We wrote last quarter that the Puerto Vallarta/Riviera Nayarit region had experienced one of its best quarters between April and July, perhaps its best ever. Well, the third quarter that followed proved me wrong - this quarter managed to even outperform that record period.
The number of sales reported to the MLS services in the third quarter increased by more than 70% over the first quarter and 12% more than the second quarter. After only nine months total sales are 37% higher than what they were in 2020. Vallarta is definitely on track to have one of its best years ever.
And where are these sales mostly taking place?
In the first nine months of this year, the South Side of Vallarta (Central South), a traditional hotspot for years now, led with 13% market share, (tied with the Hotel Zone), which was, however, 5% less than it saw last quarter. The South Shore, (which encompasses everything south of the downtown south side, primarily areas such as Amapas, Conchas Chinas, Garza Blanca, and Sierra del Mar), the Pitillal region (basically everything east of the Hotel Zone, including, along with Pitillal, Fluvial Vallarta, Versalles and Las Palmas), and Nuevo Vallarta and Bucerias all tied for second place with approximately 10% market share each. The Pitillal region has seen a number of new condo/apartment projects being built over the past few years, offering lower-priced units that have been very popular.
Marina Vallarta also became more popular this quarter. There were only 11 sales reported in the first quarter whereas in the third quarter there were more than 30.
The average sales price (for both homes and condos) was $336,000 in 2020 whereas it is $386,000 so far this year - an 15% increase over last year. Looks like inflation is hitting everywhere, even Puerto Vallarta real estate. For the end of the year, we'll break down average sales prices further by region to see which areas, and which type of real estate, saw the greatest increase in price.
