By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Dominican Republic and Panama are the top Caribbean destinations for U.S. real estate investors, according to a report released this week by real estate company WIRE Consulting.

WIRE examined the region’s real estate destinations, looking at both political and economic stability and real estate incentives and development.

And the Dominican Republic is leading the region right now, with an upward pattern of about 7 percent each year since 2012 in property prices, where the average price per square foot starts around $87, but tend to be higher in hotspots like Santo Domingo and Puerto Plata.

Panama has also seen strong growth, with a 9 percent increase in property prices since 2017, with an average price of $197 per square foot. But recent cuts in property taxes and what WIRE calls an improved mortgage financing system “only continue to heighten demand,” the company said.

Several other Caribbean destinations are also drawing increased interest: the Cayman Islands and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, with Cayman in particular seeing a surge in luxury condominium development.

At the edge of the Caribbean Basin, Costa Rica is also growing as a real estate hotspot, though rising construction costs for luxury apartments and villas  mean those properties are now selling for no less than $200 per square foot, according to the report.

— CJ