(PRWEB) September 13, 2013

The Costa Rica real estate market has seen steady improvement during 2012 and 2013 in response primarily to a strengthening housing market in the United States. As a result, Re/Max Ocean Surf Realty, the longest running Re/Max agency and largest networked team in the country has decided to expand its agent count.

According to Chris Simmons, the founder of Re/Max Ocean Surf and its three affiliated offices located in the desirable North Pacific Guanacaste region, We are seeking more agents to serve our growing client base. Higher median prices in the USA are now driving buyer interest in higher priced and luxury real estate properties, particularly for ocean view, beachfront, and near beach properties. Buyers from hot markets in the USA like California and Florida see Costa Rica as offering great value in comparison to similar beach real estate in the United States. We still have luxury condos for under $ 200 per square foot, pricing that is rare in the USA.

The National Association of Realtors (http://www.realtor.org) real estate market data for July demonstrates that the United States experienced a 5.24 percent decline in housing inventory. National median list prices increased 5.27 percent year-over-year while median age of inventory is down 16.67 percent.

Statistics are harder to come by in Costa Rica as the nation has no national Multiple Listing Service (MLS). However, a review of real estate websites in Costa Ricas Guanacaste North Pacific Gold Coast region reveals that, like the United States, lower and median priced properties saw dynamic sales during 2012 and early 2013. Lower priced inventory declined drastically, and median condo and home prices are increasing. As a result, Chris Simmons says that he expects the positive trend in both sales and pricing of Costa Rica property to continue.

DataQuick (http://www.dqnews.com) a USA real estate information service, reported that the number of homes that sold for $ 5 million or more in California reached an all-time record in 2012. California also achieved sales records last year in the $ 4-5 million range and the $ 3-4 million range, and also had the highest number of home sales of more than $ 1 million since 2007. And a record number of buyers paid with cash.

Chris Simmons agrees that many of his buyers during the past two years were from the power-house markets of Florida and California. However, he anticipates that as the real estate recovery spreads, Costa Rica will see more buyers from other regions of the USA which has encouraged him to expand his team.

The National Housing Trend Report by the National Association of Realtors (http://www.realtor.org) relates that, while the California market dominated in the past couple of years, it has been replaced by a new set of market leaders including: Detroit, Mich.; Boston; Denver; Honolulu and Naples, Fla. The large decreases in the for-sale inventory in these markets suggests the beginning of a housing market recovery process similar to what was observed in Florida in 2011, and in California in 2012 and 2013.

Chris Simmons notes that This is an exciting time for real estate in Costa Rica and for my growing team. Buyer confidence is up, and this definitely is having a positive effect on our market. When our clients see their real estate investments at home experiencing significant increases, they are more likely to invest in second home and resort markets. Moreover, as the overall global housing market improves, our client base grows since Costa Rica attracts buyers from around the world due to its foreigner friendly property laws and high standard of living.”

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