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How Much it Costs to Retire in 20 Overseas Destinations

Major world events and the strong U.S. dollar are creating real estate investment opportunities across the globe. For example, Spain's housing bubble, Greece's debt crisis and recession in Portugal resulted in drops in real estate values in those countries that carry on today. And U.S. dollar buyers are benefiting from a strong greenback that now buys 90 euro cents.

[See: 10 Affordable Places to Retire Overseas in 2016.]

Likewise, this is perhaps the best time in a decade to diversify into Latin American real estate, again, thanks to the strength of the U.S. dollar against key currencies in the region. Market developments of note, including fast-expanding middle classes in Panama and Colombia and growing rental demands in places like Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic, add to the appeal.

There are several key areas where property buyers or investors might want to focus their attention. The Live and Invest Overseas' Retire Overseas Index looks at the average prices per square meter to purchase in 20 destinations of particular appeal for living and investing overseas. These averages are based on the cost to buy a 75- to 100-square-meter, two-bedroom apartment in each market. This would be a comfortable size for a second home abroad or a retirement residence and an ideal configuration for a rental property in most cases.

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[See: How to Prepare for Retirement Overseas.]

The study identified the world's lowest cost property markets as Cayo, Belize; Medellín, Colombia; Crete, Greece; and Granada, Nicaragua. The most expensive markets considered in the survey are Paris, France, and Barcelona, Spain. Property values in Paris and Barcelona are several times those in the most affordable markets in the survey. But these are not necessarily places to avoid investing in real estate right now. More expensive does not always translate to a bad investment.

A property purchase can be worthwhile because it has the potential to generate a good rental yield or you believe its value will appreciate for a particular reason over a particular period. You may also want to be able to spend time in that place. If you've dreamt of a pied-a-terre in the City of Light, for example, this is perhaps the best time in a generation to act on that interest, thanks to the dollar's buying power versus the euro and the current buyer's market in Paris.

[See: 50 Affordable Places to Buy a Retirement Home in 2016.]

Here's how the 20 destinations featured in the survey stack up and compare on a per-square-meter cost basis. The information about each city includes the current average per-square-meter price to buy, first in the local currency and then in U.S. dollars at current rates of exchange, as well as the affordability of real estate grade assigned by the Live and Invest Overseas Index.

Mexico and The Caribbean

Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
Affordability Grade: B
96,485 pesos; $2,100 per-square-meter

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Affordability Grade: B
30,681 pesos; $1,600 per-square-meter

Roatán, Honduras
Affordability Grade: B
40,989 lempiras; $1,800 per-square-meter

Ambergris Caye, Belize
Affordability Grade: C
5,600 Belize dollars; $2,800 per-square-meter

Playa del Carmen, Mexico
Affordability Grade: C
41,774 pesos; $2,300 per-square-meter

Central America

Cayo, Belize
Affordability Grade: A
2,153 Belize dollars; $1,076 per-square-meter

Granada, Nicaragua
Affordability Grade: A
25,729 cordobas; $900 per-square-meter

Pedasí, Panama
Affordability Grade: B-
$2,170 per-square-meter

South America

Medellín, Colombia
Affordability Grade: A
3.6 million pesos; $1,250 per-square-meter

Buenos Aires, Argentina
Affordability Grade: D
45,714 ARS; $3,250 per-square-meter

Europe

Crete, Greece
Affordability Grade: A
1,330 euros; $1,474 per-square-meter

Algarve, Portugal
Affordability Grade: B+
1,500 euros; $1,668 per-square-meter

Ljubljana, Slovenia
Affordability Grade: C
2,250 euros; $2,357 per-square-meter

Valletta, Malta
Affordability Grade: C
2,300 euros; $2,535 per-square-meter

Barcelona, Spain
Affordability Grade: F
4,200 euros; $4,630 per-square-meter

Marais, Paris
Affordability Grade: F
10,000 euros; $11,118 per-square-meter

Asia

Chiang Mai, Thailand
Affordability Grade: B
55,000 baht; $1,567 per-square-meter

Da Nang, Vietnam
Affordability Grade: B
36,213,999 dong; $1,623 per-square-meter

Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
Affordability Grade: B
4,391 ringgits; $1,100 per-square-meter

Sanur, Bali, Indonesia
Affordability Grade: B
26,160,000 rupiahs; $2,000 per-square-meter

Source: Live and Invest Overseas, 2016.

Kathleen Peddicord is the founder of the Live and Invest Overseas publishing group.



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