Key Highlights
- Number of islands for sale in Belize
- Belize housing market now seeing surging demand
- Most buyers of higher-end vacation and retirement homes from US and Canada
- Foreigners can buy Belize real estate without restrictions
Ever dreamed of owning a turnkey boutique resort near the southwestern coast of Belize just a quick boat ride from the mainland town of Dangriga? Apparently, according to Walter Zephirin, the managing director of 7th Heaven Properties that specializes in lux real estate in the Caribbean and Central America, “There are a number of islands for sale in Belize.”
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With minimal impact from the coronavirus pandemic, surging interest in Belize’s housing market is likely to continue unabated. The country’s popular residency program offers tax incentives and duty-free import of personal items to foreign buyers make for “smooth relocation,” said Zephirin. Additionally, prices in Belize are typically lower than in more hyped destinations such as Costa Rica.
Macarena Rose, the broker with Keller Williams Belize, said that coastal and island condos average about $300/square foot with inland units averaging half that. Foreign buyers of inland property tend to want ample land for family compounds while buyers of coastal property tend to want turnkey condos they can use for vacations and as rentals.
Co-owner of Century 21 BTAL (Belize) Julian Leslie has been seeing more demand for second homes during the pandemic with email inquiries increasing some 30%. Remote pending sales have been continuing as planned while new sales are slowing and asking prices remaining flat. Leslie highlights the regions of the Corozal District, the Placencia Peninsula and Cayo District where prices have fallen and demand has risen.
Foreign investors are drawn to the town of San Pedro, near Mexico, on the popular island of Ambergis Caye. “Sight unseen” offers and sales of one-bedroom condos prices at $100,000 to luxury beachfront villas with five or six bedrooms prices at $3M are keeping agents and brokers busy while branded lux developments from outfits such as Hilton and Marriott are bring much attention to the country as well as an influx of investors primarily from the US and Canada with a handful of Europeans from Britain, Spain and Germany.
There are no restrictions on foreigners buying real estate in Belize. Deals are typically done in cash and in US dollars with lawyers representing both sides of the transaction for usually 2 – 4% of the property’s purchase price. The seller typically pays the real estate commission of 6 – 8% while the buyers who are not citizens of Belize of the Caricom nations pay an 8% stamp duty. (Belizean and Caricom citizens pay a 5% stamp duty.)
(1 Belize dollar = $0.48)
Thanks to The New York Times.
Also read: Podcast: Are Your Following These Core Success Rules? | Tim and Julie Harris, Digital Transactions via LaHaus Taking Latin America by Storm, Podcast: Your Drilled Down, Fluff Free Buyer Attraction System | Tim and Julie Harris
