Las Terrenas real estate not moving?

2020

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Apr 10, 2012
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Las Terrenas
We had not actively gone online to look at properties since we purchased a home in Las Terrenas last year. We were surprised recently we went back online and we noticed most of the listings for sale that we saw previously still posted. The same homes on various real estate websites displaying the same photos but the various properties listed at a lower price.

After all the hype of the El Catey airport and direct flights from the US, is reality starting to sink in with property seller's in LT? :cool:
 
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Me_again

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Nov 21, 2004
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A brief history of my visits to the Samana peninsula.

Las Terrenas 2004: [10 days] Fun place to be. Local ex-pats bemoaning the way things were 'developing', "You should have been here when." Good prices. Helpful locals. Safe? YES!

Las Terrenas 2006: [11 days] OK place to be. Local ex-pats still bemoaning what it used to be like. OK prices. Locals helpful -- some only for a price. Safe? I guess so.

Las Terrenas 2007: [10 days] What happened? Local ex-pats drinking into oblivion. Too much development, too fast. Prices way up there. Locals gouging every last peso or dollar. Safe? NOT after dark, seems sort of OK in daytime.

Las Terrenas 2008: [0 days] Don't know. Went to Cuba instead.

From what I've heard, it would be very sad for me to re-visit LT (perhaps ditto for LG). The Pueblo de Pesacadores, for example was getting along just fine until someone had to 'improve' it. Now there are erosion problems (which were always there, but easier then to fix) and, so I hear, the prices are sky high.

As windeguy implies -- hype doesn't do a damn thing for a place if it doesn't deliver.

wbr
 

mountainannie

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Dec 11, 2003
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elizabetheames.blogspot.com
I moved to LT the end of 2004 and lived there til end 2006. There have been massive changes in the type of housing offered. From small hotels and apartments to high end condos. The French have been through almost an entire change of cast except for the owners of the businesses.

Most of the RE speculators built their places for the Americans.. for the American market. There was a lot of hype about Coson.. which is the rough mosquito coast.. At one point the village looked like a realtor;s convention. It was the only business in town.

So there is now a third wave of realtors but the Village.,, which based its economy on the tourists at El Portillo and the Italian A-I,, which filled the charter flights twice a week. Now there is one big A! which maybe takes the folks in once a week for twenty bucks. And whatever comes across the mountain from the cruise ships.. if they are still coming into Samana.

Lots of the villas are now rented out by foreigners to foreigners.. employing a maid and a gardener.. booking all the money pretty much offshore.

Then there are the condos like Balcones de Altantico which were sold to wealthy Capitalenos.. who can now get there in 2.5 hours and bring everything with them.. all their food, their maid. everything.

The dream of American investment went down with the RE crash in the US. And with the baby boomers losing so much of their wealth.. as in perhaps one third.

Now the little Jet Blue flights come in and the Village seems to be trying to figure out how to meet their needs. how to extract money from a completely different demographic.

It was funny last time. Sitting in the Paseo between two VERY high end jewelry stores and watching the almost back packing jet bluers walk by them.

But there seem to be more families moving in.. more expats settling for retirement. A new crowd. Bit by Bit the wall of new condo offices are filling up.

For the record the Fishterman;s village burned to the ground one morning at 5 am. I was in town at the time.

Pretty soon they will catch on and start really advertising in NYC and put thier villas up in feet rather than meters
 

Lobo Tropical

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Aug 21, 2010
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We had not actively gone online to look at properties since we purchased a home in Las Terrenas last year. We were surprised recently we went back online and we noticed most of the listings for sale that we saw previously still posted. The same homes on various real estate websites displaying the same photos but the various properties listed at a lower price.

After all the hype of the El Catey airport and direct flights from the US, is reality starting to sink in with property seller's in LT? :cool:


Prior to purchasing did you not read all the advice "it's cheaper to rent"?
If you are looking for capital gains you are in the wrong location and market.
If you bought the home because you can afford it, love to live in it and you love the location you're OK.
I find real estate overpriced in LT in regard to various factors.
 

Africaida

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Jun 19, 2009
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I have seen some listings for the past 4 years for the same price, not even lower.

Prices for new constructions have been on the rise it seems.

Flights from El Catey are still fairly new though (I find them a little expensive compared to SD except when they have sales).
 
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2020

Active member
Apr 10, 2012
529
166
43
Las Terrenas
Prior to purchasing did you not read all the advice "it's cheaper to rent"?
If you are looking for capital gains you are in the wrong location and market.
If you bought the home because you can afford it, love to live in it and you love the location you're OK.
I find real estate overpriced in LT in regard to various factors.

I am married to a Frenchie, which explains why we got a home in LT! She used to live in the French West Indies, and she still has the Caribbean tattooed on her brain.

Las Terrenas is probably ground zero for the French ex-pats in the Dominican Republic.

In any case, the home in LT will be a our "retirement" home one day, so upside potential was not really a factor.

We love Las Terrenas and the very nice Dominicans. What great people. But, it is not for the "average" American, it's way too primitive. Not enough amenities. Poor infrastructure - namely terrible roads. And ofcourse, no golf courses.

That's why there is Punta Cana, I suppose.
 
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