A Verdant El Salvadorian Three-Bedroom House

$249,00

On El Salvador's Pacific Coast, this low-slung villa complex is nestled inside a beautifully manicured tropical garden, just a short distance from a private beach and beach club.

Situated on a third of an acre in the Bahia Dorada beach neighborhood, the property has two residences: the main bedroom suite and one with two bedrooms and one bathroom.

According to the seller, Anna Rooney, the house is set up in a classic Salvadoran ranch style, with the living quarters divided between indoor and outdoor areas. It is being offered furnished.Handmade fabrics and vividly colored walls are examples of whimsical design elements.The bedrooms and a few sitting places are indoors, but the kitchen, living room, and dining room are all outside.There are additional housekeeping quarters on the site.

The listing agent for Oceanside El Salvador, Jose Cortez, stated, "The green areas are indescribable." "It seems as though you are in a forest."

A lengthy path from the street leads to the property's center, where a 26-foot swimming pool and pavilion with a hammock and BBQ are located next to each other. Walking through an open-air kitchen and living room that are covered, the walkway leads to the center of the property. This terrace is connected to a housekeeper's quarters, a bathroom, and a closet. The kitchen features a four-burner propane stove and a granite countertop on the central island.

The path divides beyond the kitchen to go to two structures: a cottage with a living room and bedroom suite is on the left. Currently occupied by guests, the two-bedroom, one-bathroom cottage is located on the right. Each is elevated with a few steps and features a tile-floored covered veranda.

Built roughly 40 years ago, the house includes 1,650 square feet of covered space (not including patios and terraces), and according to Ms. Rooney, updates have been made on a regular basis. This summer, a new roof was installed.

In addition to a private beach and swimming pool that are accessible by foot, the gated community of Bahia Dorada provides round-the-clock security. With El Mizata and El Zonte surf breaks about ten and twenty minutes away, respectively, the region is a surfing hotspot. The distance between Monseñor Ñscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport and San Salvador, the capital and largest city of El Salvador, is around sixty minutes.

Market Synopsis

Prior to pandemic lockdowns and travel restrictions slowing growth, El Salvador's real estate market was experiencing a boom in 2020 after years of declining housing values brought on by a faltering economy, gang violence, and political unrest. However, the 6.5 million-strong country of Central Americans has been gradually improving; in fact, in its coastal areas, it has been more than rebounding, according to local brokers and other market watchers.

According to Aaron Varquero, the CEO and creator of Oceanside El Salvador, a company that specialized in beach homes, Salvadorans discovered early on in the epidemic that they could purchase a beach house for the same amount of money as an ordinarily less costly urban apartment.

"Living by the beach is always going to be more desirable than living in the city," Mr. Varquero declared. Many Salvadorans were drawn to the country's shore, particularly to the La Libertad region, which is 45 minutes from the city, by this desire and the opportunity to work remotely. "The demand for beach homes skyrocketed as soon as the economy reopened," he stated. "People began buying beach houses and selling their apartments."

"There used to be just one or two homes a month," he said. These days, we close five to six houses per month.

According to Mr. Varquero, prices in coastal locations have increased correspondingly, rising by 15 to 20 percent above their early-2020 levels. Eighteen months ago, a typical three-bedroom house would have cost $150,000; now, it may cost $180,000.

According to Mauricio Ramirez, an agent with RE/MAX Central in San Salvador, "we're almost back to where we were before the pandemic." He also mentioned that the market "started to see the nice jumps" in demand throughout the spring. He said that more overseas customers are now using his agency than there were before the outbreak. While some are immigrants from El Salvador going back home, others are planning to retire there and have no connection to El Salvador.

He stated, "El Salvador depends a lot on hermanos lejanos, or foreign brothers, or people outside of El Salvador," in reference to the first group. Americans, Australians, and Spaniards. They then told their relatives back home, and they said, "Well, we want to purchase too." It resembled the snowball effect as it related to families.

The median price in San Salvador increased by 28% from March 2020, when it was at a low of $88 per square foot, to $113 in June, according to the Latin American classifieds portal Encuentra 24. Approximately 9,000 items are presently available in San Salvador, the largest market in the nation, according to Encuentra 24.

Prices in El Salvador, according to Mr. Ramirez, are greater than in Honduras and lower than in Guatemala, a neighboring country. A comparable property in Guatemala may cost around 25% more than a home in Honduras, which might be "bigger, better" for the same money, he calculated.

Beyond the well-known pandemic-related causes of a surge in demand, such as purchasers seeking to move and find more room, Mr. Varquero said that a number of government programs had benefited El Salvador's beachfront real estate market. One has been an effort to establish the nation as a surfing mecca by winning the 2021 World Surfing Games, among other surfing contests, organized by the International Surfing Association. Investing in water, energy, security, and infrastructure has been another.

He declared, "This new government is doing great things.""And many investors from all over the world have been inspired to invest in El Salvador by this program, the Surf City initiative."

Deep mistrust exists, nevertheless, regarding the populist intentions of the nation's new leader, Nayib Bukele, who has accused the media of working against him and pressed lawmakers with the force. As a result, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris expressed her "deep concerns about El Salvador's democracy."

The head of SCRiesgo, a Central American risk-rating organization that monitors El Salvador's economy and property market, Gary Barquero Arce, stated that prices generally are still below their prepandemic levels for the time being, offering possibilities for purchasers.He claimed that this makes it an excellent area to invest in, along with the economy's predicted development and infrastructural upgrades.The United States made up around one-third of the foreign population, with the remaining nationals hailing from a variety of nations, including Germany, France, and Holland.

Purchasing Essentials

El Salvador allows buyers from most nations, including the US, to purchase real estate without any restrictions. However, according to Oscar Torres, a partner at Garcia & Bodan, a law company with offices across Central America, foreigners are only allowed to buy a maximum of 605 acres of real estate, and only those whose nations guarantee Salvadorans equal rights are eligible to do so.

Notaries oversee transactions, and their fees typically range from 0.5 to 1 percent of the purchase price.

A real estate transfer tax (for properties valued at more than $28,571.43) and a registration fee are common additional closing fees that the buyer must pay. These taxes come to about $8,000. This is for a $250,000 home.

Although Mr. Bukele recently supported a legislative attempt to make Bitcoin legal cash in the nation, El Salvador is still denominated in US dollars. "It's exciting for me to have a large list of buyers who want to pay with Bitcoin for real estate," Mr. Varquero stated.