By Ana María Ramos
El Inmobiliario
SANTO DOMINGO.- Alejandro Fondeur, president of Aprocovici, the Association of Housing Developers and Builders of Cibao, explains that the increase in square meters of land in Santiago de los Caballeros is due to the change in land use policy carried out by the city council to allow vertical construction.
“The area of Avenida Hispanoamericana, specifically the Thomen Urbanization, where five years ago land was selling for two thousand pesos per square meter, today nobody makes a transaction for less than 12 thousand pesos per square meter. That is an exaggerated increase for the number of years that have passed, but it was due to a change in the urban land use policy, which the Puñal City Council allowed to increase density or building height, and obviously the land value increases immediately,” he explains in a conversation with El Inmobiliario.
He cites the case of the La Esmeralda sector, one of the most preferred for residences in the Heart City, where land has registered an increase ranging from 30, 32 and up to 45 thousand pesos per square meter, because high-rise constructions are also allowed.
“So they are at those levels because there is already a shortage of these lands, that is, there is little land available to build on, so it has suffered an increase,” says the president of Aprocovici.
Although he acknowledges that the Santiago market is currently experiencing a price readjustment, he maintains that there are traditional sectors that maintain the normal value per square meter.
That is why he disagrees with the data released by the General Directorate of National Cadastre (DGCN), which in its latest update published last year, points out Los Cerros de Gurabo as one of the areas where the average price per square meter has skyrocketed.
“Many areas where it is said that prices have risen cannot be said of all of Santiago. I understand that, for example, in the Historic Center 20 years ago, the price per square meter was 20,000 pesos, but a recent transaction there was between 25,000 and 30,000 pesos, so the increase that has occurred has not been extravagant.”.
He adds: “The growth of the Cerros de Gurabo area has been normal, that is, within regular parameters, not excessive. It's possible that these developments could see greater appreciation in the future when more density is developed, but currently they don't,” Fondeur opines.
He adds that there are other areas like La Trinitaria and La Esmeralda that are residential and have become established and are currently at their highest level, "in addition to being highly desirable and land for vertical development is running out.".
In the case of commercial areas, he mentions Juan Pablo Duarte Avenue, which has become established as the main commercial thoroughfare of Santiago and whose value has also increased.
There's no comparison
The president of Aprocovici says that it should be taken into account that the National Cadastre, as a government entity, is responsible for adjusting property prices for tax purposes, and that "if we look at other countries like Spain, when we see the relationship between the market value and the Cadastral value, it is 50% of the market value.".
"The Land Registry does not intend to set the price because there is a market that is free to choose how it will pay for multiple reasons, depending even on the circumstances. The Land Registry is, let's say, the minimum at which it can be valued, which serves as a reference for government entities.".
