The price per square meter reached US$2,643 in the third quarter of 2026, compared to US$2,313 in Santo Domingo. In two years, the cumulative price increase in the tourist destination reached 25%
SANTO DOMINGO. – Prices for apartments in the primary market in Punta Cana registered a year-on-year increase of 13.7% in the third quarter of 2026, reaching an average of US$2,643 per square meter, according to the October update of Global Property Guide (GPG).
The figure exceeds the US$2,313 per square meter recorded in Santo Domingo, where the year-on-year increase was 5.4%, according to data published by the international portal specializing in real estate market analysis.
The difference with the capital is also reflected in its behavior during the last two years, according to Global Property Guide records, which reveal an accumulated variation of 25% in Punta Cana, compared to 4.3% in Santo Domingo, taking the third quarter of 2024 as a reference.
The update, identified by GPG as corresponding to October 2026, is part of its quarterly series of prices per square meter in cities in the Dominican Republic, and the portal attributes the data to its research team.
Prices fell in the third quarter
Although Punta Cana shows the highest year-on-year growth, the data for the third quarter shows a negative variation compared to the previous period in both destinations.
In Punta Cana, the average price went from US$2,646 per square meter in the second quarter to US$2,643 in the third, a quarterly reduction of 0.1%.
In Santo Domingo, the indicator fell from US$2,399 to US$2,313 per square meter, equivalent to a variation of –3.6%.
The comparison shows different behaviors: while Punta Cana maintains a year-on-year growth of double digits, Santo Domingo presents a more moderate increase in the twelve-month period and a greater quarterly reduction.
Global Property Guide also reports that, since the third quarter of 2023, the price per square meter in Punta Cana has increased by 37%, compared to 13.2% in Santo Domingo.
Rental profitability exceeds 9%
The price behavior coincides with another indicator published by Global Property Guide in September 2026: the average gross profitability of residential rentals in the Dominican Republic reached 9.21% during the third quarter, compared to 8.53% in the first.
In the breakdown by destinations, Santo Domingo registered an average gross performance of 9.35%, while Punta Cana/Bávaro reached 9.07%.
Compared to the first quarter data published by the portal, Punta Cana/Bávaro shows the largest increase between the two markets, rising from 7.98% to 9.07%. Santo Domingo increased from 9.09% to 9.35%.
Global Property Guide calculates these returns based on advertised purchase and rental prices for one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments. The platform cautions that these are gross estimates, before deductions for taxes, maintenance, repairs, vacancy periods, and other property-related expenses.
Scope of the figures
In its methodology, Global Property Guide defines the price per square meter indicator as an average corresponding to new, luxury or primary market residential properties.
Therefore, the published values do not represent the entire real estate inventory of the cities nor necessarily the prices of actual sales transactions.
The October update allows for continued comparison between Santo Domingo and Punta Cana/Bávaro, two markets that El Inmobiliario examined in May 2026 based on other indicators from the same portal.
In that publication, titled “Punta Cana or Santo Domingo: Where are apartment prices higher this 2026?”, the prices of two-bedroom apartments and the rentals of three-bedroom units in both destinations were compared.
The new data expands on that comparison with a quarterly series of prices per square meter and shows a difference in the rate of change of both markets.
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