MARKET MOVERS

[Hugo Moguel]

Today we’re going to discuss the Belmopan market. Belmopan is the capital of Belize and while many may not be aware, is now our second largest municipality. The second largest municipality in the entire country.

 

We’ve been noting its growth. A big part of Vista’s growth has been tied in with Belmopan and the Belmopan real estate market. We have a lot of history going back.

 

We have a unique perspective on Belmopan, watching it from Belize City and comparing it day to day with what is going on in Belize City, what has taken place. Belmopan is very interesting not only for its rate of growth, but also for its demographics. You have a high population of employed individuals.

 

It’s also the seat of the capital, the government, seat of government in the country. The diplomatic core and many important businesses stretching from Spanish Lakota area, San Ignacio, Hummingbird Highway, many are based in Belmopan. So it’s a major employment center, a major education center, and governmental center.

 

[Azain Medina]

I’ve been sharing with a lot of people, a lot of clients and friends as well over the years that Belmopan should be a place to look at, to invest, to consider. Like what you said, it’s the second largest municipality. It’s growing, it’s continuing, and it’s a great opportunity for anybody looking to either find a home or to invest or even to hold on as a part of an investment and then from there, doing something in the future.

 

[Hugo Moguel]

Absolutely. From Belize City, the standpoint of most Belizeans in Belize City, you look at Belmopan, you know government’s there, but it was the hurricane shelter, right? You look at Belmopan for hurricane hosts, right?

 

What happens when a hurricane’s coming into low-lying Belize City? You look at Belmopan, you’re going to Belmopan. But since then, if you zoom out now and look at it, its location, where it stands now, it is right in the middle of major economic powerhouses in the country.

 

It’s right in the center. Look at it. You have Belize City, right?

 

We’re 45 minutes away, an hour away from Belize City, the major ports, all the goods and services available in the country, the biggest population, right? Biggest commercial center. Then you have Spanish local, major economic powerhouse.

 

That’s what, 20, 25 minutes away, right? Then you have San Ignacio, Santa Elena, tourism, the border with Guatemala, so trade, right? Tourism services, agriculture, even petroleum, right?

 

Natural energy, Belize natural energy. So all these major, major economic powerhouses all in close proximity to Belmopan. You have the government of Belize based in Belmopan.

 

And recently we’ve seen a move of the diplomatic corps, right? All the embassies, these type of offices moving to Belmopan. Then you look a little further south.

 

You know, what’s at the other end of the Hummingbird Highway, right? You have Tangriga, you have Hopkins, you have Plasencia, right? The major tourism, mainland tourism destinations.

 

And you also have citrus and more agriculture, aquaculture as well in that zone, right? So Belmopan stands to benefit from this due to its location, its resources, and its human resources, right? Human capacity.

 

So that’s a big thing to look at when looking to invest and look for growth.

 

[Azain Medina]

Everything you said adds to it and to the story and to the truth. Belmopan is the center of Belize. It’s becoming what it was made to be, right?

 

The capital. And it’s a young capital that compared to Belize City, you had mentioned the last podcast, Belize City will always be a service city, right? It’ll always host the major services.

 

But Belmopan is growing to the capital. It is in its early stages still. People might be seeing that it’s moving fast.

 

Some might actually be seeing that it’s moving slow, but it’s the right time to jump into the market. What I’ve noticed over the years is that Belmopan, it’s actually to the benefit of investors now and buyers now. It hasn’t jumped quick in prices because Belmopan, and that’s why they chose the capital.

 

Belmopan was large to expand, to become a big capital. And now it’s reaching its edges with all the new subdivisions. But once that caps out, that’s when all the prices will shoot up, just like Belize City.

 

[Hugo Moguel]

Well, one thing that we did see shoot up, and I think we mentioned in the beginning, was the population, population growth. Looking at the most recent figures, our population is up to, I think, 22,000, just over 21,000 inhabitants in Belmopan. That’s a 69% increase from 2010, right?

 

And that’s massive. I always looked at Belmopan as well, about the quality of life in Belmopan, right? After five o’clock, you see people exercising, people are out on the walkways, working out, getting outside of their homes, outside of their businesses.

 

On the weekends, the activities for the families, you have these little leagues, these little football leagues, where you see kids from Spanish or Code, CAIO, Belmopan, all compete. Their parents come in. And if you’ve noticed, even entertainment, right?

 

The number of restaurants, when you are in Belmopan and you’re looking for somewhere to have dinner, to have lunch, there are almost as many options as there are here in Belize City, which has three times the population.

 

[Azain Medina]

And more variety as well, too. I feel because of the population, the mix with the same diplomats, foreigners, it’s a mix there in Belmopan. They’re open to new stuff, trying new stuff.

 

And new businesses strive better, in my opinion, in Belmopan.

 

[Hugo Moguel]

No, no, I think you’re right. You see a difference in the service and the quality of the product being offered. But let’s talk about properties now.

 

I think the big news in Belmopan was when the U.S. Embassy decided to be based in Belmopan. And I forget the figure now. I should have looked it up.

 

But it was a massive investment in terms of what the embassy was going to be, right? And the level of construction and engineering was going to be involved. And when that happened, the size and the number of homes that they needed, right?

 

Because remember, back then, it was in Belize City, right? This is, what, 2004, 2006, around there. Right beside the SCA.

 

Right, it was beside the SCA, right? Early 2000s. And what you had was the ambassador and his top tier of folks would all rent houses in and around Belize City in nicer neighborhoods, right?

 

And it was widely known they paid the highest rents. So, you know, you get a tenant from the U.S. Embassy and it was a good thing to have as an investor. But when that moved away now, two things happened.

 

We expected the market to just crash in Belize City when it comes to those high-end rentals. But what we expected we did see in Belmopan was that the market just jumped, right? We saw high rents.

 

And so people rushed to fix up their homes, to get in and start get going, get their houses ready for the embassy. And in Belize City, okay, you’re losing tenants, what do you do? Well, Belize City was growing as a commercial capital and we saw the heads of different agencies that were expanding their presence in Belize.

 

You know, I don’t want to say gobble those up, but there was a little lull and then they got picked up, right? So Belize City didn’t lose, Belize City kept growing. But Belmopan now had like a shot in the arm.

 

And so people are investing in their homes and then came the need for the residential compound. You remember that, right? In Orchid Gardens.

 

So there was a 15 acre piece that was developed specifically for the embassy. Okay, people lost those tenants when that was completed a year later. But guess what?

 

More people kept coming in. BNE expanded, I think you had Santan there. You had different groups that were investing heavily in the zone and needed residential property.

 

In fact, there was a second development offering high-end residential rentals for the embassy and for the executives, right? So when you see that and where Belmopan just leaped in terms of its infrastructure and offerings for residential property, you started just seeing that drive just continue and continue, continue. We also saw new subdivisions, right?

 

University Heights comes to mind. It was the first subdivision that you saw. My good friend Lassell Arnold did that, paved out roads, proper drainage.

 

I mean, proper drainage, storm drains. You don’t even see that now. Yeah, exactly.

 

Something that we need right here. You saw it in Belmopan. He’s continuing right now as well.

 

Oh yeah, he’s expanding. There are two new phases. The original phase sold out.

 

He did an expansion that sold out. I know the third expansion is available now. And you have to pay attention.

 

Keep your eye on Belmopan. This place is growing tremendously and the goods and services are following suit. You see a lot of the goods now and services being offered in Spanish Loco, being offered right there in Belmopan.

 

And so they will follow where the population is. Call centers. How many call centers have gone up in Belmopan?

 

And they’re competing heavily with Belize City. They’re offering lower rates. Belize City still has that concentration of that employment base, but Belmopan is coming up, especially with the university being there.

 

So these are the dynamics that we have to keep in mind when looking at Belmopan. You’ve seen it with rentals and you’ve seen it with sales of lots, right?

 

[Azain Medina]

This has been the most sales I’ve done in Belmopan this year. And it’s beginning to gradually increase, but I think what’s happening right now is people are realizing what’s happening in Belmopan. So more development is happening.

 

Mainly the hospital is the main one that everybody knows about. But apart from that, and apart from all the subdivisions coming up, what I’m noticing is individual investments, and I don’t know what to classify them as, but the individual investing in rental income, right? Into their own mini complex, into their own fourplex, duplex, whatever it is, that is also increasing as well too.

 

And that adds on to the capital’s development. And everybody is slowly entering the game that’s realizing that in Belmopan you could actually get a better ROI than in Belize City because of the cost of construction and the spending power in Belmopan is better. So that alone, again, just do the math, right?

 

You don’t have to drive into piles on your properties there. And if you’re lucky enough and you get somebody from one of the embassies or one of the foreign, a foreign company or a foreign organization, that would definitely be the best thing to have. And it’s still open for anybody, right?

 

[Hugo Moguel]

But the prices… Well, even our local companies. I mean, we had apartment building, I can’t recall his name, built them up.

 

And we have people that work with us that saw the units on the site and they’re like, hey, this is perfect, boom, and moved it. We’re talking about Jaguar apartments. The Jaguar apartments, right?

 

[Azain Medina]

Great option, great option.

 

[Hugo Moguel]

But you mentioned the hospital, not to get into the whole controversy of that, but that also woke a lot of people up and say, okay, why is this level of investment taking place here? And I’ll tell you why. I mean, look at what’s going on here, right?

 

You could start seeing the big pieces or the big acreages being picked up, what they were selling for. We could show you where the values have grown. I mean, if you look at COVID, and COVID was something that, you know, obviously none of us expected and didn’t know where it was gonna end.

 

But during that period of time, what those properties were worth or being sold for. I mean, the leap that has taken place now, when you look at 2024 going into 2025, forget it. And we had a couple of properties in that same zone.

 

And after that news came out of the hospital, guess what were the hottest items on the site, right? And people were calling, revisiting it, looking at it, and they sold. Well, two of the properties, we sold one.

 

You sold.

 

[Azain Medina]

Yeah, we sold one. We actually closed on it about two weeks ago. And the other one is still under contract.

 

But what people are grabbing especially are the acreages. So to own an acreage within the capital just to let that sit in. Imagine you own an acreage at the edge of Belize city.

 

[Hugo Moguel]

Yeah, what that’s worth today.

 

[Azain Medina]

A lot in Kings Park. I always like to tell people a lot in Kings Park right now, on average, 175 Belize. Easy, easy.

 

Yeah, yeah. Belama, anything coming up from phases one to three at 125 is selling right away.

 

[Hugo Moguel]

And people always think, oh, these are foreigners coming in and buying up these properties. No, this is the local market. The local, this market is so, I mean, it’s driven by local investors, local buyers.

 

Some of my clients are locals. Absolutely, absolutely. And so if you want to get started, right, you have to look at what you can afford, right?

 

Where you can start. You don’t need to look at the big expensive properties. Sometimes those have a lower rate of growth, right?

 

They grow more slowly, but in value. But when you look at the smaller places and you buy the right time, like 2020, 2021, man, you’ll see immediate returns, right? And you have these lows.

 

They don’t always grow at that rate, at that pace. But there are times like COVID and things like this where the market really drops and it’s an opportunity to catch it at its lowest, right? And reap the benefits of its growth.

 

You mentioned another thing, cost of construction. And that’s another thing that we’ve been looking at and know has been one of the things to tackle, one of the challenges in real estate investment and development, right? You want to build a home.

 

Okay, when was the last time you spoke to a contractor? When was the last time you got a quotation on building your own home or office building or apartment building, right? That is not going down.

 

It has stabilized now. It’s shot up, what, 35, 45% after COVID, right? Or during COVID.

 

It has not come down. It has stabilized. It’s not jumping like before.

 

But you can expect that that cost will go up in a year, two years, three years. So at what point will you decide to start building, right? And you mentioned the difference between Belmopan and Belize City construction-wise.

 

Well, Belize City, landfill. When was the last time you checked on the cost of landfill? I mean, it’s ridiculous, right?

 

Now you’ve got to hire these trucks. They’ve got to get it from the quarry. They’ve got to put in tons of fuel in there.

 

I mean, everything is going up. So now you’ve got to fill the land. Then you’ve got to put in the proper foundation.

 

You don’t need that type of foundation in Belmopan. And so right off the bat, the cost of construction is lower. Labor is lower.

 

Materials, probably about the same. But labor, I think, is lower than what you would expect to find in Belize City. So you have savings.

 

And now you mentioned the third thing again. The income, the comparison, or the cost is almost equivalent, if not equivalent to Belize City, many parts of Belmopan. So your return will be higher.

 

And if you need a hurricane hose, then you have somewhere to go. So that’s another thing to consider.

 

[Azain Medina]

Everybody asking me just, and it’s a normal question anybody asks any real estate agent, right? Where to buy? You could invest in San Pedro.

 

You could invest in Kikaka. But the amount of money you need just to start off there, it’s crazy. I’m not saying it’s a bad investment.

 

Just that it’s more capital needed just to start off. Well, in Belmopan, you could start off. You could find great lots, great opportunities starting as low as, I’d want to say comfortably in the neighborhoods that are reaching to be the favored neighborhoods, 75,000.

 

You could still find lots under that as well, too. You’ll just be either further away from services. And there are new subdivisions popping up as well, too.

 

And just to touch base on the subdivisions again, and this is just to keep in mind, Belmopan will eventually cap out. Once all the subdivisions are done, that’s going to be it. And that’s when you’re going to miss the opportunity to jump in and see the prices shoot up.

 

There’s a lot of neighborhoods right now that there’s still, how should I say it? It’s changing hands for the first time. So you could still enter at a good price just because the person who originally bought it has now made a profit already.

 

So now you could jump in at a good price and just hold on to it. And honestly, you’ll see in the next five to 10 years, Belmopan will be the place.

 

[Hugo Moguel]

No, but even if you’re not ready yet, start to study the market. If you had been on a website 10 years ago, less than that, probably five, six, yeah, six, seven years ago, you may have found some lots in the periphery of Belmopan. If it was 15 years ago, maybe 20, then about seven, eight years ago, maybe 35,000, right?

 

Now that lot will easily be 70, 75,000, right? Easily. And that’s where you need to start at.

 

Now, if you’re learning and you’re seeing, then you need to make the decision, where do you need to start? And listen, the day might not come that you have $75,000 in your bank account that you can just plop down on a property, right? But you got to learn to leverage, right?

 

You got to learn to save up your deposit, borrow against it, pay it off, build that discipline, get the value increase, flip it. And that’s how you start growing your investments. Don’t expect that a million dollars is going to fall in your lap.

 

And then you’re going to dump it in one property, right? You got to spread it out, right? And so these are the things that I think our agents always try to encourage buyers, especially first-time buyers, to do, right?

 

Or anyone thinking, hey, I want to get something for my own, you know? I want to start investing now for the future, you know? Heck, we had an acreage that, I just remember this, didn’t have road.

 

There was no road to it. It was in the middle of the bush, close to Belo Valle. I forget the size of it, but what that young man bought that for, man, that thing has easily more than tripled, I would think, by now.

 

He bought it about 10 years ago, you know? And now somebody, they cut out the road because the survey is there. There’s a planned road.

 

So eventually the government, whoever wants to access their properties over there, will have to build out that road. So you’re investing in the future, right? But if you start to look at subdivisions, I was worried, oh, the subdivision’s coming up, you know?

 

That starts putting downward pressure on prices because then suddenly you have more supply than there is demand.

 

[Azain Medina]

But the silver lining is you have time to jump into the market. It won’t shoot up quick with a subdivision. So that’s the angle I would advise investors to look at, right?

 

[Hugo Moguel]

Yeah.

 

[Azain Medina]

And at the end of the day, too, the subdivision, what’s the best way to put it? The prices may seem favorable, right, for the subdivision. And at the end of the day, it will be a great return.

 

I do agree. But if there is another opportunity that is slightly higher in the more developed area, that makes the more sense because the infrastructure is already available. 100%.

 

And if you’re looking to do rental income, most tenants don’t want to be in a secluded area. They don’t want to be the first one, two, three houses there.

 

[Hugo Moguel]

You need quick access to services.

 

[Azain Medina]

So as an investment, it makes sense. But if you’re starting to jump into the rental investment game, then you want something in a more established neighborhood.

 

[Hugo Moguel]

Well, that and also the silver lining, or the second silver lining, would be that there’s a difference in developers, right? So you pick the one that has the track record that you see builds out the infrastructure, right? Everybody’s selling lots, but are you going to see electricity reach those lots?

 

Are you going to see water reach those lots? Are you going to have a road, a dependable road? Does it have drainage, right?

 

All these things are what preserve value and actually increase it for the future, right?

 

[Azain Medina]

Yeah, you just want to jump into a project whereby the developer has his plans set out, right? Not that it’s only to buy this lot and then it’s up to you to figure out the rest. So there are subdivisions like that.

 

And we mentioned Arnold’s new subdivision. And apart from that, another one will be coming up soon too by the Piscina area. And I’ll share that more with you later on.

 

Perfect. But it’s subdivisions closer to developmental neighborhoods already, just because it’s easy access. And the price value will shoot up quicker as well too, because the values are already heading up with those developed neighborhoods.

 

So it’s going to transition over and close, right? But apart from that, it’s really just to reach out to somebody that you trust, a reputable agent, company, and just ask the questions. I always tell people, just ask away, right?

 

There’s no stupid questions. Everybody starts off somewhere. But just ask.

 

Don’t jump in blindsided, right? But the opportunities are there. There’s many opportunities still in Belmont, even on our website.

 

And there’s one in particular that I’m waiting for the right investor and developer to realize the value. Which one is that? So there’s Orchid Gardens and there’s Orchid Gardens Extension.

 

Orchid Gardens is where the U.S. Embassy is. And then the extension is where the U.S. Embassy housing compound is. Yeah, the residential compound.

 

And there’s actually two U.S. Embassy housing compounds now. And right in between, we have a 3.26 acre property. The 3.26 acre property is being listed at $660,000. $660,000. A single lot in Orchid Gardens Extension is valued, and this is true, $125,000. That’s $125,000 Belize.

 

This 3.26 acres is more than 11 times the size. But it’s not the everyday buyer that could jump in on this, right? It’s somebody who has the capital and who may have the partnership to develop it and make it into a huge compound.

 

Make it into commercial, residential. You could do more housing as well, too, because all the embassies eventually will grow. More embassies will eventually come to Belize.

 

So it’s not whereby who starts off first, right? But if you’re already existing, you have a better chance, right? Yeah.

 

Just to lock in good tenants and a good rental income investment. Excellent. Excellent.

 

[Hugo Moguel]

Yeah. Well, good. Thank you, Azeen.

 

So just to wrap up, right? Belmopan, keep your eyes on it. It’s now the second largest municipality in the country.

 

We’ve seen the growth, not only in population, but in goods and services, the level of investment. I mean, you see, I think Atlantic Bank is building a massive building there. Insurance companies, different ones.

 

And also we’ve seen the value in lots residential, demand for residential rentals, commercial rentals. There’s healthy demand. So we’ll keep bringing in updates as we get them and share them with you.

 

Check out vistabelize.com. Get educated, educate yourself, see the value, study the market, and contact any of us. We’re ready to answer questions and guide you along.

 

Thanks for joining us. Thank you.