2003 was an active year for sales in our real estate community. Sales volume reported, not including developer's figures, was in access $31,000,000 US*

The total sales of condominiums, villas, home sites, and commercial property averaged over $2,600,000 US per month for Jan.-Dec. 2003. The average sales price per unit was over $220,000 US.

141* properties were sold to create the volume in excess of $31,000,000 US for this past year. The majority of sales were condominiums (56%) with individual homes accounting for 35.5%. Land and commercial property sales comprised 8.5% of total sales.

The largest number of closings for this past year took place in May, with March and April strong months leading up to the record of May. December ended strongly with indications that January 2004 will be strong, as well.

The number of reporting offices were over 35 Multiple List Agencies. Agency cooperation between offices was 53% of the total number of transactions. 47% of the listing offices sold their own listings.

All areas within the Bay reported sales in price ranges from $50,000US to over $2,300,000 US. A new villa sale over $3,00,000 US was reported in Punta de Mita.

What caused this increase in sales last year? January started slow, but volume began to build in the first quarter with a number of buyers looking in February, March and April. For many purchasers, the goal was to own a property to enjoy for vacations now and retirement later. A number of Americans and Canadians told me they believed prices were going to go up in the future for desirable real estate here. Their goal was to find a property they could buy, now.

Although the economy north had not yet improved, buyers were active in the Bay. There was a strong common characteristic with buyers beginning the first quarter of 2003. There was a strong determination to find the right property. These individuals were going to take their futures into their own hands. Mexico is close, the ocean and beach appeal to almost every American and Canadian citizen. The cost of food, goods and services was also a factor.

In the Bay of Banderas, there are a great variety of choices of where to live. Buyers were here investigating locations in the Bay from north of San Pancho to below Mismaloya.

Operadora de Fondos Lloyd, S.A. reports in their January 2004 newsletter, that Mexico's economy has been strong with inflation and interest rates low; foreign reserves have been high. The Labor Department is expecting 250,000 new jobs to be created in 2004. Mexico, along with China, Poland, India and Brazil is being regarded as one of the five global giants of the emerging world. Mexico accounts for more than half of foreign trade in Latin America.

There continues to be heavy involvement of Canadian businesses in Mexico. Canadian-owned Transalta has added capacity to Mexico's electric supply. Canadian-owned Precision Drilling has been granted an extension of their agreement with Pemex to drill more wells in Northern Mexico. Bombardier Corporation has been awarded a large contract to build 450 coaches for the Mexico City Metro system. Torre Mayor, the largest office building in Latin America, was completed in 2003 by Toronto-based Reichmann International. Toronto Corporation, Onex Corporation and another partner purchased Cinema, Mexico's second largest cinema operator for 200 million dollars.

American-based Continental Airlines has signed an agreement with Aeromexico for code sharing of routes between Mexico and the US. Customers will have more choices of flight times and connections. Currently Continental flies 23 routes to Mexico. Aeromexico also has an agreement with Delta Airlines. Customers in the US, Europe and South American should benefit from these airlines partnering.

*AMPI offices reporting in the Bay of Banderas.

Harriet Cochran Murray

This article is based upon legal opinions, current practices and my personal experiences in the Puerto Vallarta-Bahia de Banderas areas. I recommend that each potential buyer or seller conduct his own due diligence and review.