Mexico Real Estate: is it Going to be a Buyer’s Market in 2009?

“Is it a buyers market in Mexico Real Estate  for the semester of 2009?”  This projection is being questioned throughout many channels of communication.  But as people review closer the market conditions and interview brokers throughout the Mexico real estate industry, the interpretation of the market projections becomes interesting.  The sellers who are placing discounts in their pricing and urgencies on their advertising are made up of mainly Mexican Foreigners placing their second homes on the market.  The country of Mexico, to the surprise of many people, is still an EMERGING COUNTRY versus the  DEVELOPED MARKETS such as Japan and USA whose real estate markets have been exposed negatively by the recent recession.  This lack of development is actually helping the real estate market of Mexico shield itself from the affects of the mortgage crisis.  Finally, demand in regions of the Mexico real estate markets are being fed mainly by the internal market growth of the middle class and on a lesser extent but still important, demand from international foreign buyers.  As Rita Sheese broker/owner of Cozumel Capital and President of the AMPI organization in Cozumel pointed out  “We are not experiencing anything at all of emergency real estate sales because we hardly have any properties here on the island of Cozumel that have been mortgaged”    

Currently in Mexico, in the resort cities such as Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, La Paz, it is the Mexican foreign property owner who is most likely to be the motivated seller while a much less quantity of Mexican sellers are feeling the pressure to liquidate.  Linda Neil,  who has over 30 years of experience working in the Baja California real estate market stated  “Although prices have not declined significantly in the major areas of interest for foreigners, they remain far lower than comparable properties in the US and Canada.  And in some markets, a hurting seller can offer a deal if the buyer can move quickly.”

Over the past five years, there has been a great increase in the quantity of Americans, Canadians, and Europeans who have purchased properties in Mexico.  With an economy that has become quite stable in the past decade and with much lower costs for oceanfront or waterfront properties in comparison to their northern neighbors, this Latin American country has become a leading second home destination.  Although the quantity of foreign property owners that exist in Mexico is extremely high, estimated to be above one million for Americans alone, it is still quite a smaller percentage when compared to national home owners.  “This is a buyers market, but you do need to shop around a little.  Some Mexican foreigners are really in the need for cash, and they WILL adjust their prices” was the advice from Hector Moreno a broker whose been advising investors in the Tulum real estate market over the past 7 years.    

Unlike the United States and Canada of the North American region, Mexico is still an emerging country In developed countries including Japan and the majority of the European Union members amongst others, the financial markets are in a further advanced stage of maturity.  Financing and access to mortgages is more sophisticated and more accessible to the private businesses and consumers.  On the contrast, in Mexico and other emerging countries, financing is quite new.  The more restrictive access to leveraging has kept demand of Mexico properties at a lesser pressure over the past decade, which therefore has maintained the prices comparatively lower than their northern neighbors.  The steep price adjustment in the real estate market that occurred in several regions of the United States and cities of Canada is not expected to repeat to the same scale in Mexico. 

A large demand in the Mexico real estate market and housing is growing from the immense Mexican middle and lower income population.  In several resort cities throughout the coast lines and in picturesque villages, another boom is closely being monitored for middle valued and luxurious properties by Mexican foreigners.  The engine of the Mexico real estate demand though is focuses around the demand of middle and lower income housing that has been building up since the 1990’s.   Only recently in the past several years, have major regulations and public programs been slowly introduced to assist these families to have access to financing for their home acquisitions.  The great advantage that the Mexican government has in respect with its northern neighbor is that they have been able to witness some of the painful errors and study the flaws of the United States mortgage systems and is in a position to implement corrective regulatory measures in creating an even healthier program for a sustained long term growth in these industries.  In the same concept, financing for Mexican foreigners has also only recently been introduced to the markets.  Foreigners wishing to buy their winter homes would either pay cash for their properties or leverage off of assets from their home countries.  In the past two years, large Mexican banking institutions have begun offering programs to the American, Canadian, and some European citizens assisting them in mortgaging the purchase of their Mexican homes using the same Mexican property.  As the programs are slowly being implemented to the market, it is projected that over the next 10 years, it will increase substantially the options and possibilities for many Mexican foreigners to purchase and invest in retirement and second homes in Mexico.          

From the responses and feedback of several Mexico real estate experts interviewed, it appears as if Mexico WILL be a buyer’s market atmosphere for 2009.  Further conversation with the experts reveals that finding a great deal will require a bit of digging, and creating a great deal will require a bit of negotiating.  Definitely this year is much more favorable to the buyers than the years before where various Mexico Real Estate markets were witnessing appreciation between 20% - 30%.   For those buyers and shoppers who are in the financial position and have already decided to make their investment in a Mexico property but have yet to find the ideal home or oceanfront lot,  2009 is the perfect year to acquire real estate in Mexico.