I’ve just arrived in the booming beach city of Playa del Carmen on Mexico’s Riviera Maya, joining virtually my whole team who jetted in from around the world.
We’re here for the annual Gathering event for Lifetime members of my Real Estate Trend Alert group. We’ve also been digging deep on this stunning 80-mile stretch of Mexico’s Caribbean coast.
Over the past week, my team have fanned out right across the Riviera Maya…
My team and I have flown in from around the world to the booming beach city of Playa del Carmen on Mexico’s Riviera Maya. We’re here for the annual Gathering event for Lifetime members of my Real Estate Trend Alert and to hunt for opportunities…
Some of my scouts have been drilling on the high-end luxury market in Cancun….
Others have been on the island of Cozumel and in the chic beach town of Tulum…
Some were in Puerto Aventuras…others in Puerto Morelos…we’ve drilled deep along more than 80 miles of Caribbean coast this week.
And all have been using Playa del Carmen as their base, the cosmopolitan city at the very heart of this coast where were about to meet with members of my Real Estate Trend Alert for The Gathering XI and run the rule over an incredible deal…
My team have already collected a vast amount of insights and updates. Our internal WhatsApp Scouting Group has been flooded with their latest findings and new opportunities.
I’m still processing all of this and I’ll have more to share soon…
But today, an unfiltered take. Some raw feedback I’m getting from my team.
Let’s begin with the headline news…the thing all of my scouts are telling me…
The Riviera Maya is in the midst of a stunning transformation. Destinations here are evolving. Luxury, refinement, and sophistication are bywords. Astonishing new residential communities are being rolled out. New resorts too. Massive investment in new luxury commercial projects.
Consider what my scout found in Puerto Cancun…
My scout, Eoin Bassett, snapped this photo of the Shark Tower, one of the most iconic luxury communities in Puerto Cancun. In the past few years, Cancun has undergone a re-invention into a fully fledged high-end luxury destination.
“Getting real Cap Cana vibes here in Puerto Cancun.” I got that message from my scout Eoin Bassett on Tuesday. Along with my company’s COO Niall Moore he’d left Playa del Carmen and its real estate market behind for a few hours to try understand what’s happening in the stunning 800 acres of planned luxury that is Puerto Cancun.
Puerto Cancun is just beside Cancun’s hotel zone, with another entrance right out to the city—a city that’s grown to over a million people.
Eoin’s Cap Cana reference makes sense. Puerto Cancun is the elite community here, 15 years in the making. Cap Cana is a vast micro-state of luxury in the Dominican Republic where RETA members had a deal recently.
Puerto Cancun is a vast and luxurious mix of residential and commercial projects, with amenities completed and in the works that include a golf course designed by Tom Weiskopf, a 270-acre ecological reserve, a full-service marina, a club house with a spa, family areas, adult and children’s pools, and full beach access.
It’s hard to believe Cancun was just a coconut plantation with three caretakers 50 years ago.
Cancun was where the juggernaut “Path of Progress” along this stretch of stunning coastline began. (A Path of Progress is anything that makes a place easier to get to or more desirable, like a new road or 5-star resort.) As it grew it attracted a mid and mass market crowd, though the luxurious side was always there too.
But in the last few years Cancun has had a re-invention, a transformation. One that reflects what’s been happening elsewhere on the Riviera Maya, in Playa del Carmen where we have an upcoming RETA-only deal…in Tulum where the big luxury names of fashion and travel collide. (Think brands like Bvlgari and Dior, resorts like a Secrets and a Conrad.)
Make no mistake, Cancun is a fully fledged high-end luxury destination. You’ll find the big brands in luxury travel here in force—there’s Waldorf Astoria, Mariott, Ritz-Carlton…
Prices for all-inclusives run up to $1,000 per night for a basic room. For an ocean-view suite, you can pay three times that…or more.
I’ve heard comparisons with Miami and certainly Latin Americans with money who would traditionally go to Miami are now opting for Cancun. As Miami becomes eye-wateringly expensive this part of the world is following the same developmental trajectory and offers much the same lifestyle and weather…at much better prices.
My guys took a quick look at two projects being built in Puerto Cancun with prices starting from $730,000
Elsewhere in Puerto Cancun they were told prices begin at $500,000 for a small condo.
I’ll meet with the guys in Playa del Carmen and talk more with them about what they saw.
But the big takeaway is just how far into the next phase of its evolution the Riviera Maya generally is. As with Cancun, Playa del Carmen—right in the heart of this coast—is going high-end…and RETA members are about to get a deal to blow minds there.
More on that below…
But now let’s go to another of my scouts, Ciaran Madden, who was finding a similar trend, though on a smaller scale, emerging on Cozumel…
My scouts snapped this photo in Cozumel on Tuesday. This island off Playa del Carmen is one of the world’s foremost cruise ship destinations.
“The brokers and expats I’ve talked to are all telling me the same thing: Cozumel is changing. Attracting wealthier folks. Beginning to see more luxury developments,” Ciaran told me.
While Eoin was in Puerto Cancun, Ciaran and several other of my scouts hopped on the ferry from Playa del Carmen to Cozumel—an easy day trip if you own in Playa.
Cozumel has long been a major tourist spot. Besides getting a regular influx of day-trippers from Playa, it’s one of the world’s foremost cruise ship destinations. Last year, the Port of Cozumel received more than 4.6 million cruise ship passengers—a massive 11% increase from the previous year to a record-breaking high.
Visitors are drawn to the island—whether by ferry, cruise ship or plane (Cozumel has its own international airport)—by the white-sand beaches and incredible turquoise waters. And there’s world-class diving and snorkeling. The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, the world’s second largest barrier reef system, sits just offshore.
Despite this influx, the island can have a surprisingly laidback feel. Here’s what Ciaran popped into our team WhatsApp scouting group…
Ciaran’s contacts have been telling him the same thing we’re hearing right across the Riviera Maya. There’s a growing focus on luxury…
He visited the site of a planned community called The Stella overlooking the malecon (seafront promenade) in San Miguel de Cozumel, the island’s main town. Prices for two-bed condos started at just under $700,000 and go above $1.4 million for penthouses.
That’s the top end here, though you’ll find other luxury communities with big pricing such as Peninsula Grand Cozumel, where penthouses are now reselling for $899,000.
A shot Ciaran snapped at the Buccanos beach club on Tuesday. At certain points around Cozumel, the waters are a vibrant, almost luminescent green.
The focus on luxury is not just reflected in new residential communities, but projects for cruise passengers. Royal Caribbean are building a new luxury beach club exclusively for its passengers on Cozumel at a cost of $75 million. It’s set to open next year.
That said, change comes more gradually to Cozumel than places like Playa del Carmen or Cancun. Island time prevails. It’s also important to note that the market is different in Cozumel. Fewer short-term rentals. More snowbirds. Common rental periods are between one and four months.
Nevertheless, the trends that we’re seeing right across the Riviera Maya are starting to take shape here, with The Stella community as an example.
Ciaran says, “I met an expat who’s been living on the island eight years. We met in the Buccanos beach club in the northern hotel zone. Incredible place. Great restaurant. Stunning views to the ocean. She tells me rental prices are rising fast amid greater demand for long-term rentals. More wealthy folks coming to stay for two, three, four months at a time. Her rent has risen more than 30% in the last few years.”
Tomorrow, I’ll dig more into how this trend is reshaping Playa del Carmen, the booming cosmopolitan beach city at the heart of the Riviera Maya.
Stay tuned…
Wishing you good real estate investing,
Ronan McMahon
Founder, Overseas Dream Home & Real Estate Trend Alert
P.S. Playa del Carmen is the site of our new RETA members-only deal.
This is a chance for RETA members to own in a perfect location in booming Playa del Carmen…in an utterly unique best-in-class community with resort-level amenities on a scale unmatched…and see expected gains of $201,600 five years after delivery.
I’ll be revealing a sneak peek of this deal to RETA members at The Gathering XI. And I’ll have more details to share here soon.
