Cuenca Property Sales Report July 2023: Local Insights & Trends

Cuenca Property Sales Report July 2023 – Transcript

Jason    00:01

Welcome to the Cuenca Property Update for July of 2023. I’m Jason and I’m here with property sales specialist, Xavier Amoroso. In this video, we’ll share with you some recent sold properties, key sold statistics and some high level trends and lessons that we’ve learned over the past month. Vamos.

Jason    00:21

Hola, we’re YapaTree Properties -Cuenca’s go to destination for property sales and rentals. I’m joined today by someone I consider to be one of Cuenca’s best real estate agents, Xavier Amoroso. Xavier has been in this industry for a very long time and we’re very proud to have him on board as one of YapaTree’s key sales agents. Welcome Xavier, and thank you so much for joining us today.

Xavier    00:41

Gracias, Jason. Hello everyone. It’s my pleasure. I know the Cuenca real estate market can be difficult for expats to understand. So I’m very happy to share some property sale insights and hopefully our audience can be better informed when the time to make a purchase or decision comes.

Jason    01:02

Awesome. I know pinning you down in one spot long enough to shoot a video is always a challenge, but I guess that is the nature of being a successful property agent here in Cuenca. Let’s get to those sales results starting from a high level. How many properties did you sell during the last 30 days?

Xavier    01:18

Well, in June I made seven sales. That’s double of June 2022 which is a really good month for me.

Jason    01:27

That’s a massive increase. So what do you put that down to? I assume you’re not working twice as hard compared to this time last year.

Xavier    01:33

No, actually I’m enjoying my time on my month bike now. Actually I’m focusing my marketing efforts to new developments. So we’re just focusing on new developments. And I’m choosing some areas of town that I think they are more productive in terms of sale and resale. Actually I’m running out of listings right now.

Jason    02:00

So you’re basically being more selective in the types of properties that you’re selling.

Xavier    02:04

Basically, yes. I choose places that I think they have a lot more potential on terms of resale. Also I choose places where I think I will live, and where I would be happy to live. It doesn’t matter if it is one bedroom, small tiny suite, or a luxury palace on the hills, but it has to be something where I can be comfortable myself – where myself can be comfortable.

Jason    02:34

Sure, it has always impressed me the not so much the properties that you list, they’re great. But the properties that you don’t list, for me, that’s the real difference in a quality agent versus an agent that’s just trying to sell everything under the sun. I know that you don’t list everything. I think what one out of three properties that you visit to potentially list, you would end up actually listing. Is that around the benchmark?

Xavier    03:00

Yeah, probably 3, probably 4 visits to one listing. I reject a lot. I do a home inspection. I’m not a orofessional home inspector, but I’ve been in the market for a long term so I know what to check and what not to check. And I know the market, so I’m not gonna waste my time or my customer’s time.

Jason    03:22

Sure, and getting back to the sales for the past month, what would you say would be the average in terms of the dollar value for the sales?

Xavier    03:33

The average price on the units, it was 100 and twenty five hundred. yeah it was eight hundred and forty thousand dollars total, so yeah, 100 and twenty three five hundred.

Jason    03:46

For the units? What about for the houses? How does that work?

Xavier    03:49

Actually, it’s a fun market because you’re going to think that the houses are going to be more expensive. But the houses I – the only house -I just sold one house. The only house what I sold it was a VIP qualified house in the outskirts of Cuenca in an area called Misicata. It was sold for ninety nine thousand dollars. It was fun – it was a three story house in a gated community with 3 bedrooms. You know, we talk about VIP loans before you should put the link.

Jason    04:22

We have, but just for people that don’t know a VIP loan or VIP house or loan to get a house with a VIP program is considerably lower than a lot of other prices on the market.

Xavier    04:34

So it’s focused to to locals and unfortunately locals living in Ecuador, locals living in overseas. If the rate is lower, the down payment is lower and the prices of the houses are usually lower.

Jason    04:52

The idea is like a starter home or, you know, first home buyer.

Xavier    04:55

Yeah, is your first home.

Jason    04:56

Exactly that’s awesome. And so in terms of land, did you sell any land in the last 30 days? I know you don’t concentrate a lot on land.

Xavier    05:05

Actually I just have three listings, three land listings. And I don’t focus on land because it takes a little longer. There’s a lot of restriction and paperwork to do before you buy land. So I just want to make sales on housing.

Jason    05:27

Sure, sure, it’s more complicated. I understand. So in terms of the houses, you’ve said you’ve only sold one, so there’s no highest or low and that was one at about a hundred thousand dollars. In terms of the apartments, what was the range there in terms of the prices?

Xavier    05:42

Ok. I’m going to make, I’m going to separate two different kind of apartments. Investment apartments and living apartments. The units you’re going to use to live in are usually really inexpensive and what we’ve been looking for and we’re working with a couple of developers on creating. New developments on investment property, the small tiny suites, one bedroom, the cheapest one matter of fact was seventy thousand five hundred in cash. That was the asking price and that was the selling price. People are paying full price, you know, that’s located in downtown or close to downtown. And it’s good to put it on Airbnb and sometimes on long term rental, you know?

Jason    06:40

Sure so that’s for the investment grade properties in terms of the other type of properties.

Xavier    06:45

The other ones are in the Puerto Del Sol area, or Primero del Mayo area, Tres Puentes, some different middle class, middle high class Cuencano areas. Those are between 130 and 170 thousand dollars as an average price. Of course you can find them. Those are the two-bedroom units. The three bedroom units you will find probably in the 200 thousand dollars, 250 thousand dollar range. And of course there are some luxury units in the area.

Jason    07:22

Sure. And something that you just said that people are paying full price at the moment, that’s what I want to dig into. So in terms of the overall trend for the past, let’s say three months, how do you see the market? You mentioned people are paying full price. Obviously there is a lot of, I guess a lot of heat in the market?

Xavier    07:39

The market is hot. I’m running out of listings. Is really hard to get listings now. That’s why we’re working on new developments. Yes, they are paying full prices. Credit is easy for locals. Most of the market is local. That’s really important because sometimes you think the newcomers are affecting the market and it’s not.

Jason    08:07

And there is this perception amongst expats that properties can take forever to sell. And sometimes they can, but obviously not every type of property. In the properties that you know, the investment grade properties, the ones that you’re deliberately going after to list.

Xavier    08:22

Well, that’s why I reject listings. You know, I’m not, I’m not going to lease the property that is going to take me 3 months to sell, OK? I’m going to lease the property that is going to be sold within days so I can move into the next project, You know, yes, sometimes I take some units. But most of the time, it’s not.

Jason    08:46

Awesome. So we’re gonna get into some very specific case studies in a minute. But beforehand, can you share some trends or lessons that you’ve learned over the past 30 days? I know you’ve already mentioned that things are selling at price at the moment.

Xavier    08:57

Yeah, well people are paying full price and we still have the bargain culture here, but it doesn’t mean that the sellers are going to be willing to go down in price.

Jason    09:09

So sellers aren’t at the moment willing to budge basically for all the developments?

Jason    09:13

Yeah for the developments are not and, I’m not selling just developments. But in this kind of particular market where the market is going to be hot, they’re not. So you’re going to be willing to pay. Of course, I’m not going to list on a gringo price. That’s another way to reject if the price is high, bye. I’m not gonna waste it.

Jason    09:33

You’re not gonna waste your time. You’re not going to try and sell something above the market for us, yeah.

Xavier    09:37

No, I’m not gonna do that.

Xavier    09:38

Sure great. So let’s move on to some of the specific case studies. The first one, I understand you have about four to run through today. So let’s jump to the first one. Which property do we have right now?

Xavier    09:50

Okay let’s talk about Kira three 301. That’s a three bedroom. Three bedroom, two and a half bathroom, little terrace facing a little square park in Puertas Del Sol. It’s just one block away from the river. It’s a brand new construction. Actual pre construction is going to be delivered on October this year. It’s really well done.

Jason    10:18

What did it sell for?

Xavier    10:19

One sixty five. One sixty five and the asking price was one sixty five.

Jason    10:23

Yep, Great. And what were the owners really interested in, in terms of that particular apartment?

Xavier    10:29

You know, it was a fun sale. It is an expat who’s looking to relocate in Cuenca. It was like love at the first sight. She just went into, she sell the bushes behind the windows and she said well it’s mine and I didn’t have to show anything else. Just ok, let’s do it.

Jason    10:50

It sold itself.

Xavier    10:50

It sold itself, yeah. It’s a great location across the river, brand new. As I’m saying, the convenient location is close to markets, restaurants, most of the people who lives in Puerto Del Sol is local, but there are a lot of English speakers which is going to help you in just in case you’re going to be moving into. Some expats as well are living in the area, I think it’s a good spot to live.

Jason    11:22

Was this buyer, were they in the market for a long time or was this one of the one of the first properties that they came across that really ticked their boxes?

Xavier    11:33

Well, the the building itself has been in the market for a while because there’s a lot of units there for sale – Ii is a large high rise. However, she saw 2 units with a different agent and we had a plan to see some other 3 units, so I took her first to Kira and we couldn’t leave.

Jason    11:55

That was it. She saw Kira and she just fell in love.

Xavier    11:57

Yeah, well, Kira is nice.

Jason    11:59

That’s great. And when you get that, such a strong reaction, that’s really positive.

Xavier    12:02

Yeah, well, I’m not gonna waste her time. She wants to buy there. Just do it awesome and anything else that the audience can potentially learn from this particular sale.

Xavier    12:11

If something goes calling you, just make a decision.

Jason    12:14

Sure if you see something that you like in the market.

Xavier    12:17

Yeah, just shut it. Like do it. Somebody else is gonna jump on it.

Jason    12:23

No, that’s important to note too. So in terms of the next property, what is this property and what was the price that?

Xavier    12:29

Let’s talk about a Casa Corral, OK? Casa Corral, I think we made a video about.

Jason    12:35

Casa Corral? Yeah, we’ll provide a link to that one as well.

Xavier    12:37

Yeah, Casa Corral is a new development, same developer. Rental. It is an investment. It is a really good investment. Location is on Calle Bolivar, one block away from the main square, Parque Calderon. You know, everybody wants to be close to downtown. This is actually downtown. Nobody is going to be there. It’s going to beat that location.

Jason    13:04

The location is incredible.

Xavier    13:05

Yeah, well, you just open your door, the gate, and you’re in downtown. Yeah, it sells on its own. There’s only two units left, just in case you’re interested, The price, the asking price was seventy thousand five hundred in cash and it sold for the full price as well.The request of that down payment was a 30% down payment, but the guy just decided to pay 30% down payment in the next end. Of course you have to wait a year to pay the balance, but this guy just didn’t want to take the chances. Pay the 30 % down and he’s making payments of 5 to 7000 each month to complete it.

Jason    13:50

Is this a local or an expat buyer?

Xavier    13:52

That’s a local buyer, Yeah. Yeah, that’s a local buyer. And you know, locals are buying a lot, yeah.

Jason    14:00

So obviously they want to use it for investment. Are they planning on living in it at all or just renting it straight away?

Xavier    14:05

No, no, no, no. They’re renting. They’re going to rent it out and I think they’re going to put it on short term rental.

Jason    14:13

Do you know roughly what they’re looking at in terms of the short term rental price for that particular apartment? They haven’t got that.

Xavier    14:21

Well, I haven’t gone that far yet, but the unit, there’s a unit next door to that development that is the highest price in town. So, of course they’re not going to go on the lower market, they’re going to go on the high end.

Jason    14:36

The locals are really gravitating towards the Airbnb style rentals for their apartments and so that is something that you need to know is that you are competing, for those investment grade properties, you’re definitely competing with a lot of locals that really want to move into that short term rental market.

Xavier    14:52

Well, it’s not just competing. It is also learning from them, from the locals. The locals know the market because they are here. So if you’re going to… If you go to Rome, do what the Romans do.

Jason    15:06

Very true. Fantastic so that’s the first two properties. What does property three look like and how much did it sell for?

Xavier    15:12

Ok, it was the little… it’s about 100 square meters. About eleven hundred square feet three bedroom two and a half bathroom with a little patio on the back, one parking spot. It sold for 78, 80 thousand dollars. Seventy eight nine hundred ninety eighty thousand dollars.

Jason    15:35

Where was this one?

Xavier    15:36

That one is in the Racar area, Okay. It’s on the West side of town, up on the hill. It’s a little bit chilly in the area, but it has everything you know. It has a shopping mall, it has some high schools around and schools. It’s a perfect spot for locals.

Jason    15:56

Yeah so this was a local buyer?

Xavier    15:57

Yeah, it was a local buyer and yeah, it’s a 3 bedroom and I wanted to point it out for the low budget people. There are still 3 bedrooms under the eighty thousand dollars.

Jason    16:09

Sure, but you’re not going to find them within walking distance to El Centro, for example.

Xavier    16:14

Well, no, 3 bedroom for eighty. Thousand dollars, no, no, no, no, no, no. But let’s say you have family or you need space. You need an office for him and office for her in the bedroom. Yeah, you can find it. And of course you can get a cab ride for two or three dollars to downtown, so.

Jason    16:32

But the reality is it’s going to be a little bit outside.

Xavier    16:35

Little bit outside of downtown, Yeah, not in the outskirts, but still you won’t be able to walk.

Xavier    16:43

Sure, sure. Yeah, it’s good to know.

Xavier    16:45

You know, we live in the Andes, so you’re going to have to climb some hills and go down hills, so walking there is going to be a little tough.

Jason    16:53

Si si si. All right. So the last property that you’ve got to share with us today, what type of property was it?

Xavier    17:00

I’m not going to share property because all of them are pretty much the same the ones I sold. But I want to tell you that I’ve been receiving a lot of requests on the Paute area. Yeah, is really interesting because even I do not list outside of town, I think the Paute area is going to get hot again in the next couple of months.

Jason    17:26

Why do you say that?

Xavier    17:28

Man, everyone is requesting Paute. Paute is 30 minutes away from town. It’s clear air, good water, good services, internet service. You have farmers market two – three days a week.

Jason    17:45

It doesn’t have like a Supermaxi though.

Xavier    17:47

No, we don’t have a Supermaxi. But it has a farmer’s market, You know, you go and get your fresh veggies for less money.

Jason    17:53

But like so it has a lot of facilities but people still need to come into Cuenca for hospitals.

Xavier    17:58

Oh yeah. Well, you have a little hospital, two or three little hospitals and you know, for emergency, but you still have to come. But it’s only half hour, half an hour. And I’m telling you, I’ve been receiving a lot of requests the last two months. I reject to do it, but I’m gonna have to about Paute.

Jason    18:19

So you think you’ll be spending a little bit more time out in Paute day listing properties?

Xavier    18:23

Yeah, I’m gonna, I’m gonna have to do it. I’m gonna have to do it because I’m seeing some potential there. If you’re interested on knowing what’s gonna happen in the market, I’m giving you a highlight and if you’re looking for some land. Yes, houses are not as nice as the houses in town, but rebuilding, redoing them is not really expensive, you know. Labor in Ecuador is really inexpensive and it’s good labor.

Jason    18:54

You just need to have someone managing the labor.

Xavier    18:57

Yeah, and we can recommend two or three, four different people who speak English and you can get. You you can do it on your own.

Jason    19:05

It’s definitely a good option for those guys that are thinking of doing a little bit of building.

Xavier    19:08

Yeah, well, let’s see. If you decide to to buy a house with land and you go to Challuabamba, the area where you used to live before. You go to Challuabamb and you’re going to be spending 400 thousand, five hundred thousand dollars. For half of that you drive 20 more minutes and you just…

Jason    19:28

The basic land cost. If you can just compare, I think that’s a really good one. So if you just compare the price per square meter in Challuabamba, yeah, verse Paute, what exactly are we looking at?

Xavier    19:37

Let’s say that in the middle of Challuabumba, right where you house where before, we’re talking about $300 per square metre. Acre is about four thousand square. Meters so so, we can translate a little bit. Because we’re metric, but in Paute you can find it between ten and sixty dollars. It depends where you are buying.

Jason    20:08

So that’s a huge difference.

Xavier    20:10

It’s a huge difference. So you drive 20 more minutes and you have land and the weather there is just perfect all year round and you can grow avocados you can grow cherimoya – they don’t know what a cherimoya is…

Xavier    20:23

You can grow cherimoya and you can grow also limes, oranges and stuff like that.

Jason    20:29

Awesome. That sounds like a really good option. I’m excited. Let’s do some videos out there as well.

Xavier    20:34

Anytime, anytime.

Jason    20:36

Great, that’s super helpful Xavier. Thank you very much. Now what is the best way for potential buyers to contact you?

Xavier    20:42

Well, you can view the current listings online on yapatree.com. Or you can send as an email with the information you’re looking for and I’ll find you. I’ll find the property for you.

Jason    20:54

Awesome, so we’re gonna have some links to these services in the description below and thank you very much Xavier. And a big thanks to you for watching. Do feel free to hit me up with any property questions that you may have too – [email protected]. And if you got value from this video, please do consider giving us a cheeky “like” as this does help a message reach more people. Thank you very much for watching and we’ll catch you next time. Ciao.