DOMINICAN REPUBLIC:ONE, TWO and three-bedroom apartments in The Palms, Cana Bay, a golf resort in the Caribbean island country of the Dominican Republic, are being offered to Irish investors by Dublin overseas property agent Merrion Investment Properties.
The apartments - the first 82 in a development of 316 - are for sale from $163,000 to $420,000 (€126,817 to €326,751). They range in size from 85sq m to 166sq m (279sq ft-545sq ft), although the majority are 105sq m (1,130sq ft) two-beds, costing $260,000 (€200,016). The Palms is being developed by Irish-based Vantium Group (formerly Shanghai Vision), which previously developed schemes in Shanghai. Completion of The Palms is due in early 2011.
Apartments will come with a yield of 7 per cent for five years for owners who opt into Cana Bay's rental pool. Those who do so can also use their property for four weeks a year.
The Dominican Republic is the eastern two-thirds of the island Hispaniola (the other third is Haiti); it is south-east of Cuba, and north-west of Puerto Rico and Barbados.
It's a fast-growing tourist destination: in 2007, five million visitors flew into the Punta Cana area at the eastern tip of the island.
Cana Bay is a gated development where facilities will include a hotel (the 1,800-suite five-star Moon Palace, due to open in 2009), tennis court, swimming pools, beach club, spa and 1km of beach. Two lifetime memberships of an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus golf course are included in the price of apartments, and there is no annual membership fee.
Overseas buyers can raise mortgages of 75 per cent from banks in the Dominican Republic - the dollar rate, around 4 to 5 per cent, on loans applies, says agent Tony Judge. There is no property tax or stamp duty to pay (although of course tax on rental income is payable in Ireland), and owners can buy freehold.
www. merrionip.com
