Learning from the US RE.net in Central America

The actual process of buying real estate in emerging markets like Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua and Belize is similar to the US, and fairly straight-forward. But finding the right property, at the right price, is an altogether different proposition.

There’s no Zillow to help you follow market values, no neighborhood APIs for developers to use and Google Street View does not extend to Central America. There are a few fledgling MLS systems but nothing comprehensive. And, perhaps most significantly, market comps are not readily available from property institutes, registries or central bank databases.

In the US the real estate buyer goes to the market armed with a mountain of data. Not just market comparatives and price trends but school data, neighborhood outlines, tax records, walk scores and crime statistics. Just look at the data Redfin is serving up or the richness of one of Bloodhound Realty’s single property websites.

But, if you are looking for property in Nicaragua or Panama you are data starved in comparison. Yes, Google will serve up thousands of listings in just 0.25 seconds, but you wont find a comprehensive source of market comps, trend data or lifestyle information. Without these additional layers of information it can be hard for investors to move forward in confidence.

On top of the obvious concerns about political instability, the lack of data makes the job of buying property in emerging markets more scary than it needs to be.

The good news is that the situation is starting to change, albeit slowly. We’re seeing more quality blogs with breaking news stories and market commentaries. There were more posts on ActiveRain on international real estate than the previous year. International property portals like enormo are approaching brokers in Central America for listings. You may not be able to get a walk score or drive score, but sites like revealrealestate (Disclosure: Revealrealestate is my employer) have measured the driving time to the international airport from major real estate developments. They don’t offer a sophisticated lifestyle search but can tell you if a development is walking distance from a surf spot.

You just need to look at what is happening in the US RE.net to anticipate the type of web properties that are going to emerge in the Central American real estate scene. We’re still a long way away from arming consumers with the kind of data they have in the US. But the data supply is increasing slowly, search is becoming more advanced, and transparency is improving.

Competence and cool-headedness may be the watch words for real estate in the US in 2009, but in Central America, the clarion call is still for more transparency.