It is not surprising to many the number of foreigners buying a second home in Cabo San Lucas and with the decrease in Cabo real estate prices there is a flurry of new buyers that were “sitting on the sidelines” the past few years as prices reached all time highs. A foreigner can purchase a house or condo under $300,000 USD and have views of the ocean and live in a place like Cabo where life is more tranquil and the cost of living is relatively cheaper than many people’s home towns.
With this being said, I wanted to show you an interesting study recently done in 2009 by the Mexican Bank (Banco de Mexico) and the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI). They studied 42 areas in Mexico to determine the most expensive and least expensive areas to live . They took into account services and goods like health care, education, clothing, domestic items, transportation, food, equipment, etc.
The base line was the capital city of Mexico City and it was given a value of 100 points. If a city ranked more expensive than it carried a score of greater than 100 points and anything lower than 100 points is cheaper to live in than Mexico City . So guess what city was the most expensive city to live in?
Cancun? Acapulco? The answer was surprising to me but the most expensive city to live in Mexico is Monterrey. It was given a score of 103.9 while coming in second was our very own Cabo San Lucas. It was given a score of 103 followed by Cancun with a 101.1.
The cities the were the cheapest to live were Tlaxcala – 64.4%; Tepic – 69.2%; Durango – 69.3%; Pachuca – 69.6% , and Chetumal – 69.9%. My guess is that most of my clients and readers haven’t heard of those cities nor visited but do let me know if you have.
So are you surprised in Cabo making towards the top of the list? I would guess if you have been to Cabo San Lucas that it is not all too surprising. Centered on tourism and catering to the higher end tourist Cabo has made not only a name for itself as being one the, if not the best high end destination in Mexico, but also not a cheap place to vacation. Taking all that into account there are definite ways to save on your stays here like renting vacation villas (compared to hotels) and eating out at places away from the touristy areas. One great place to save 35% on your food, activities, and services here in Cabo is to visit the following website www.loscabosguide.com/discount.htm. You can prepay for gift certificates and save big money when are down here eating out and booking your activities. I just recently bought $200 of gift certificates at Lorenzillos Lobster House on the marina and saved $70. It’s these little tricks that will help your pocketbook and make you enjoy Cabo that much more.
Back to the Los Cabos real estate front, let me know if buying in Cabo in the near future is a real possibility and I would love to discuss with you ways you can save on buying real estate here too. Imagine saving on your food and entertainment and Cabo San Lucas REAL ESTATE – now that is a hat trick if I ever saw one.