In recent years, foreigners, especially retirees, have been moving to this country because of the cost of living and the opportunity in the Ecuador Real Estate market. After the recession a few years back, retirees have had to deal with less retirement money than what they planned. It left them wanting to move to a country that will allow them to stretch their money for as long as it can. Cuenca Ecuador Real Estate has been one example of many in the Ecuadorean Real Estate market that offers this kind of opportunity.
If this is you, then your concern is to choose an investment that will allow you to maximize your money without compromising the quality of living that you want to have.
This is why living in Cuenca, Ecuador is a great option for you. Of course, moving into a new place means you have to think about where you will live. Some people will rent a home first. But if that is not your thing and you know you will stay in this city for a long time, then you may want to buy your own home.
So what is the Ecuador real estate market like in the third largest city?
In the first four months of 2014, the prices of homes in Cuenca have gone steadily up. The appreciation averages at 8% to 12% each year from 2007 to 2012. Condominiums, a favorite among foreigners, increase in price at 10% o 12% each year. Foreigners are observed to prefer condominiums when buying Ecuador real estate because they are easier to resell.
Although Ecuador real estate developers and builders say that the increasing price of homes have eased up in 2014, the prices are still relatively high. It is estimated that the increase for the rest of 2014 is only between 5% to 6%.
The reason why this decrease in price is expected is because of the high inventory of properties. If you did not know, the boom in the housing market in Ecuador was caused by the influx of Ecuadorians working overseas. They all came back and started investing in homes. Now these people have slackened and left the market with a lot of unsold properties. These are the homes that you may want to grab if you will buy an Ecuador real estate property.
Despite the unsold properties, the market continues to grow – with a lot of condominium projects being built across Cuenca. The price of a two bedroom apartment ranges at $80,000 to $105,000. A three bedroom apartment is $95,000 to $130,000. Basically, the price of new condominium units per meter is at $1,150 to $1,350.
If you are looking for lower priced homes ($70,000 or less), you can look into older unsold properties or pre-owned ones. The farther away from the city center you are, the prices are bound to be lower.
You may want to look into the historic district because a lot of projects have been lined up for this place. What happens is, old properties are renovated to have 7 to 10 units each. This should be a great community for you to live in since there won’t be too much tenants living in one place. It is expected to be a bit more pricey though. But it is also perceived to be a great investment for Ecuador real estate because of the infrastructure plans for the district.