Dear Punta Laguna owner,
This is Janaina Simon, Chief Real Estate Advisor with Smart Money Homes, writing today with the latest construction update for the Punta Laguna community.
Before we get into it, I’d like to remind you that the Smart Money Homes team and I are your point of contact for any questions you may have about your Punta Laguna condo.
You can reach us by email at info@smartmoneyhomes.com and a member of the team will get back to you.
I’m pleased to inform you that construction of your Punta Laguna condo will begin in March 2024 and the planned delivery date remains in September 2025 which is on schedule.
While construction had been scheduled to begin in February, we’re confident that the one-month delay will not impact the final delivery date.
Throughout the construction process, I’ll be sending you regular reports to keep you updated on the latest developments as we build your Punta Laguna condo.
Riviera Maya Breaks Tourism Record in 2023
Image Source: iStock. The Riviera Maya received a record 33.7 million passengers in 2023 and 21 million of those passengers stayed outside Cancun at destinations like Playa del Carmen.
We’re around a month into the peak season here on the Riviera Maya, and Playa del Carmen is buzzing. Bars and restaurants are filled with tourists and 5th Avenue is a hive of activity.
2023 has been a record year for tourism throughout the Riviera Maya, and especially Playa del Carmen.
Establishing itself as a global travel destination, in 2023 the Riviera Maya broke tourism records.
Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama said the state, which includes the Riviera Maya, received “33.7 million passengers, an impressive milestone that demonstrates the capacity and tourist attraction of the destination.”
She went on to say that more than 21 million of those travelers visited destinations outside of Cancun. This marks an eight percent increase in travelers and a 12 percent increase in spending over 2022.
While most of the arrivals came by air, the ports of Quintana Roo received more than 6.1 million cruise passengers in 2023, strengthening the economy and tourism.
Tourists heading out of Cancun to explore Playa del Carmen and the rest of the Riviera Maya is a very encouraging trend.
As folks here like to say, “people who visit Playa del Carmen once, always return”.
Hotel Occupancy in the Riviera Maya at Close to 90%
Image Source: iStock. Hotels in Playa del Carmen enjoyed an average occupancy rate of 79.6% through December 2023 reaching 90% as the Christmas holidays approached.
Hotel occupancy in the Riviera Maya during late December was at 90% across the approximately 57,000 hotel rooms available.
Although the figures aren’t yet in, Andrea Lotito, Vice President of the Association of Hotels of the Riviera Maya, was anticipating a further increase in occupancy in the days around the New Year, potentially reaching 95-100%.
“Markets that had abandoned us in the past have now been reactivated. I’m specifically talking about Playa del Carmen, where numerous Europeans are returning, and new source markets such as Asians are making their presence felt during this year-end season”, highlights Lotito.
This is great news for owners at Punta Laguna whose condos will be Once Punta Laguna is well-established owners can look forward to a healthy rental income.
This is backed up by the Datatur Monitoring System, which tracks hotel occupancy in various tourist destinations throughout Mexico. It showed that Playa del Carmen had the second highest average occupancy rate in Mexico through December 2023. An average hotel occupancy rate of 79.6% shows just how popular Playa del Carmen is becoming.
Current Corasol Real Estate Market Makes Your Punta Laguna Deal Look Better Than Ever
This render, which shouldn’t be considered final, shows the plans for a pool in Punta Laguna. With top-class amenities and a privileged location in Corasol, Punta Laguna is already looking like a fantastic deal.
Real estate prices in Corasol continue to rise, the price RETA members got in at would look unbelievable to a non-RETA member trying to buy a condo in Corasol today.
RETA members like you initially had the chance to own a two-bed condo in Punta Laguna, Corasol starting from just $228,600. RETA members then got a second chance to buy at prices starting from $246,400.
Three-bed condos were also available, with prices starting from $296,600.
Today, two-bed condos are listed for considerably more…
$490,101 for a two-bed condo in Corasol. While this condo is slightly bigger than yours in Punta Laguna it’s a good indication of current prices in Corasol.
This two-bed condo in Corasol is listed for $490,101. That’s $243,701 more than RETA members paid for their condo at Punta Laguna.
This three-bed apartment in Corasol is listed for $731,445. Again, it’s slightly bigger than yours in Punta Laguna.
A three-bed condo in the same building is listed for $791,445, that’s $434,845 more.
There can be no doubt that Corasol is a very desirable place to live.
There’s the Nick Price Golf Course, the beach club, and all the benefits that come with living in a gated master-planned community.
Throw in a privileged location, you can walk along the beach into downtown Playa del Carmen, and the success of Corasol comes as no surprise.
The rental market is strong, too.
I’ve been keeping an eye on sites like booking.com and Airbnb and can confirm available rooms have been extremely limited during this late December to early January period.
There are not many rooms available in Corasol, the rental demand for your Punta Laguna condo is likely to mean a high yield.
Trying to find accommodation earlier in January in Corasol, demand was such that the only available condos were enforcing a five-night minimum stay.
Prices for early January were as high as $369 per night for a two-bed condo in Corasol.
While I’m sure some rooms were available for short-term stays if you booked early enough, New Year’s in Corasol is becoming a real event. I’ll be excited to see what December 2024 brings.
Tren Maya: “The Greatest Construction Project in the World”
Tren Maya will open the whole region allowing tourists easy access to many of the historical sites that were previously hard to reach.
More than half the Tren Maya is now officially up and running.
The Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was accompanied by Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama and Cancun Mayor Ana Paty Peralta on the inaugural journey for the Cancun-Palenque route.
The President has previously dubbed the building of the Tren Maya and Tulum International Airport as “the greatest construction project in the world”.
It’s a bold claim, but not without merit when you consider the scale of the project and the $28.5 billion spent on Tren Maya so far.
The starting point for the most recent route begins at Cancun International Airport and ends nearly 500 miles km away in Palenque. Completing this journey from end to end will take around 12 hours.
The new route adds eight stations and brings access to sites such as the Palenque Archeological Zone, the Agua Azul waterfalls, the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, Museo La Venta Park, and the Pomona Archeological Zone.
Tren Maya opened at the beginning of December and demand was incredible. In fact, all tickets for travel were pre-sold.
According to the Mexican government, the last point to be inaugurated will be Tram 5 South, which is scheduled to open in February 2024.
The project has been subject to delays, but the President is keen to have Tren Maya complete before his term finishes in September of this year. Expect him to pull out all the stops to make sure Tren Maya is completed as soon as possible.
That’s all from me for now.
I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you and your loved ones a 2024 full of happiness, health, and profitable real estate investment.
Yours sincerely
Janaina Simon, Chief Real Estate Advisor with Smart Money Homes
