Belize Real Estate Profitability in 2007

To us Belize is a dichotomy, on the one hand it has everything going for it - for example it’s stunningly beautiful, it’s a former British colony where English is still spoken and where the legal and political systems are still based on their British equivalents and are transparent, it is politically and economically stable, property prices are relatively cheap, the cost of living is low and transport links to North America are good. 

But on the other hand Belize is not achieving its potential as a major tourism destination, its not managing to attract enough retires or wealthy expatriates despite various highly attractive tax sheltering incentives and as a result its property market isn’t nearly as exciting as it could be.  Maybe we’re being too hard on Belize, but really we had hoped for more and going in to 2007 Belize real estate profitability and the prospects for the entire property market are okay but less than thrilling.

Belize has disappointed us in 2006 but then again maybe our expectations for it were too high so let’s look on the positive side…profiting from property in Belize is certainly possible and will largely come from careful investments made into real estate that is attractive to either the retiree market, the tourism market or the professional and expatriate worker market in Belize City.  So, in order to have a thriving and thrilling market the numbers of retirees, tourists and professionals needs to be growing and the Belizean government are well aware of this – after all their economy is largely reliant on tourism with significant amounts of revenue also generated from the country’s expansionary fiscal policies such as their offshore sector which is also a large employer of expatriates and locals in Belize City. 

However, the tourism based economy is not growing particularly fast and Belize has not developed much as an attractive tax sheltering economy and still the only retirees coming are from North America with European buyers almost blind to the charms of Belize.

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Belize’s travel and tourism based economy should have grown by about 6% in 2006, but it further predicts annual average increases from 2007 – 2016 standing at about 4.6%, which is just not enough if Belize is to become a player in the world travel and tourism market.

Looking at the WTTC’s figures more closely and comparing them with other emerging nations heavily reliant on their own tourism generated revenue, part of the problem could be the amount of money that the Belizean government is able to commit to developing and promoting tourism.  Currently the government spends 12.2% of its total budget on tourism – which may sound like a lot but when you realize that the government considers and requires tourism to be Belize’s number one foreign exchange earner shouldn’t they be willing to put more in to get more back?  The WTTC don’t rate the chances of this situation changing much in 2007 with their predictions seeing government spending expanding to just 12.7% over the next 9 years.

In fairness the government of Belize has tried several approaches to promote tourism such as the ‘stay free in Belize’ program adopted in December 2006 where overseas visitors could holiday in a hotel in Belize for 4 nights in December for free and possibly win an offshore bank account for their troubles?  But sustained efforts at raising the potential of Belize as an offshore haven of note, a retirement location of distinction and a tourism destination of broad and varied appeal are not in place and this is what lets Belize down as a potentially profitable property investment hotspot in 2007.

And yet, and yet…all of the fundamentals exist for Belize to have one of the most exciting emerging property markets in the world!  It’s a beautiful nation for goodness sake, its government and people respect and protect its biodiversity, it has amazing diving, a fantastic climate, a pension would go so much further in Belize and property prices start from ridiculously cheap and only go as far as relatively inexpensive at the upper end of the scale.

It is just so frustrating! 

Therefore, our predictions are that Belize will continue to be a slow burner meaning that while 2007 is unlikely to return an investor huge profit margins it will be another year for investors to bank real estate and land for a long term property investment alternative.

Special Reports: Property News for Belize

Belize Investment Real Estate Guide
A look at why Belize is the next big thing in terms of investment real estate opportunity in the Caribbean

Belize Real Estate Buying Guide
The real estate purchase process in Belize is relatively straightforward although sourcing suitable investment land or property can be tricky

Belize: A Guide for Real Estate Investors
Real estate in Belize is so popular with property investors because Belize offers so many financial incentives and natural attractions.