Fore! The Americas Strike Back

Date: 10/06/2006

International Living Postcards-- Saturday Edition

Saturday, Oct. 7, 2006

The Ryder Cup is two weeks over, Team USA has returned home in defeat. But while Europe may have better golfers, the Americas may have better golf resorts. Certainly, better for your wallet. At one resort I know in Nicaragua--Iguana Beach--a condo and club membership will cost you the same as the membership alone at the K Club, where the Ryder Cup was staged.

I won't pretend to know anything about bogies, sand traps, or the 19th hole. I'm not in the golf business. But I am in the real estate opportunity business, and I know eight golf developments in Latin America right now that are worthy of your attention:

Panama

Coronado Beach and Golf Resort Club

Coronado is one of the oldest and most stunning of the Pacific beach resorts within easy driving distance from Panama City. The Coronado Fairways--a small group of but 10 luxurious homes situated directly on the first fairway of this golf resort--is an exceptional value in Panama for golfers, beach lovers, or anyone looking for property with rental potential. The price of these homes--completion date July 2007--includes appliances, a transferable membership to the golf club, as well as access to the equestrian center, the tennis facilities, the beach club, and the special event activities the Club offers throughout the year. Prices start at $332,000.

Tucán Country Club and Resort

This is Panama City's only golf development, and every property for sale here has a golf course view. Condos start at less than $280,000 (including a lifetime family golf membership). The properties back up to a lush stretch of primary and secondary rainforest, so you can enjoy the wildlife and bird life that's so abundant in the area. Plus, you get views of the Panama City skyline, you're minutes from Panama City, and less than an hour from Panama's best beaches.

Vista Mar Golf and Resort Community

A new golf development on the Pacific Coast of Panama, this par-72 championship golf course is under construction and scheduled for play for Jan. 2007. Condo packages (including a two-bedroom unit with air conditioning, appliances, and membership of the golf club) start at $297,000.

Playa Blanca

With an incredible mile-long stretch of fine, white-sand beach, this fashionable beachfront resort is on an area along Panama's Pacific Coast where it rains significantly less than it does in the rest of the country. Playa Blanca comes with all the trappings of a thriving, high-occupancy beach resort--swimming pools, four restaurants, several bars, a night club, boutiques, and nightly shows. Plus, a nine-hole putting course, beach volleyball, and tennis. The average price of an apartment is $175,245, and includes your appliances.

Nicaragua

Gran Pacifica

Gran Pacifica is a huge property of 2,200 acres with a three-and-a-half-mile stretch of beautiful sand beach, with everything needed to build a first-class community: paved streets, sidewalks, stores, and the biggest investment in infrastructure I've seen from a developer, right down to the fire hydrants and the fiber-optic cables running to the planned homes. Ground was broken earlier this year on the world-class golf course, designed by Tommy Haugen. Condos start at $79,900.

Iguana Golf and Beach Resort

More famous for its surf than its golf--Nicaragua's two best surf breaks are here, including the famous Colorado break--this is nevertheless great value for golfers. Condos with views of the nine-hole golf course start at $129,000. Living here, you get to take advantage of the golf course, the surfing, the beach, and all the other amenities--including the existing clubhouse, swimming pool, and lap pool. It's the only project of its kind on the coast here, and the 100-plus acre property is park-like and well maintained.

Honduras

Villa Elena

The centerpiece of Villa Elena is the country club, with its challenging nine-hole golf course (plus a further nine holes planned), restaurant, two large pools, tennis, and basketball. And these amenities aren't part of a future plan--the country club is open today, and is a draw for the city's elite residents and members of the diplomatic corps. Just about any day of the week you'll see people playing golf, enjoying the pool, or sampling the fine seafood at the poolside restaurant. The entire infrastructure here is complete, right down to the high-speed Internet service. Lots here start at $47,000 and turnkey home/lot packages start at $150,000. Financing is available for up to 20 years.

Mexico

San Gabriel Villas

When completed, this development will be an active-adult planned community with a golf range on 18 acres along the Laja River, surrounded by horse ranches, well-tended fields, and open range land studded with cactus and mesquite. It reminds Roving Latin America Property Scout Dan Prescher of "a combination of the American west and the Italian countryside, cradled in the heart of authentic Mexico." In fact, the adjacent ranch is owned by an Italian man who sells cheese from his herd of goats, and wine from the vineyards on his property. Pre-construction condos and villas are currently available, and prices are less than you'd pay for the same type of development in San Miguel, even though it's only 30 minutes away. Villas start at $147,000 (for a 1,460-square-foot villa on a 2,400-square-foot lot) and 1,083-square-foot condos start at $107,000.

To learn more--about detailed pricing, photos, or any golf questions you may have--for any of these developments, click here.

Lief Simon
Real Estate Editor, International Living

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