At a Glance: Puerto Plata dominates Dominican Republic demand
Puerto Plata dominates demand for Dominican Republic property, TheMoveChannel.com’s latest At a Glance reveals. The infographic, which charts activity on the portal over the last 12 months, shows that Puerto Plata is the most popular place on the island, accounting for over three-quarters of enquiries.
Famous for its stunning beaches, the northern province attracted a staggering 76.85 per cent of Dominican Republic enquiries on TheMovechannel.com in the year ending August 2013 – almost four times as many as its closest contender. The second most popular area on the Caribbean island is Santo Domingo in the south, which accounted for 19.36 per cent of enquiries.
La Vega and Samaná received the next highest number of enquiries, responsible for just 1.51 per cent of activity apiece. Distrito Nacional, the home of capital city Santo Domingo, received only 0.61 per cent of enquiries, just ahead of eastern province La Altagracia (0.15 per cent). The rest of the Dominican Republic received no enquiries at all.
Puerto Plata dominates the earlier stages of the buying process too. Kite surfing hotspot Cabarete accounted for more than one in four searches (28.4 per cent) for property in the Dominican Republic in the last year, closely followed by the town of Puerto Plata itself, which was responsible for 26.5 per cent of searches. Together with Sosua, the ninth most-searched location in the country, the province of Puerto Plata was responsible for well over half (56.7 per cent) of all searches.
Buyers also showed interest in Puerto Plata’s northern coast neighbour Samaná: Las Terrenas and the town of Samaná both appear in the 10 most-searched locations, accounting for 1 in 10 (11.8 per cent) and 1.8 per cent of searches respectively. Other popular locations are spread across the island, including the inland area of Jarabacoa, La Vega, and the southern coast of Barahona.
The At a Glance infographic also analyses the behaviour of buyers searching on Google. “Property in Dominican Republic” was the most commonly used keyword, while the most popular type of property was “houses for sale in Dominican Republic”. Searches on Google peaked at the start of 2013 but have steadily increased since September 2012.
Editor Ivan Radford comments: “The Caribbean has always been a place where people dream of owning a home. The Dominican Republic is one of their favourite places to do so – and Puerto Plato is why. Known around the world for beaches such as Playa Dorada, it is no wonder that the coastal province dominates buyer demand.
“What is perhaps surprising is that houses are the most popular type of property on TheMoveChannel.com. “Houses for sale” were searched for by more people than hotels, despite the island’s strong income potential from tourists and several hotel listings on the site – confirmation that the Dominican Republic’s appeal lies with lifestyle buyers as much as investors.
“It is also interesting to note the lack of buyer interest in the rest of the Dominican Republic, with many areas receiving no enquiries whatsoever: Puerto Plata’s international popularity is similar, perhaps, to Florida’s dominance of the US property market, where the state accounts for over half of enquiries. That may change as the island’s overseas market develops. Indeed, it is revealing that Google activity surrounding the island’s real estate has increased in recent months – a trend matched by the country’s rising profile on TheMoveChannel.com, where it climbed 13 places in the Top of the Props chart to be the 16th most popular destination in July 2013. Puerto Plata has accounted for some of the most popular listings on the site in the last 12 months. The At a Glance infographic confirms that for Caribbean property buyers, Puerto Plata is an investment and vacation hotspot to be reckoned with.”
Click here to view the full infographic.
Notes to Editors
Founded in 1999, TheMoveChannel.com is the leading independent website for international property, with than 400,000 listings in over 100 countries around the world, marketed on behalf of agents, developers and private owners.