Property prices in Rosarito, Baja California, increased by 21% in the first 10 months of the year, according to the Mexican Association of Real Estate Professionals (AMPI).

Real estate in the Playas de Rosarito municipality, located just south of Tijuana, had an average price of US $1,400 per square meter last year but by last month that figure had spiked to US $1,700.

AMPI president Gustavo Torres Ramírez said the increase can be attributed to the law of supply and demand, and that most of the latter comes from United States residents.

According to AMPI’s Rosarito office, nine of every 10 purchasers of real estate in the municipality are U.S. residents, with Mexican-Americans preparing for retirement and families looking for second homes driving demand.

Torres told the newspaper El Economista that land and condominium sales in 2018 are expected to be 20% higher than those recorded last year when high levels of violence in Baja California dissuaded many potential investors from buying property.

“The security problem hasn’t been so serious [in 2018], at least not serious enough to stop there being a high demand [for property] as occurred last year,” he said.

“We also attribute this upturn to the period of strength that the American economy is experiencing,” Torres explained.

However, even if land and property sales increase by 20% this year as expected, they will still be below 2016 levels because investment was down 30% in 2017.

Around US $100 million was lost last year due to condominium sales contracts that were signed but ultimately fell through, Torres said.

Source: El Economista (sp)