Baja Condo Projects Mired In Economic Quicksand
 Michelle Mowad - San Diego Business Journal
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| | Three- and four-bedroom units at the Gardenhaus townhouses in Rosarito are priced from $140,000 to $195,000. | | |
The residential real estate market in Baja California, Mexico is mirroring the slowdown in both units sold and lower median prices in Southern California. The surge of construction along the coast during the housing-market high a few years ago has also burst south of the border.
It is estimated that the nearly 100 or so residential developments under construction in the coastal region from Playa de Tijuana to Ensenada has dwindled to no more than 30 active projects.
Gabriel Robles, president of the Baja Developers Association, said that with rising gas prices, the mortgage lending crisis and upcoming presidential election, homebuyers are holding their money tight.
“When the U.S. sneezes, Mexico catches double pneumonia,” said Robles.
Major developments have scaled back, he said. Some developers have just slowed construction schedules, while others have returned pre-sale deposits and called it quits.
Developers of El Milagro, a 500-unit project in Rosarito, stopped construction and have returned deposits to buyers.
“Prices are either being lowered or projects are stopping,” said Robles. “It’s not a pretty picture.”
Robles, also principal of San Diego-based Baja Resort Advisors LLC, said buyers at one of its own Baja developments were given deposit credit at another condo project when it decided not to continue development.
Baja Resort Advisor’s project, The Falls at Puerto Nuevo, was to be a 92-unit luxury condo on the coast. Units were to range in size from 950 to 2,700 square feet in one, two or three bedroom options.
Credit Option
Buyers of The Falls now have credit at La Elegancia, a 19-floor, 107-unit condominium project in Rosarito by Mexican developer GJL.
“Another phenomenon is some folks that bought (in Mexico) are walking away from their deposit rather than paying the balance due,” said Robles.
James Gerber, director of the Center for Latin American Studies at San Diego State University, agreed that the slowdown in San Diego has curbed new development in the Tijuana to Ensenada corridor. Gerber, a professor of economics, said the slowing in Mexico is nothing like the slowing north of the border. |
Vallarta Weddings
Puerto Vallarta Real Estate | August 2008 
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