Although residential construction in Costa Rica fell by about 4 percent in the first six months of 2013 in comparison to last year, commercial construction in the province of Guanacaste… Read more » Continue reading →
Although residential construction in Costa Rica fell by about 4 percent in the first six months of 2013 in comparison to last year, commercial construction in the province of Guanacaste expanded by nearly 20 percent. This increase in building activity is benefiting the overall economy of Guanacaste, a region where the value of commercial real estate has appreciated by nearly 30 percent year-over-year, the total number of construction projects grew from 1,436 in 2012 to 1,709 in 2013.
The number of remodeling and renovation projects in Guanacaste climbed from 122 last year to 312 in 2013. Not too many projects added space to existing structures; there were only 164 of these projects in comparison to 255 in 2012. In fact, only about 1,229 construction projects across Costa Rica involved adding more living space. The current trend in residential construction around Costa Rica consists of smaller single-family residences and condominiums units measuring between 100 and 150 square meters of living space; these home are arranged in gated and walled communities that are often guarded and closely monitored to paranoid levels.
These statistics above were recently published by the National Institute of Census and Statistics (Spanish acronym: INEC). The INEC report Statistics of the Construction Industry (PDF) in Costa Rica is still being tabulated and double-checked; for this reason, readers of the Costa Rica Star should expect revised figures before the end of the year. For more information on this report, please visit INEC’s home on the Web.
The INEC report also shows that the province of Puntarenas is where the most spacious homes are being built, with an expansion of almost 34 percent from the previous year. Both Guanacaste and Puntarenas are known as provinces where luxury housing markets can emerge in just a few months; this can be seen in communities such as Playas del Coco and Jaco Beach. The number of new construction permits filed in Costa Rica from January until July 2013 has a total value of about $1.5 billion.