You may have noticed that we’re big advocates of putting real estate market information into the hands of consumers. Why? Because good market data helps you make the best decisions about buying or selling real estate. To make this process quick and easy, we’ve developed a PriceRank table that will give you a snapshot of the international real estate market in seconds.

We can’t overlook the fact that no Multiple Listing Service (MLS) exists for Costa Rica, Panama Nicaragua or Belize and official market data is not published. Or that sales prices recorded in the Public Registry can be different from actual sales prices, making it hard to compare one property to the next. But we can try and build the next best thing to a MLS and help improve the flow of market information to buyers and sellers.

Keeping things simple

We’ve started with a simple international real estate PriceRank table where we compare the median asking price for condos and houses in master planned communities, condo projects and resort developments. We’ll be following this up with a second PriceRank table, this time ranking developments with serviced lots for sale.

We could have split out other categories such as long ocean view houses or golf view condos or even distance from the airport and whether roads are paved. But for now, since we’re in the business of ’simple-making’, we wanted to provide the most straightforward representation of the market.

The 2009 Annual Central America International Real Estate PriceRank

Here’s the short story for 2009 for international real estate developments with condos and houses for sale:

• As the most mature market in the region, Costa Rica tops the ranking with the Four Seasons, Papagayo Peninsula. The project is located in northern Guanacaste close to Costa Rica’s second international airport at Liberia, a region peppered with luxury brands and top end resorts. The least expensive community is Belize Reserve an ‘eco-community’ located in Cayo, the forested hilly district in western Belize.
• Costa Rica holds 6 of the top 10 spots in the PriceRank. Panama has 2 real estate developments in the top 10 and Belize has 1. Nicaragua, the most ‘emerging’ of the markets has none.
• The most expensive real estate development in Belize is the Placencia Residence, located at the northern end of the Placencia Peninsula. In Panama, the Trump Ocean Club, perhaps its most well-known development, leads the field. Portofino Condos overlooking the bay of San Juan del Sur is Nicaragua’s highest entry (but ranked 44th overall) and, yes, the Four Seasons at Papagayo tops the list in Costa Rica.
• Turning to the least expensive; it’s Belize Reserve in Belize, the Condos Montemar (also in San Juan del Sur) for Nicaragua, Rancho Las Lomas in Costa Rica, and for Panama, Montanas de Caldera has the lowest median price.
• Master-planned communities on or near the ocean percolate to the top of the list whereas developments in lake/river/lagoon areas make up the more ‘affordable’ market-share in international real estate.

So dive into the detail and sort the table by clicking on the headers. You can also follow the links for further information on the real estate developments including amenties, location maps and price comparisons with the country medians.

The 2009 PriceRank table

* Average of the median asking price for condos and single family homes for each real estate development. Data collected July to September 2009. More information on the data.

That’s it. Any questions, niggles or comments, just write back. Our goal is to be comprehensive - while keeping things simple - and to provide a useful resource.

Tags: International real estate data, PriceRank