Sales Newsletter Shows Increase in Property Transactions
1. SALES NEWSLETTER
JANUARY TO APRIL 2012
Ph. (506) 2680-3000 GUANACASTE, COSTA RICA www.haciendapinilla.com
2. Real Estate Sales
• The period from January to April 2012 showed an important increase in sales, with a
total of eight transactions (seven lots and one house), of which two sales were of lots in
Avellanas.
• Taking into account the recent sales of the Avellanas properties, there are now four
oceanfront properties sold in this community. This means that only four oceanfront
lots remain available. At this time, we are working with potential buyers in the United
States, Canada, South America and Costa Rica, so I urge anyone interested in this type
of property to contact us at his or her earliest convenience for more information or to
discuss purchasing one of our oceanfront properties.
• The trend persists – lots are the most sold type of property.
• Of these transactions, 62% were resale properties and 38% were purchased directly
from the developer.
• 75% of our buyers are Costa Rican and 25% are from the United States.
• Additionally, one parcel destined for residential and commercial development is now
under contract.
• It is a pleasure to inform you that we will soon be inaugurating a real estate office at
the JW Marriott.
Let's welcome our new property owners
to the Hacienda Pinilla Family!
3. Costa Rica News Items of Interest
o Costa Rica Named World's Most Popular Destination in Recent TripAdvisor Eco-
Friendly Travel Survey: Costa Rica has been on the forefront of the ecotourism trend,
establishing a Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST) program in 1999, an
internationally-recognized certification program that grades the sustainability of a
tourism entity based on four pillars of its infrastructure. The program has succeeded in
changing the tourism landscape, and is awarded to Costa Rican travel and tourism
companies that are committed to sustainable tourism through eco-friendly actions
such as proper waste management, environmental protection, rational use of resources,
respect for local cultures and support of local communities.
o Apple Vacations 2011 Crystal Apple Award for Best Destination: The Crystal Apple
Award is one of the most coveted awards in the travel industry. Each year, hundreds of
thousands of customers complete a Vacation Satisfaction Questionnaire upon return-
ing home from their Apple Vacation. Through the feedback and ratings collected from
these post-vacation surveys, "the Best of the Best" in various categories are selected and
honored with this "People's Choice" Award. Costa Rica attracts everyone; from eco-
tourists looking for adventure to couples desiring a romantic beach getaway to families
seeking fun-filled days. 26% of the country is composed of reserves and natural
protected territory. Covering only 0.03 % of the surface of the globe, the country
proudly shelters 5% of the existing biodiversity in the world. Costa Rica is a democratic
and peaceful country. It has not had an army since 1949 and the nation's president was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987.
4. o Renowned International Consulting Firm Tholons: San Jose Among the Top 10 Des-
tinations for Service Operations: Costa Rica ranks among the top 10 emerging cities
and is number 18 worldwide for service operations and information technology
outsourcing according to international business consulting firm Tholons' "2012 Top
100 Outsourcing Destinations" report. In the elaboration of this report, a comprehen-
sive investigation was conducted to narrow down the list of countries around the
world, and particularly in Latin America with leadership traits that pertained to the
service operations sector, such as Costa Rica.
o More and more international companies have decided to make important invest-
ments in Costa Rica. Among them:
- OKAY Industries Inc.: Company that specializes in the production of high
precision metal components for the medical industry; inaugurated on April 12th its
new 1,400 m2 plant in Costa Rica – an investment of US$1.5 million. OKAY Indus-
tries’ new facility is located in Free Trade Zone Z, in Alajuela, and is the company's first
plant to be established outside of the United States.
- Language Line Services announced on March 28th that it plans to more than
double the size of its two language centers in Cartago and Heredia, from which they
provide interpretation services for 911 calls, legal services, and health services for the
United States. Currently, each center employs 120 interpreters, but by doubling their
payroll in the next six months, they would hire a total of 520 new employees for both
centers combined.
5. Oberg Medical: A medical device company specializing in implants, instru-
ments and complex assembly production; announced during the MDCR 2012 the
expansion of its production plant in Costa Rica (their only manufacturing plant
outside of the United States). The company will be investing $2 million dollars and will
be doubling its current size to better serve its expansion.
Covidien (NYSE:COV): A global leader in the production of medical devices.
On March 8th, Covidien inaugurated its new manufacturing facility in Costa Rica,
which represented an investment of US$50 million. This new facility, built with the
latest state-of-the-art technology, is located in Free Trade Zone Coyol and measures
18,000 m2, creating 350 job opportunities for the Costa Rican labor force.
Sealed Air Corporation, a global leader in specialized packaging for the medi-
cal device industry, officially inaugurated their operations in our country only a couple
of weeks after the acquisition of ATE Medical, a company with over seven years of
experience operating in Costa Rica.
Ernst & Young announced on January 30th the opening of its new Business
Transformation Hub in Escazú, Costa Rica. From this new center, hundreds of Costa
Ricans will provide consulting services for the firm’s clients around the world. With an
initial investment of 250 million colones, Ernst & Young will officially begin operating
this week, with the first 40 bilingual professionals in areas such as accounting, finance,
business administration, and industrial and systems engineering.
o Costa Rica's economic indicators currently exceed many of the economies of other
countries in the Americans and throughout the world:
6. - The country's production, as measured by the cycle trends of the Monthly
Index on Economic Activity (IMAE), registered in January 2012 an inter-annual
increase of 6.4% greater than the average observed during the final trimester of the
previous year (6.1%).
- The manufacturing industry increased 10.3%, contrary to what was observed
during the first months of 2011, when negative variation rates were registered.
- Agriculture and farming activity registered an inter-annual increase of 2.7%,
resulting from greater production of pineapple, melon and coffee.
- The construction industry grew by 2.8%, which reversed the negative rates
observed during the majority of 2011, due to the behavior of the private construction
industry.
- The Index of Consumer Prices (IPC) registered a monthly variation of 0.17%
in January 2012, less than that observed a year ago (0.68%). With this result, general
inflation, approximated for the inter-annual variation of this indicator, reached 4.5%
-- a number within the goal range for inflation in 2012 (5% ± 1 percentage point
[p.p.]), as established by the Central Bank of Costa Rica in the 2012-2013 Macroeco-
nomic Program.
7. o Tourism in Guanacaste
- The arrival of tourists to the Guanacaste Airport (Liberia, code LIR) continues
to break records for the number of visitors.
8. Itinerary of international flights
arriving to the Liberia airport:
Date Airline Flight Number Departure City Arrival Time FREQUENCY
MONDAY TACA TA 224 EL SALVADOR 10:40AM 04-07-2011 THROUGH UNDEFINED
SUNWING SWG 724 TORONTO 10:25AM 30-04-2012 THROUGH L 25-06-2012
AMERICAN AIRLINES AA 2127 MIAMI 11:45AM 12-03-2012 THROUGH 28-05-2012
UNITED AIRLINES UA 1442 NEWARK 12:30PM 12-03-2012 THROUGH 28-05-2012
DELTA AIRLINES DL 353 ATLANTA 12:00PM 16-04-2012 THROUGH 25-06-2012
UNITED AIRLINES UA 1510 HOUSTON 7:50PM 12-03-2012 THROUGH 28-05-2012
TACA TA 226 EL SALVADOR 4:15PM 01-05-2012 THROUGH 29-05-2012
TUESDAY UNITED AIRLINES UA 1442 NEWARK 12:30PM 13-03-2012 THROUGH 29-05-2012
AMERICAN AIRLINES AA 2127 MIAMI 11:45AM 13-03-2012 THROUGH 29-05-2012
DELTA AIRLINES DL 353 ATLANTA 12:00PM 10-04-2012 THROUGH 26-06-2012
JET BLUE B6 1691 NEW YORK 12:50PM 13-03-2012 THROUGH 29-05-2012
UNITED AIRLINES UA 1510 HOUSTON 7:50PM 13-03-2012 THROUGH 29-05-2012
TACA TA 224 EL SALVADOR 10:40AM 06-07-2011 THROUGH UNDEFINED
WEDNESDAY UNITED AIRLINES UA 1442 NEWARK 12:30PM 14-03-2012 THROUGH 30-05-2012
AMERICAN AIRLINES AA 2127 MIAMI 11:45AM 14-03-2012 THROUGH 29-05-2012
DELTA AIRLINES DL 353 ATLANTA 12:00PM 11-04-2012 THROUGH 27-06-2012
UNITED AIRLINES UA 1510 HOUSTON 7:50PM 14-03-2012 THROUGH 30-05-2012
THURSDAY UNITED AIRLINES UA 1442 NEWARK 12:30PM 15-03-2012 THROUGH 31-05-2012
AMERICAN AIRLINES AA 2127 MIAMI 11:45AM 15-03-2012 THROUGH 31-05-2012
DELTA AIRLINES DL 353 ATLANTA 12:00PM 12-04-2012 THROUGH 28-06-2012
JET BLUE B6 1691 NEW YORK 12:50PM 15-03-2012 THROUGH 31-05-2012
UNITED AIRLINES UA 1510 HOUSTON 7:50PM 15-03-2012 THROUGH 31-05-2012
TACA TA 226 EL SALVADOR 4:15PM 08-07-2011 THROUGH UNDEFINED
FRIDAY AMERICAN AIRLINES AA 2127 MIAMI 11:45AM 16-03-2012 THROUGH 01-06-2012
UNITED AIRLINES UA 1442 NEWARK 12:30PM 16-03-2012 THROUGH 01-06-2012
DELTA AIRLINES DL 353 ATLANTA 12:00PM 13-04-2012 THROUGH 29-06-2012
COPA AIRLINES PAYTILLA 10:00AM 15-06-2012 THROUGH UNDEFINED
FRONTIER F90080 DENVER 1:35PM 16-03-2012 THROUGH 06-07-2012
UNITED AIRLINES UA 1510 HOUSTON 7:50PM 16-03-2012 THROUGH 01-06-2012
SATURDAY AMERICAN AIRLINES AA 2127 MIAMI 11:45AM 17-03-2012 THROUGH 26-05-2012
DELTA AIRLINES DL 353 ATLANTA 12:00PM 14-04-2012 THROUGH 30-06-2012
UNITED AIRLINES UA 1442 NEWARK 12:30PM 17-03-2012 THROUGH 02-06-2012
US AIRWAYS US 1859 CHARLOTTE 1:40PM 10-03-2012 THROUGH 12-05-2012
JET BLUE B6 1691 NEW YORK 12:50PM 17-03-2012 THROUGH 02-06-2012
AMERICAN AIRLINES AA 1531 DALLAS 12:55PM 11-03-2012 THROUGH 26-05-2012
UNITED AIRLINES UA 1510 HOUSTON 7:50PM 17-03-2012 THROUGH 02-06-2012
SUNDAY UNITED AIRLINES UA 1442 NEWARK 12:30PM 11-03-2012 THROUGH 03-06-2012
DELTA AIRLINES DL353 ATLANTA 12:00PM 15-04-2012 THROUGH 24-06-2012
AMERICAN AIRLINES AA 2127 MIAMI 11:45AM 11-03-2012 THROUGH 03-06-2012
JET BLUE B6 1691 NEW YORK 12:50PM 11-03-2012 THROUGH 27-05-2012
AIR CANADA AC1904 TORONTO 12:30PM 15-03-2012 THROUGH 27-05-2012
AMERICAN AIRLINES AA 1531 DALLAS 12:55PM 11-03-2012 THROUGH 27-05-2012
UNITED AIRLINES UA 1510 HOUSTON 7:50PM 11-03-2012 THROUGH 03-06-2012
"Guanacaste: cradle of Costa Rica's natural and cultural heritage."
9. o Hacienda Pinilla
- Lodging Promotions
• La Posada Inn:
June: $62.15 per person, based on double occupancy in a standard room.
Includes breakfast. $29 credit for a horseback riding tour; children under 12
stay free. Taxes included.
• Vacation Rentals:
We'd like to inform all our property owners that our vacation rental
occupancy rate for private properties has grown more than 120% when com
pared to the same period in 2011.
• Home Construction:
- Five houses are currently under construction throughout our residential
communities.
- Additionally, six projects are under review and awaiting permits.
- At this time, 10% of all lots in Hacienda Pinilla are built.
10. • New Projects:
- We are building the trail that departs from the JW Marriott and leads to La
Posada Inn, running parallel to the Rodera Sur road.
- The Beach Club is developing a garden where it will plant products for
incorporation into the restaurant's menu. For the moment they are growing
lettuce, beets, celery, sweet pepper, ají peppers, and tomatoes.
• Upcoming Events:
- Credomatic Music Festival: August 13 and 19, 2011
- Golf:
- Skins Game: Every Tuesday
- Person League: Wednesdays
- Ladies' Day: Thursdays
- Scramble Game: Fridays
- Guanacaste Cup Match Day: May 26
- 9 & Dine: June 16 and August 25
- Guanacaste Classic: July 28 & 29
- Copa Roble: November 17
- The Pinilla Cup: December 8 & 9
* Please contact the Pro Shop for more information.