ‘Well, we want to buy too. .’ It was kind of a snowball effect for families.”

According to the Latin America classifieds portal Encuentra 24The median price in San Salvador reached $113 per square foot in June – a 28 percent increase from March 2020 when the median dropped to $88 per square foot. Encuentra 24 shows nearly 9,000 listings currently available in San Salvador, the country’s largest market.

Mr Ramirez said prices in El Salvador are lower than in neighboring Guatemala and higher than in Honduras. For the same price, a home in Honduras could be “bigger, better,” while a comparable home in Guatemala could cost about 25 percent more, he estimated.

Mr. Varquero said several government initiatives have helped El Salvador’s beachfront property market, beyond the known causes of the increase in demand due to the pandemic – namely, buyers looking to relocate and find more space. One of them has been an impetus to solidify the country’s reputation globally. surf center By organizing the International Surfing Association’s 2021 World Surfing Games and other surfing competitions. became someone else infrastructure investment, security, access to water and electricity.

“This new government is doing great things,” he said. “And this program, the Surf City program, has opened the eyes of many investors from all over the world to invest in El Salvador.”

With this, deep skepticism On the populist motivations of the country’s new president, Nayib Bukele, who accused media outlets of conspiring against him and used the military to pressure lawmakers and mobilized the US Vice President. Kamala Harris To express his “deep concern about El Salvadoran democracy”.

Gary Barquero Arce, head of Central American risk rating agency SCRiesgo, said that for now, prices have generally remained below pre-pandemic levels, creating opportunities for buyers. Tracks El Salvador’s economy and housing market. He said this, combined with the expected growth of the economy and infrastructure improvements, make it a good place to invest.

“From my point of view there is a great opportunity to buy a house in El Salvador right now, especially since prices have dropped due to the pandemic, and also because they are politically stable right now. It’s a good opportunity for investors, especially since El Salvador is a small country. But I think it’s a country with great opportunities.”

Mr Ramirez said 60 percent of his agency’s buyers in the past six months were down from about 75 percent prior to the pandemic.

Mr Varquero said those who have purchased beach property in El Salvador in the past two years have been split evenly between local and international. About a third of the foreigners came from the United States, with the rest from Germany, France, and the Netherlands, among other countries.

Buyers from most countries, including the United States, can purchase real estate in El Salvador without restrictions. However, Oscar Torres, partner at the law firm Garcia & Bodan, which has offices across Central America, said foreigners cannot own more than 605 acres of land and only foreigners whose country gives equal rights to Salvadorans can acquire real estate.

Transactions are handled by notaries who take a percentage (usually between 0.5 and 1 percent) of the purchase price.

Other closing costs paid by the buyer typically include an estate transfer tax (for properties valued at more than $28,571.43) and a registration fee. For a $250,000 property, these taxes total around $8,000.

El Salvador operates in the US dollar, but Mr. Bukele recently supported a legislative effort to make Bitcoin legal tender in the country. “I have a lot of buyers who are very excited about using Bitcoin as a payment method for real estate transactions,” Mr. Varquero said.

Spanish; US dollars, bitcoin (1 bitcoin = $32,479)

Mr Cortez said the owner pays a $115 monthly fee that covers the maintenance of the common areas, access to the club pool, security and a proportional annual property tax.

Jose Cortez, Oceanside El Salvador, 011-503-7945-9464; Oceansideelsalvador.com

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