A recent swarm of foreign investors to the Dominican Republic has put it truly on the map for luxury property investment. The high-end segment of its real estate market is seeing numerous new and promising developments.

The Dominican Republic suffers from a disadvantage: it adjoins Haiti. Nor is it the usual Caribbean fantasy ‘unspoiled virgin island paradise’. It has over 9 million people spread over a mountainous 48,072 sq km, an average per capita GDP of only US$3,074, and social problems which include a vast gap between rich and poor, and the highest possibility in the world of death from handguns.

Yet it does have great attractions. “There are miles and miles of beaches and nobody comes. It is still very open,” says Monique Frings.

The super-luxury developers may change all that. Thousands of acres of waterfront property have been acquired for three residential developments along the country’s northwest coast, near the border with Haiti, by a French developer, Pierre Schnebelen.

His project, Costa Bayana, will have more than 13,000 properties, including clusters of condominiums, seven-bedroom estates, plus 900 marina slips, 260 super-yacht hangars, six golf courses, nine hotels, 28 boutique inns and three cruise ship piers, all linked by high-speed hydrofoils.

Cap Cana, on the southeast coast is an enormous project focusing on high-end hotels, golf courses, and residences, sitting on more than 30,000 acres of land. The plan is to have about five high-end hotels, five golf courses, and thousands of luxury residences. It is said to be the largest private community in the Dominican Republic. Located beside the international airport, Cap Cana has everything going for it, including Trump at Cap Cana is a partnership project with The Trump Organization.

There are no restrictions on foreigners buying property.

Source: www.globalpropertyguide.com

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