(QCOSTARICA) – Escazú is the canton where the largest houses in Costa Rica are built.
During the last decate, 75% of the houses built in Escazú are over 150 square metres (1,600 square feet), according to data from the construction statistics of the National Institute of Statistics and Census (Nacional de Estadística y Censos – INEC).
According to the National Housing Report 2013 (Nacional de Vivienda 2013), prepared by the Housing Promotion Foundation (Fundación Promotora de Vivienda), of the 3,500 residences in Escazú, 2,600 are classified as high-income family homes.
After Escazú, Santa Ana is the municipality that comes closest in the number of large homes, where of the 4,723 dwellings, 47% are over 150 square metres.
No other municipality in the country, in the last 10 years, has reported such a high concentration of large new houses, according to the INEC.
Arnoldo Barahona, mayor of Escazú, said the town is a pole of attraction not only for housing but for commercial and office development.
“The municipality is competitive in public services. It has a good road network, schools and private medical centres,” said Barahona.
Rosendo Pujol, Minister of Housing, said that the increased purchasing power of families allows the development of larger homes.
Escazú and Santa Ana are cantons with high purchasing power, which explains the large homes, according to Jose Miguel Porras, president of the Costa RicaN Chamber of Realtors (Cámara Costarricense de Corredores de Bienes Raíces – CCCBR).
“In these cantons there is a predominance of the upper middle and upper classes. In addition, the price of land is very high,” said Porras.
Source: Nacion.com
