Wayne Franklin, optimistic about the Real Estate Industry.

President and Broker of Tropicasa Realty shares his thoughts about Real Estate Market in Puerto Vallarta.

After an excellent year for the tourism industry in Puerto Vallarta, official figures show that our destination received nearly four million visitors (a statistic that hadn’t been recorded in the last eight years). In addition, there was a 9.52% increase on the amount of flights arriving in the zone compared to the previous year, opening new routes from cities in Canada and the United States.

This encouraging picture is not much different from the current state of the real estate industry in the region. In an interview with Wayne Franklin, President and Broker of Tropicasa Realty, we could confirm there has been an upward trend over the last few years.

“What we have seen since 2008-2009, a time in which real estate agencies were struggling, is that every year since then has been getting better. Certainly in our case, the size of our company and the reputation built during all these years helped us to face that situation. Beyond that, I think the entire market has improved. Perhaps not all companies have the same sales, but regardless of their size, I believe all of them are recording an increase in sales.”

A supporting fact that backs up the brokers statement is that so far this year, the Tropicasa Realty team has negotiated the same inventory value they had in 2015.

Real Estate Thermometer

A well-known aspect of real estate industry in Puerto Vallarta is that the market is in constant flux.

If we could describe its activity using a thermometer, Franklin would set the temperature at a mid-point due to the situation in Banderas Bay, where some months are extremely good and others have less activity. However, if we look at the grand scale of things, we can see a very positive increase in the real estate thermometer.

A Wise Investment

Franklin commented that right now there is a great opportunity in the real estate industry, especially for buyers:

“I know realtors always say that, but the reality is that now is a specially good time to dive into the market. If a buyer is interested in a property and comes and says ‘this is my budget,’ they are highly likely to get a good deal.”

When it comes to sellers, Franklin explained they also have an interesting area of opportunity, specially foreigners due to currency exchange rate.

“We have a number of Canadian sellers and we’ve seen how they rather reduce their prices 10 or 20 per cent in Mexico, and take that money back to Canada, where they have an increase in value. They are also able to convert their US dollars to Canadian dollars to make a profit. This way, even though they are losing 20 per cent on the real cost of their property in Mexico, by exchanging one currency for another, they are recovering up to 40 per cent, so this doesn’t represent a loss for them at all.”

A Trend in New Developments

To quote Franklin, “Over the past four or five years the developer’s profile has changed entirely  due to the current needs of their clients –who are now interested on living the city in a different way. People are no longer looking for a house on the mountains with a great view. They are now looking for properties in which owning a car is not a necessity, where they can be a part of the community. People now prefer to walk everywhere, literally walk out your door and have a coffee shop across the street, be where all the restaurants are. That’s why there’s a huge demand for developments in the Romantic Zone.”

Although there was a lot of doubt around following this model, there were many developers that realized what lifestyle their clients were looking for, so they brought this trend into Puerto Vallarta.

Smaller units with higher prices for square metre due to location, are becoming very attractive for buyers.

Puerto Vallarta, a privileged place to live

When we asked Franklin to provide advice for the international community thinking on buying a property in Puerto Vallarta, the President of Tropicasa Realty commented that the city has proved to be a safe place to visit and live in, and the increasing number of cruises and flights arriving to the region supports that. So it is a great city for investing and living in retirement.

In the case of Riviera Nayarit, Franklin asserted that although this region took longer to recover, it seems to be on its way back up due to the increasing number of high end properties, so it will be interesting to see the growth in the area over the next years.

About Tropicasa Realty

For more than 18 years, Tropicasa Realty has been part of the real estate industry in Puerto Vallarta by advising and collaborating with buyers, sellers and developers throughout Banderas Bay. Its property catalog includes homes and condos for sale in Puerto Vallarta, Nuevo Vallarta, Riviera Nayarit and Punta de Mita. Tropicasa Realty’s main office is located at Pulpito #145-A in Olas Altas. You can find more information on the website www.tropicasa.com.