Guatemala Lake Atitlan Real Estate Market report 2019

Guatemala Lake Atitlan Real Estate Market report  2019

 A buyer market

This year more then ever we see the trend that more properties are pouring on the market.
We have been almost have one property per week listed.

Distributed between

• 30 houses
• 18 land
• 1 villa
• 1 hotel

So it is definitively a great market with great opportunities.

Now what are the main obstacles that prevent the market to be more liquid.

1. The particular form of ownership we have in Guatemala and particularly in Lake Atitlan. Most of the properties are not easely negotiable because it implies the buyer to understand what is right of possession or lease hold contract with the government which are the most common form of ownership. For more on these aspect refer to my post  The 4 most common form of ownership in Lake Atitlan.
2. Second the absence of financing as most of the transactions are cash on hand. Which is a tremendous burden put on the buyers as they have to come up with the full amount of the purchase. So we have seen some activities on the price ranging from $ 100K to $ 250K.
3. Lack of publicity and knowledge about Guatemala as a country for investment, relocation or retirement. The exiting government have been doing very poorly in improving the image of the country to the world. Traducing a very low awareness of the world and particularly our most important market the USA and Canada. The on going sequence on the immigrants presented are dangerous from the US news didn't help to make Guatemala a country of choice.
4. The Mexico competititive under valued money. Currently Mexico have been keeping its currency around 20 % lower referring to the exchange rate with the US $ making it a favorite destination for retirees, investors. It is estimated that One million of expats live in Mexico. Versus 160,000 in Panama and 40,000 in Costa Rica. Guatemala hard to say but my guess looking at the different Facebook group is around 5,000.
5. All this translating in a very low ranking in search for retirement over sea, invest oversea.. Guatemala is not look after in the keywords research our analyse put Guatemala Real Estate search in the 500 monthly versus 3500 for Costa Rica and 15000 for Panama.

What would we be expecting for 2020...

1. First of all a new President is due to enter in fonction early January. So we should benefit of at least one year of good image and we have to see what would be his strategy to put Guatemala more on the radar to compete on this well disputed market of foreign investors, retirees, baby boomers.
2. Finally some prices are coming down. Because of the absence of a liquid market some of the sellers anxious to move out and move on have realized that only taking a loss they would be able to sell their property. Not that the value is not there but the market is not ready or strong enough to pay for the current value.
3. Some properties have now financing available. I have one project brand new coming up on the market which offer financing you have still to come up with 70 % of the total price the first year but then the rest can be financed. And a couple of town houses at $ 280,000 which with 60% down will get you in the place.

So 2019 I think will mark a turning point in the real estate market of Guatemala Lake Atitlan.