Belize sees residential boom, spike in prices
Several large residential projects are bringing unprecedented construction to Belize, a country with a population of only 294,000. Many residents do not think the small Caribbean nation is ready for the rapid growth.
Corrupt government and poor infrastructure have deterred developers from building in Belize for years, but a rush of land purchases over the last year has caused the price of beachfront property to double from around $3,000 to around $6,000 per linear foot, the amount of frontage a piece of land has on the water. Similar parcels elsewhere in the Caribbean average closer to $12,000 per linear foot, the International Herald Tribune reported.
The recently announced Smuggler’s Run Plantation is a 1,000-acre, 1,440-home project expected to begin construction in January. Its townhouses and condominiums will be priced from $160,000 to $1.2 million. High-end real estate in Belize is often priced in dollars.
Another large development is the 582-acre, 1,000-home project called Ara Macao. The community, developed by Chicago-based ioVest, is being marketed to second-home buyers from the United States, Canada and England.
Belize is known as one of the friendliest countries in Central America for foreign buyers: It has no restrictions on non-citizens owning property, property taxes are low and there are no capital gains taxes. It also passed a retirement measure in 1999 that allows foreigners older than 45 to import their possessions duty-free.
Indian developers target masses with $25K homes
Developers in India predict burgeoning demand for “mass-housing,” or inexpensive homes for the poor, the International Herald
Tribune reported.
Developer Unitech now builds luxury homes in India that cost as much as $1.5 million apiece, but it is looking into building homes that will sell for around $25,000. Both Unitech and DLF — the country’s biggest developers by market value of their projects — are still wary of the great decrease in profit margin they can expect as they enter the bottom end of the market. But with mounting fears that the supply of homes for the middle and upper classes may soon exceed demand, Unitech continues to research the mass-housing market.
The country will need as many as 10 million new housing units by the year 2030, according to an estimate by the Asian Development Bank. The bulk of these potential new homeowners are just rising above the poverty line, with 291 million citizens expected to increase their annual household incomes to above $2,200 by 2025.
Home staging comes to U.K.; French not impressed
The American phenomenon of home staging — quickly and temporarily beautifying a house prior to putting it on the market — seems to be spreading across the Atlantic Ocean to the United Kingdom, although some Europeans have been slower to adopt the practice.
Businesses have sprung up in Ireland and England around the idea of cleaning, repainting and even refurnishing a home so that it will sell faster and/or at a higher price. A Dublin-based staging company, House and Garden Presentation Services, charges from $2,500 for a simple refurnishing to $25,000 for new furniture, painting, cleaning and recarpeting.
Several house makeover shows such as “House Doctor” that have aired on British television likely influenced the trend. “House Doctor” host Ann Maurice, an American, launched the show during the housing slump of the late 1990s. She argues that home staging can add 10 to 15 percent to the sale price of a home.
Continental Europeans, especially the French, Italians, Spanish and Portuguese, have historically thought of houses as places to live and not as investments. They continue to shy away from staging, often eschewing even minimal repairs and touchups before selling. The owner of a real estate agency in Provence said that French sellers would likely see a house makeover as “disloyal to the property.”