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Archive for January 2007

Real Estate: Nicaragua Optimism Despite Ortega

January 15, 2007 by sacuanjoche.

Real estate continues its boom in Nicaragua, spurred by low prices and growing tourism.

BY CHRONICLE STAFF

Despite a new, leftist government led by President Daniel Ortega, executives in Nicaragua’s growing real estate industry remain bullish.

“The real estate market outlook continues to be positive,” says Claudia Gonella, director of the Nicaragua offices of U.S.-based real estate agency Coldwell Banker.”We are selling well out of both of our real estate offices, at approximately the same rate as this time last year.”

Timothy Thomas, owner and broker at ReMAX Monteverde, agrees. “I think [the government] will be OK,” he says. “Our investors met with Daniel Ortega after the election and he wasn’t the Danny Ortega of the 1980s, that’s for sure.”

Nicaragua is one of the key growth markets in Latin America outside Mexico for U.S.-based First American Title Insurance Company. ”The market has not slowed down as people seem to be optimistic about Ortega staying the course when it comes to investments in the country,” says Turalu Brady Murdock, vice president of First American. “From an investment opportunity there are still very good opportunities in Nicaragua in the real estate market.”

PROMISES PROPERTY RIGHTS

Ortega has vowed to respect private property rights, the free trade agreement with the United States (CAFTA), agreements with the International Monetary Fund and continue with the same macro-economic policies of his predecessor, Enrique Bolanos. He has also gained some praise for appointing Arturo Cruz, a well-respected economist, as his ambassador to the United States. His new pledges stand in contrast to his last government (1979-90), when private property was expropriated, inflation skyrocketed and the economy went into freefall.

“The Sandinista party has actually been one of our strongest allies in the resolution of title claims caused by the 1980 confiscations, so I do not foresee any problem with property rights during Ortega’s presidency,” says Murdock.

Ortega assumed Nicaragua’s presidency last week, vowing to forge closer relations with Venezuela while continuing the country’s close relations with the United States. “The release of pro-Chavez rhetoric, which we expect to continue through the term of the new government, is unlikely to undermine a working relationship with the US as long as democratic principles are upheld,” Gonella says. “These next six months are crucial and provide an opportunity to sweep away once and for all the ghost of the Sandinista party that has hovered over the country for the last 15 years.”

Thomas sees the next two months as key to determine whether Ortega means what he has said. Gonella expects price stability for a few months and, assuming the new administration keeps to its verbal and written commitments (in support of DR-CAFTA, private property rights, tourism, free market etc), the market could come back strongly in the second half of 2007.

A NEW COSTA RICA?

Nicaragua has seen significant growth the past few years, partly helped by inexpensive prices, a reputation as a safe country, growing tourism and increased flight connections with the United States. Some realtors dub the country “the next Costa Rica.”

“It’s close to America and one-fifth of the price of Costa Rica for the same properties,” Thomas says.

The real estate market is driven by both residential and commercial properties. On the residential side, many baby boomers from the United States are discovering Nicaragua as a less-expensive alternative to Costa Rica and Mexico, while banks and factories are helping the commercial market.

Banpro, a Panamanian bank, is constructing a new $15 million building across the street from Thomas, while a Korean investors is planning a $100 million factory to manufacture Levis. Meanwhile, a client of Thomas plan an ethanol plant in Nicaragua, while another one is expanding a chain of coffee shops in the country. Meanwhile, local real estate group is developing a major resort, Gran Pacifica Beach & Golf Resort, with hotels, apartments and gold courses on the Pacific coast.

PRICES DON’T FALL

While the asking prices from developers and owners usually increase during high season (which runs from December to May), that did not happen this time. However, neither have they fallen, according to Gonella.

“The major developers are continuing to roll out their master plans with no delay,” she says. ”This is a sign of confidence.”

Another reason for optimism is that tourism also is seeing stable demand. Hotels in key tourism towns such as San Juan del Sur and Granada are experiencing high occupancy levels as would be expected at this time of year and tour operators have bookings well into 2007, according to Gonella. “Real estate and tourism sectors are closely linked here,” she says.

As more tourists visit Nicaragua, more people plan to come back to buy property, says Thomas. “Tourism is huge…and just getting bigger,” he says. This weekend, some 5,000 tourists visited San Juan del Sur thanks to four cruise ships, he points out.

Most of the real estate sales will take place in

the residential sector focused primarily in key tourism destinations. ”Investors will be looking for capital appreciation, but also for properties that they see as good candidates for rental income,” Gonella says. ”The strong outlook for tourism visitors for 2007 will support this trend.”

COMMERCIAL INVESTORS WAIT

Coldwell Banker expects less activity in the commercial sector in the early part of 2007, as many investors will take a wait-and-see approach. “Commercial investors tend to invest on a larger scale than the residential buyer, and for the longer term,” she says.

In terms of geographical areas, the more “established” markets for foreign real estate investment such as Granada and San Juan del Sur are likely to be where most investor activity will continue to be focused, while newer, more speculative, cities and areas for investment such as the colonial town of Leon and Inland Mountains around Matagalpa, are likely to see less activity, at least for the first part of 2007, Gonella predicts. ”Investors are likely to feel more comfortable investing in areas where a positive growth trend is already established,” she says.

Coldwell Banker has also seen good demand for its four-day real estate tours to Nicaragua scheduled for each of the next three months. The tours typically have between six and 12 participants to better tailor the group’s requests. ”

he tours offer a great way to make sense of real estate opportunities here,” Gonella says.

So far, the participants are mainly from the United States, but Coldwell Banker plans to boost its marketing to Europe to take advantage of the strong Euro and British Stirling, she says.

© Copyright Latin Business Chronicle

http://www.latinbusinesschronicle.com/app/article.aspx?id=728

Posted in Real Estate, News, Granada, Nicaragua | Print | No Comments »

Surfers and turtles ride the waves on Nicaragua’s coast

January 13, 2007 by sacuanjoche.

By Jonathan Finer
THE WASHINGTON POST
Sunday, January 14, 2007

It was pitch-black and pushing past midnight on a desolate beach when I more or less gave up on spotting a sea turtle. My two brothers and I had braved a bumpy hour crammed in the back of an old Jeep as it rumbled across gravel and muck to La Flor, a wildlife sanctuary on Nicaragua’s Pacific coast.

The week before, we were told, more than 10,000 of the suitcase-size reptiles had landed in the darkness to lay eggs, the turtle equivalent of the Normandy invasion.

But for two futile hours, we had crisscrossed the shore in sweltering heat, flashlights drawn, with nothing to show for it. Even so, we had few complaints. Not a single structure was visible anywhere along the pristine, mile-long crescent of sand. And on a moonless night, flashes of lightning on the horizon shone bright enough for us to make out boulders jutting from the sea, washed by the gently breaking waves.

Then some of the boulders began to move.

“Is that one?” my brother Ben asked our guide, a young woman from the nearby town of San Juan del Sur. What else could it be? At the plodding pace one might expect after a journey from as far away as Alaska, the turtle ambled toward the palms that lined the beach, then stopped to dig its nest. As about a dozen other turtles made landfall all around us, the first one unloaded more than 100 eggs into the pit, buried its treasure with frenzied feet and returned to the sea, as slowly as it had come.

It was the rare sort of scene for which travelers have long ventured to better-known destinations in Mexico or, more recently, Costa Rica, Nicaragua’s southern neighbor. For centuries, most foreign visitors to Nicaragua came to meddle in its politics, including the American military advisers who worked with contra guerrillas during the 1980s civil war. But in recent years, waves of tourists have discovered that the beautiful country has treasures to offer and is working to bury its troubled past.

The Western Hemisphere’s second-poorest nation, Nicaragua is at something of a crossroads. In a recent pivotal presidential election, its voters backed Daniel Ortega, leader of the Sandinista Front, which controlled the government during the civil war. U.S. officials, along with foreign investors in Nicaragua, whose numbers have surged in recent years, are concerned that Ortega, who was backed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War and remains close to Cuba’s Fidel Castro, will impose market-unfriendly policies.

Those worries were dismissed in San Juan del Sur, about 15 miles up the coast from La Flor, where I spent a week last fall. The charming, Sandinista-run village has long been a point of entry for those exploring Nicaragua, including Mark Twain, who visited in 1886.

Simple homes sprawl up the hillsides, and the exquisitely manicured grounds of the Piedras y Olas (Stones and Waves), the town’s first luxury hotel, overlook dozens of fishing boats that bob on its half-moon bay.

San Juan del Sur has undergone a dramatic transformation since surfers began arriving in the mid-1990s. Initially the surfing scene was dominated by transplanted Californians and Hawaiians who relied on local kids to help them find beaches with the best-breaking waves. But after a while, many of those kids picked up surfing themselves, and now more than half of the dozen or so surf shops in town are run entirely by locals. Slowly, the town has been reborn as the country’s hottest travel destination, popular with Nicaraguan vacationers during Easter and home to growing numbers of foreign tourists year-round.

For travelers, San Juan del Sur is a cheaper alternative to Costa Rica, but it also offers a more authentic Central American experience, locals say.

But the rise of foreign tourism has led to a string of new and surprisingly tasty and affordable American-style restaurants, including Big Wave Dave’s, which boasts the best burgers in town, and the Canadian-owned Pizzeria San Juan. The town’s first English-language bookshop and cafe, El Gato Negro (The Black Cat), opened this year and maintains a vast collection of books on Nicaraguan history and culture, along with the standard set of best-sellers. A Subway restaurant opened there this fall.

There is concern that all the development could upset a delicate balance. “All the money coming into town has a positive side and a negative side,” said the Rev. Roberto Alvarez, 32, one of two priests who run the town’s large Catholic church. “It means better jobs for many people, but a lot of people are selling their land and moving into the rural areas. We have to make sure we hold on to our culture.”

If you go . . .

Getting around: Frequent buses ply the bumpy roads linking Managua and most major cities and towns, including San Juan del Sur. The town is three hours south of Managua. Some of the nicer beach hotels will send a car to pick you up for $85 one way. You can also rent a car at Managua International Airport for about $30 a day, or a four-wheel-drive sport-utility vehicle, which you’ll need to get to certain beaches, for about $90. A taxi from the airport costs $50 to $60.

Where to stay: Rooms at Piedras y Olas (www .piedrasyolas.com) range from $120 to more than $200. Rooms at Villa Isabella begin at $50 per night. There are several clean, spartan and all-but-indistinguishable hostels in downtown San Juan del Sur where rooms can be had for less than $10. One of the best is the Casa el Oro Youth Hostel (one block from the beach on Church Street, www.casa

eloro.com/casaeloro/

engles/index.html). There is also a small bungalow-style hostel directly on Madera Beach that is popular with surfers and costs only $5 per night (no address, but stays can be arranged through local surf shops).

What to do: Turtle-spotting at La Flor Beach begins in August, and October through December are the primary egg-laying months. Nighttime trips can be booked from Casa el Oro for roughly $80 for a group of six, including round-trip transportation and a local guide.

Arena Caliente runs surfing day trips to Madera Beach for $35, including a lesson, transportation and a board rental, or $10 for round-trip transportation only.

Information: San Juan del Sur, www.sanjuandelsur.org.ni.

Find this article at:
http://www.statesman.com/life/content/life/stories/travel/01/14/14nicaragua.html

Posted in travel, Sn Juan del S, Nicaragua | Print | No Comments »

A Guide to Granada - Nicaragua’s Colonial Gem

January 7, 2007 by sacuanjoche.

Granada is located only 90 minutes from Morgan’s Rock Hacienda and Ecolodge. Full day excursions from the hotel are offered daily and besides a visit to colonial Granada include visits to artisan markets, a boat trip to the famous isletas or a guided tour of the Mombacho Cloud Forest reserve.

Almost all visitors to Nicaragua will at least spend a few hours of their visit in the colonial town of Granada. Granada was founded in 1524 and is therefore the oldest colonial city in the Americas. It is situated on the shores of Lake Nicaragua and in the shadow of the Mombacho Volcano. Granada is filled with colorful colonial houses and beautiful churches. It has a very relaxed atmosphere and an ideal place to observe the Nicaraguan culture. Today Granada is the tourism center of Nicaragua.

Granada is filled with history and cultural attractions. Below you find a list of some of the most important landmarks easily explored on a guided tour from Morgan’s Rock Hacienda and Ecolodge:

Central Park, located in the center of town and a perfect place to “people watch”.
La Gran Francia, one of the city’s oldest building and now a hotel and restaurant.
La Casa de los Tres Mundos, an arts and cultural center.
Convento e Iglesia de San Francisco, founded in 1529 and now housing archeological treasures from Isla de Ometepe.
Horse-drawn carriages, a perfect way to tour the city.
Lake Nicaragua and Isletas, a perfect place to go for lunch.

Many tourists traveling in Nicaragua also enjoy the excursions to interesting sights near Granada. All of this is best done using Morgan’s Rock Hacienda and Ecolodge as you “base” close to Granada, but at the same time in an unspoiled and safe natural beach environment.

Laguna de Apoyo, is a volcano crater lake. Have lunch at Norome hotel and resort and go for a swim or kayak ride.
Mirador de Catarina, picturesque village overlooking the Apoyo crater lake.
San Juan del Oriente, a pleasant village where you can tour the workshops and stores of local ceramic artisans.
The Mombacho Volcano reserve, with its thick cloud forest, cool climate and biological station.
Canopy Tours, are offered in various places around Granada, the most spectacular being the Mombotur zip line in primary rainforest and over a coffee plantation.
Masaya Volcano National Park, which ahs walking trails and a very nice visitor center.
The Masaya Markets, are known as the center of Nicaraguan arts and crafts.

Hotels, Resorts and other Lodging Options: Granada offers only few good lodging options. There are no five or four star hotels in Granada. The three best options for lodging are the hotel Colonial, the hotel la Gran Francia and the hotel Alhambra. We strongly recommend you to take a day trip to Granada and stay on the beach at Morgan’s Rock Hacienda and Ecolodge.

Restaurants: Granada has a great variety of nice restaurants offering local and international cuisine. We recommend you enjoy a lunch at one of the quaint restaurants housed in a colonial home or with an open patio.

Other Services: Granada offers a variety of banks and an ATM machine. Internet access is available at various internet cafes. There are many real estate offices around the park and tours and excursions can be booked through local tour companies or at hotels.

Fuente: http://www.morgansrock.com/articles/granadapressrelease.htm

Posted in Media, News, Granada, Nicaragua | Print | No Comments »

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Archive for January 2007

Real Estate: Nicaragua Optimism Despite Ortega

Surfers and turtles ride the waves on Nicaragua’s coast

A Guide to Granada - Nicaragua’s Colonial Gem