Real estate prices have increased quite a bit here in Placencia. The price depends on what you want to do. I have a friend who recently bought a piece of land in Placencia Village for about US $80,000 and then built her own house, which was about $200,000. The house that my friend bought is right by the sidewalk. She can see the sea from her lot and the house is around 1,500 square feet. Her house is made of concrete, too, although it is a lot cheaper to build using wood. They built an apartment underneath, which is around 800 square feet and then they have their two-bedroom house with a loft upstairs. The lot is around 100 feet by 90 feet.
Realtors tend to price the house or apartments a little bit higher since everything here in Placencia is negotiable. The cost of to buy a home could be anywhere from $300,000 to $1 million depending on what you are looking for and where you are looking. If you want to be on the lagoon side, it is a lot cheaper than on the sea side, and if you are on the water, it is more expensive. These are some of the factors that go into the price.
The houses here in Placencia are different than the houses in the Cayo District because Placencia is on the beach and houses in Cayo aren't.
There are more and more contractors coming here to Placencia now, too. When I first came to Placencia, there was only one guy building everything, but now that there is more building going on here and other contractors have come in, so there is a little more competition and you have some choices.
I have another friend who has a house right on the sea in Placencia Village. They put that house up for sale for $650,000 because it is right on the sea and it is about 2,500 square feet with all the bells and whistles. It is just a really nice house. If you want something simple and you don’t want to spend much, you can do that, too.