Foreign Investment in Mexican Real Estate

Last Friday we attended a conference by Lic. Diego Robles Farías.

Lic. Robles Farías is a professor of law at the Universidad Panamericana in Guadalajara as well as a notary in that same city and he is the author of several books.

The conference was about the Foreign Investment in Mexican Real Estate, specifically in the Restricted Zone and the role of the Fideicomiso (Trust) in this matter.

Basically he said the the conditions that prompted our government to create what was known as the Prohibited Zone (now called Restricted Zone since the 1993 Law of Foreign Investment) have changed and while it should not disappear, the way in which is regulated should change to adapt to the new economic and political conditions of today.

What he proposes on one side is to decrease the current Restricted Zone to promote foreign investment and help the economic development of the regions that are in it today and on a different side, after a carefully study and because of objective reasons that justify it, to identify those regions in which, because of their importance (whether it is archaeological, cultural, historic, ecological, touristy, economical or for natural resources) it is still convenient to protect its acquisition and declare the prohibition to foreigners.
Interesting point of view but a goal not easy at all to achieve as it would require an amendment to our Constitution, even though it has had amendments before.

Good deals in the market

In May I wrote about the market and how Franklin of Tropicasa Realty had done a Survey to see what the market was like in regards of sales. He found that the majority of the sales in the last year have been within less than 10% of the asking price in re-sales.
However, there are always a few good deals to be found in a market like this.

These three units are being discounted for immediate sale:

Avalon 203 South Tower (second floor, middle unit).

Avalon 302 South Tower (third floor, middl unit).

Avalon 407 North Tower (fourth floor, middle unit).

The first two have black kitchens, and 407 has a red kitchen. None of the units have the dipping pool.

Each of these is now on the market at $475K.

Avalon is located on Amapas just a few minutes from down town Puerto Vallarta and the photo shown here is the sundeck at the pool (click on the image to get a better view).

One of the features of this developer is that even the condos of the first floor have views of the bay.

These are excellent opportunities for those of you who were waiting for a deal to take advantage of.

Paramount Bay Owners ready to get their deeds

Recently I learned that everything is ready for Paramount Bay owners to get the deeds of their condos.

All they need to do is take their respective documentation to Jessica Reidesser's office to start the process and complete their dream of owning a piece of paradise in Puerto Vallarta.
Congratulations to all owners!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ2kgu9k-xk 

State of the Market

May 27th, 2009

To get an idea of the state of the Real Estate Market in Puerto Vallarta my boss Franklin, the owner of Tropicasa realty did a survey with information available to members of the MLS Vallarta of properties sold since the middle of 2007 up to date.
Now this is not a scientific survey since not all real estate agencies report their sales but it does seem to represent how our real estate market is doing.
Here is what the survey showed:
Number of Sold Properties Surveyed: 392
Number of Properties Sold Above Asking Price: 16 = 4.08%
Number of properties Sold at 100% of Asking Price: 33 = 8.42%
Number of Properties Sold up to 10% Less Than AP: 185 = 47.2%
Number of Properties Sold up to 20% Less Than AP: 115 = 29.33%
Number of Properties Sold up to 30% Less Than AP: 33 = 8.42%
Number of Properties Sold more than 30% less of AP: 10 = 2.55%
Again, maybe not scientific but this analysis seems to represent quite well our present real estate market.
I guess our market is stronger and more stable than some people have thought and one of the reasons maybe that it is a cash market… even if some of those people paying cash had to re-finance a property in the US or Canada to take advantage of their equity and buy their dream home in Puerto Vallarta.