Will Rising Crime Levels Affect Property in Costa Rica?

It’s a well known fact that the Central American nation of Costa Rica is stunningly beautiful; in recent years it has worked hard to make the most of its attractive geographic position as well as its flora, fauna and excellent climate to develop as an active tourism market upon which it has managed to build a strong economy.  As an offshoot to this sector of the economy Costa Rica also attracts strong international property investor and buyer interest. 

In Costa Rica the standard of living is relatively high, land ownership is widespread and the current president Oscar Arias is committed to developing the educational standards of his people and personally believes that Central America would be better to concentrate on this issue as well as economic advancement through diversification rather than warring and posturing.  However, despite his best efforts Costa Rica is well known as a nation with high crime levels – the question is, will rising crime levels affect property in Costa Rica?

This is a question that has to be considered carefully by anyone considering committing to the nation financially - whether they are a retiree about to buy a seemingly safe home in a gated and private, secure community, a developer contemplating buying land and constructing homes or an investor looking for real estate related opportunity.

Since Oscar Arias came to power in 2006 significant crime fighting tactics have been discussed and in many cases implemented – the president is responsible for his country now working more closely with American and international police authorities for the apprehension of criminals on the run and the reduction in international drug related criminal activities for example.  What’s more, a brand new arm to the police force has been created since Arias came to power – namely the ‘tourism police.’

Costa Rican authorities understand that tourism is central to the ongoing economic success of the entire nation – and tourists need to feel safe and protected if they are going to continue to come and spend their estimated annual budget of USD 1.6 billion…therefore the creation of a police division specifically targeting crimes affecting tourists is a definite step in the right direction towards changing the international opinion that Costa Rica is crime riddled.

However – how effective is this police division proving to be and are the general crime reduction measures that have been taken sufficient and working?

The answer to this question depends on who you speak to and what you read.  On paper the measures being taken to fight rising crime in Costa Rica are certainly proving successful.  Significant and high profile arrests have been made, the US DEA, US Coast Guard and Interpol are all satisfied with Costa Rica, illegal immigration and human trafficking are issues being tackled head on and all in all the presidency of Arias is going well so far.

However, in speaking to real estate investors who are active in Costa Rica and have been for the past five years as well as a number of American and European expatriates now living full time in their property in Costa Rica there is both an overwhelming reticence to undermine the efforts being taken as those who have made a commitment to Costa Rica seem to be genuinely enamoured with the nation, and yet there is a strong underlying fear that crime is continuing to rise, drug usage is on the up as well and that on the streets where real people are living, working and enjoying life in Costa Rica, not enough is being done.

The conclusions that can be drawn from all of this are that the Costa Rican authorities are certainly aware of the crime issues and are taking certain efforts to tackle them head on, but that they need to look to the street level to tackle the types of crime affecting every day life in addition to dealing with international issues such as people trafficking and drug smuggling.  If Costa Rica can do this, it will continue to have a burgeoning tourism market and a flourishing property market both supporting its economic advancement. 

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