Real Estate North coast

Fireguy1

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I have been away for a while, but it seems to me that Real Estate may of dropped some on the North Coast compared to a year ago. Can anyone advise me on the accuracy of this?
 

Fireguy1

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Jan 16, 2006
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Dropped in cost of an established home or condo. Info on turnover would be great also. Thanks in advance.
 

KeithF

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my opinion is that the cost of buying an 'established' condo in Cabarete is about the same as a year ago. This is purely because there is a glut of new build, so why buy second hand when you can buy off plan, new? The new projects appear to be still selling well though, so my belief is that as the new projects sell and building gets further from the centre, then prices of established condo's will rise again. Also, the new projects appear to be going up in quality & price, so again, I expect prices to rise again, probably in about 18 months time. I've been told the Punta Golleta project will be very nice (I didn't get there to be nosey last month, time ran out!)
 

Lambada

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I'm not involved in RE so you would probably need to ask those closer to it but my impression is that prices only appear cheaper when the first asking price was waaay over the top in the first place & subsequently gets re-adjusted. They also seem (& are!) cheaper than say Punta Cana. But remember that I start from the perception that a lot of these places are ridiculously overpriced in the first place. Were you to ask me, are there 'bargains' to be had, sure, but not on the coast. I saw a nice 4 bedroomed villa inland advertised at US$130,000 the other day. Now that seemed a reasonable pricing structure to me. The same place on the coast would probably be US$300,000 would be my guess. But there will probably always be a group of new folk willing to pay those sort of prices so if you catch the next gringo wave there shouldn't be a problem in selling. :)

Course, if we have a revolution, I'll ask for this post to be deleted. LOL
 

Rocky

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Cabarete RE market is hard to follow for a layman like myself, but I would venture to say that Sosua's market continues to rise at a fairly uniform rate.
 

CFA123

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Unfortunately, the market's not like in the U.S. where most realtors openly show you a listing of houses to view along with the neighborhood's asking prices & sales prices for the previous year so you can judge for yourself.

I'll pass along what I've heard recently & my impressions. Combine them with everything else you hear & judge what it's worth.
  • I've had one realtor tell me that things have slowed down in the last few months
  • A couple of the premium oceanfront condos completed last fall in Cabarete had what i believe was their first resale within the last month at about 20% over the original pre-construction price
  • I've been renting an apartment for 9 months in a nice area & it's been shown 2 times. No offer has been made.
  • My impression... beachfront near center of Cabarete is in limited supply. I think value & ability to sell will remain high. There are more & more & more options all the time for new 1 or 2 bedroom condos not oceanfront - I wouldn't be surprised to see slower sales, stagnating prices, and higher vacancies for some of those.
 

moviemouth

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Jul 12, 2005
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My impression... beachfront near center of Cabarete is in limited supply. I think value & ability to sell will remain high. There are more & more & more options all the time for new 1 or 2 bedroom condos not oceanfront - I wouldn't be surprised to see slower sales, stagnating prices, and higher vacancies for some of those.

Your impression makes every bit of sense to me and reinforces something I have been saying for a while. Because the DR does not enforce it's laws which provide that all of the shoreline (beaches) are public property out to 60 meters from the waterline, as access to the choice beachfronts are steadily closed off by (apparently) connected and immune owners/developers, the properties behind them will drastically lose value.

How many will want to buy a condo from which they may be able to see a beautiful beach only two hundred yards away, but from which beach they are excluded by fences, walls and security guards? My hope is that the "backrow" landowners and interested developers will - as a matter of self interest -make the political moves necessary to have the open beach access laws enforced as they are in so many other islands such as Grand Cayman, St. Maartin, and the Bahamas.
 

Rocky

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Your impression makes every bit of sense to me and reinforces something I have been saying for a while. Because the DR does not enforce it's laws which provide that all of the shoreline (beaches) are public property out to 60 meters from the waterline, as access to the choice beachfronts are steadily closed off by (apparently) connected and immune owners/developers, the properties behind them will drastically lose value.

How many will want to buy a condo from which they may be able to see a beautiful beach only two hundred yards away, but from which beach they are excluded by fences, walls and security guards? My hope is that the "backrow" landowners and interested developers will - as a matter of self interest -make the political moves necessary to have the open beach access laws enforced as they are in so many other islands such as Grand Cayman, St. Maartin, and the Bahamas.
Do you know something I don't know about Sosua or Cabarete beaches in the circumstances that you mention above?
 

moviemouth

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Nothing you don't know.

No Marco. You've named the two public beaches in the area, is all. It's all beach from Sosua to Boca de Yasica and beyond, please let me know the places between those two points where I can freely park and enter the beach other than Sosua and Cabarete Beach proper.
 

Rocky

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No Marco. You've named the two public beaches in the area, is all. It's all beach from Sosua to Boca de Yasica and beyond, please let me know the places between those two points where I can freely park and enter the beach other than Sosua and Cabarete Beach proper.
Well there are many, but I would prefer to not have to try to list them all.
Why don't you tell us the names of the beaches that you refer too?
I have never seen any in the Sosua and Cabarete areas that one cannot access, and your posts seems to insinuate that it's a common thing, so I simply asked if you know something I don't know.
Have they cordoned off some beaches in our area, that I don't know about?
 

moviemouth

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Well there are many, but I would prefer to not have to try to list them all.
Why don't you tell us the names of the beaches that you refer too?
I have never seen any in the Sosua and Cabarete areas that one cannot access, and your posts seems to insinuate that it's a common thing, so I simply asked if you know something I don't know.
Have they cordoned off some beaches in our area, that I don't know about?

My list is long too but here's a couple:

Enter ther beach track at the sign for El Rocon (across from my home base in Costa Azul) and follow it back toward Sosua. Initally there are no houses on the beach side for about a 1/4 mile but there is barbed wire to keep folks off the beach. Then you come to 3 rather large haciendas behind high walls - no little public pathways leading to the beach I assure you, and -soley judging from the looks on their faces and body language - I got the distinct impression that the heavily tattooed Russian guys that appear to own the first of these houses are not interested in sharing their private beach.

That would bring you up to my friends at El Rocon where all are welcome to use the beach and facilities for no more than the cost of some beers or snacks. Cool.

Continuing on east from there you find a surf camp (didn't seem like a congenial spot to spread our blankie) and then you finally hit a condo where they have blocked the track with a log and have a nice armed security guy to tell you that no, you cannot pass or enter the beach.

I could give you a similar tour going west from Costa Azul (have you ever seen any public access to the beautiful beach at Punta Goleta, for example)?, but this exercise is starting to feel like a waste of time in relation to my original point. Honestly, I don't think it can be gainsaid that the beach is largely privatized in violation of the law. But again, if a real long timer like you can give me some poinjters, I'm all ears.:cheeky:
 
J

John Evans

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are you sure you were in the right place - ive walked from el rincon to sea horse ranch with no problem - i got a bit nervous at sea horse ranch coz i heard that they surround you with guards so i headed up the track to the main road
 

Rocky

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From what I can tell, you are talking about people denying others from crossing their private property.
Is that correct?
If so, it is quite normal.
Who would want constant traffic across their property?
Anyone who buys right on the beach will always have access.
Anyone who buys near a beach, may have access but nothing is guaranteed, if the only way there is across someone's private property.
I would assume that any normal intelligent person purchasing property would know and understand this.

What was incorrect was this statement.
Because the DR does not enforce it's laws which provide that all of the shoreline (beaches) are public property out to 60 meters from the waterline, as access to the choice beachfronts are steadily closed off by (apparently) connected and immune owners/developers,
Making beaches public property is not the same as forcing private property owners to provide access.
That would be ludicrous.




My list is long too but here's a couple:

Enter ther beach track at the sign for El Rocon (across from my home base in Costa Azul) and follow it back toward Sosua. Initally there are no houses on the beach side for about a 1/4 mile but there is barbed wire to keep folks off the beach. Then you come to 3 rather large haciendas behind high walls - no little public pathways leading to the beach I assure you, and -soley judging from the looks on their faces and body language - I got the distinct impression that the heavily tattooed Russian guys that appear to own the first of these houses are not interested in sharing their private beach.

That would bring you up to my friends at El Rocon where all are welcome to use the beach and facilities for no more than the cost of some beers or snacks. Cool.

Continuing on east from there you find a surf camp (didn't seem like a congenial spot to spread our blankie) and then you finally hit a condo where they have blocked the track with a log and have a nice armed security guy to tell you that no, you cannot pass or enter the beach.

I could give you a similar tour going west from Costa Azul (have you ever seen any public access to the beautiful beach at Punta Goleta, for example)?, but this exercise is starting to feel like a waste of time in relation to my original point. Honestly, I don't think it can be gainsaid that the beach is largely privatized in violation of the law. But again, if a real long timer like you can give me some poinjters, I'm all ears.:cheeky:
 

Rocky

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are you sure you were in the right place - ive walked from el rincon to sea horse ranch with no problem - i got a bit nervous at sea horse ranch coz i heard that they surround you with guards so i headed up the track to the main road
I agree.
Other than gated communities that have beaches that are inaccessible to the general public, at least, not across their property, I have never seen a beach that I couldn't get to, when I wanted to.
Even if a property owner was not denying me access across his property, I wouldn't dream of doing so.
I would always seek another way in, out of respect for the property owner.
 

moviemouth

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I beg to differ

What was incorrect was this statement.
Making beaches public property is not the same as forcing private property owners to provide access.
That would be ludicrous.

On the other Carribean islands I mentioned, beachfront property owners are, in fact, required to provide access to the beach along the boundary of their property. There are narrow paths along the property lines, often between very high fences that screen the adjacent private properties. These paths are not publicized - no neon signs saying "This Way To The Beach", but they are there and everyone who visits (and is awake) knows about them.

I believe the reason these laws are enforced in places like Grand Cayman and Bahamas is because the locals love the ocean and believe it is their birthright to take the family for an outing on the beach anywhere on what is, after all, their homeland, and not be confined to a few overcrowded public beaches (think Cabarete abd Sosua Beaches during Semana Santa).

From what I've been told by my (admittedly limited number of) Dominican friends and acquaintances, Dominican people (generalizing now so spare me the obvious specific case exceptions) often cannot swim, and therefore fear the ocean, preferring to cool themselves in the shallow rivers. Thus they don't much care about beach access and are content with the limited amount they are granted, so the politicians can happily enrich themselves by selling what cannot lawfully be owned - exclusive, private access to the magnificent beaches of this country.

I repect the rights of private property (truly, I do), but I also repect the rule of law without which the notion of private property rights would be as meaningless and oxymoronic as the notion of public beaches to which there is no free access by the public.
 

moviemouth

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are you sure you were in the right place - ive walked from el rincon to sea horse ranch with no problem - i got a bit nervous at sea horse ranch coz i heard that they surround you with guards so i headed up the track to the main road

I rest my case.
 

Rocky

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so the politicians can happily enrich themselves by selling what cannot lawfully be owned - exclusive, private access to the magnificent beaches of this country.
OK.
The rest of your post is very interesting, informative and makes sense, except for the part quoted above.
I know of no DR law that provides for access to beaches, like you mentioned on those other islands, furthermore, politicians do not enrich themselves when some dude sells his beachfront property to someone else.
It's a private deal and has nothing to do with politicians.
 

Rocky

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I rest my case.
That is a completely different situation.
When armed guards refuse a person access to a beach from public property, they are acting illegally.
It is the general concensus that it is never wise to argue with an armed guard, but this is not a case of some government conspiracy as you suggest.
This is simply some rich folks taking the law into their own hands.
 

moviemouth

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That is a completely different situation.
When armed guards refuse a person access to a beach from public property, they are acting illegally.
It is the general concensus that it is never wise to argue with an armed guard, but this is not a case of some government conspiracy as you suggest.
This is simply some rich folks taking the law into their own hands.

My remark was based on things I have heard which, while not proven to me by any means, do make sense, to wit: people acting illegally and with impunity (such as the Sea Horse case) do so only because they are under the protection of people who have the power to flout and pervert the law. No doubt some of that protection has been paid for. No doubt also, some of the people paid are not politicians and for implying that they are I humbly apologize - but only to the innocent.

I am very pleased. Marco, that you found my discourse interesting even if only up to a point. I find your posts quite interesting too (most of the time);)