The crisis associated with the covid-19 pandemic was not reflected in real estate in Puerto Rico, where the arrival of Americans in search of tax benefits caused a historic takeoff in the sector, especially luxury, to which is added a notable boom in the sale of pleasure boats.
The top representatives of the island of luxury real estate and luxury boats confirmed to Efe on Wednesday that, unlike other sectors in which the pandemic was affected, theirs has seen an increase this year never known.
Owner Luxury Real Estate Collection, Francisco Díaz Fournier, told Efe that, without a doubt, this pandemic year has been very positive for his company, probably the most prominent in the luxury real estate sector.
“There is no inventory to supply the demand, which causes prices to rise,” says Díaz Fournier, who recalls that more than $ 1,000 per square foot is currently being paid in Puerto Rico, similar to Miami, New York. Or San Francisco.
Díaz Fournier points out that the arrival of American citizens in Puerto Rico in search of tax incentives is the cause that has transformed the sector.
A good example of the surprising growth of the luxury real estate sector during the pandemic is the news that appeared a month ago in which the sale of the most expensive house in history in Puerto Rico was reported for 30 million dollars.
The property is located in Dorado, about 20 minutes from the capital, San Juan, next to the luxurious Ritz-Carlton Reserve Hotel.
Registration, but no exception
Although it was a record, it is not an exception among million-dollar homes, because, according to the island’s press, the second most expensive house in Dorado was sold for 25 million dollars, followed by another with a price which was around 19 million.
Díaz Fournier pointed out that when the pandemic broke out a year ago, rich people in the United States were capitalizing on moving to safe places of contagion and, above all, with favorable tax conditions for their money.
I don’t pay millions in taxes anymore
The local media reminds that Hundreds of Americans who moved to Puerto Rico stopped paying millions of dollars to the federal treasury.
Law 22 encourages people who have not been resident in Puerto Rico for the past 15 years before the regulation was approved and who maintain investments in or outside the United States to establish residence on the island.
This rule, in order to encourage the transfer of these investors, exempts them from paying income tax, which includes interest, dividends and capital gains on the sale of shares.
The businessman pointed out that a sale in San Juan that exceeded 7 million dollars was recently closed, and others in the Condado neighborhood of the capital were located over 3 million dollars.
Trial in other parts of the Caribbean
Puerto Rico is thus close to what is happening in other parts of the Caribbean, where, for example, on the island of San Bartolomé, a house was recently sold for 90 million dollars.
But it’s not just homes that are on the rise, as the luxury craft sector is another sector facing a hitherto unknown boom.
CFR Yacht Sales director Carlos Rodríguez told Efe that in this pandemic year “more boats have been sold than ever before”, which few could think of at a time when the economy as a whole is going through great global difficulties.
He explained that CFR Yacht Sales, which sells boats from Viking Yachts and the English luxury brands Princess, is facing a period of sale that has not been mentioned.
The manager explained that there are two reasons for this and that his own clients commented on it.
The first is that due to the impossibility of making trips, people choose to buy a boat as a leisure alternative.
The second is that older people have launched the purchase before the possibility that this will be their last chance to enjoy a boat with the permanent threat of a possible death due to the virus.
“People who buy these boats usually do so with loans from banks and are businessmen and professionals such as doctors,” he said.
These two economic sectors contrast with others severely affected on the island, such as tourism and restaurants and leisure, where many jobs have been lost. EFE