Especially at this point in time, remember the mantra: Past performance is not indicative of future results. Northwest Guanacaste is just coming off six years of a booming real estate market, where condo sales options (not even the condos – just the options) could be flipped for thousands of dollars in profit. Prices inflated dramatically, and now with the global economic crisis, they’ve paused, and many of the projects you see advertised on billboards will never get built at all, as financing has simply dried up. This means a couple of things. First of all, it means that you’re not going to get a quick return on investment if you do buy a condo or a piece of property, and the return you do get will be thin. Investors and speculators have already squeezed most of the juice out of the market. Second of all, however, it means the region will be entering an interesting supply-and-demand dynamic. With so many projects stalled, there could very well be a supply shortage when the market recovers in two or three years’ time. No matter what happens, pricing – which is famously difficult – just got harder, and whatever you see written here will likely be a little out of date by the time you read it. Still, it should give you a few pointers.

Tamarindo area.

This is Ground Zero for whatever real estate price bubble may have developed. The area has simply exploeded, and beachfront prices in town regularly reach $1,500 per square meter. Diego Quesada, co-owner of Coldwell Banker Bay Breeze in Tamarindo, says prices have more or less peaked in certain beachfront areas, especially considering the city’s infrastructure issues.

Beachfront property in and around Tamarindo is no longer a deal compared to other parts of the world, and if a deal on beachfront property is what you’re looking for, it’s best to move on. As of the time of research, there were lots of pre-construction condo projects up for sale, but that may have changed.

South to Marbella

The value of fincas for sale in this area seems to be rising quickly. Many of the properties are now in the process of being flipped for the second time, from foreigner to foreigner rather than Tico to foreigner.

Flamingo:

Flamingo has been a popular area for many years now, but prices tend to be more moderate than in Tamarindo. The new marina would help push things along, if it ever gets built. Prices here stabilized around 2006.

Nosara:

Prices had risen about tenfold between 2000 and 2006, reckons Bram Shook, co-owner of the Century 21 franchise in Playa Guiones, but have now started leveling out.

Coco and area:

Prices in this area might continue to rise, but with such a diverse offering of price points and styles, it’s difficult to tell exactly how and by how much. The location in relation to the airport and its proximity to the upscale resorts slated for development north towards Peninsula Papagayo make it a prime spot.