Vina del Mar is a bit of enigma on the Central Chile coast. It started as a rather industrial bedroom community to the larger city of Valparaiso (10 mins away), and in recent years has exploded in to the THE place to live and vacation in the central region. It is a bit reminiscent of Malibu, California just with more apartment buildings. Like everywhere in the World, when a small beach town explodes with development so also does the real estate prices (or is that the other way around). Regardless, Vina del Mar has grown from a weekend destination for the rich of Santiago, in to its own city complete with malls and a subway that connects it to Valparaiso. It still only sports a pollution of around 300,000 people.

Expat or Foreign community in Vina del Mar

There has likely always been some sort of Expat or Foreign community in Vina del Mar. The port of Valparaiso has been a stop on the shipping lanes around South America for hundreds of years.

Only now however has the Vina del Mar real estate market started drawing large scale international attention from the Expat community as a nice alternative to the more noisy and crowed Santiago. The selection of bars and restaurants along the boardwalk of Vina are starting to reflect this influx of foreigners to Chile.

Twenty years ago, Vina Del mar sported a military base, a few houses, and a larger oil barracks that nearly decimated the beaches with contamination as the oil tankers offloading leaked crude. Gone are the storage facilities for oil, and instead twenty story high rises overlook the ocean. The naval school still remains, and on a warm summer nights you will see them breakout the antiaircraft guns for a little target practice over the ocean, or even occasionally one of the Chilean submarines surface in the shallow waters off the beaches of Vina.

Shopping in Vina Del Mar

Every major store chain in Chile has at least one franchise in Vina del Mar. In fact, it is more or less considered a right of passage for any store chain in Chile wishing to go national to open a franchise in the Vina del Mar area. Among the big gun stores that can be found at the mall are Ripley, Jumbo, Paris, Lider, and the rest of the usual suspects found in any city in Chile.

The real estate market in Vina Del Mar

A middle of the road apartment across the street from the ocean with a view will start at around 100 to 150 million Chilean pesos (about $200,000 to $350,000 US). There are cheaper options available in Vina del Mar, but you will likely also walk a bit more to get to the ocean. Although new buildings are springing up along the coast at a rate of about one per month, this does not seem to be taking any wind out of the sales of the local real estate prices. Much of the best locations have already been built on directly in front of the ocean, and ocean frontage is limited in Vina. Now the race is on to build even better and more luxurious buildings, slightly back from the front line buildings, but slightly above the existing buildings in hope of convincing new buyers that the second line buildings are just as desirable. In truth, they are only one block furtherer away and the view is perhaps even better from most.

Buying Real Estate in Vina Del Mar, Chile

The Vina del Mar real estate market is an extremely mature market by Chilean standards. Prices are competitive from building to building, and within the same building. Real estate agents for the most part are extremely professional as the competition is fierce. Many of the new apartments in Vina are simply sold direct from the companies building them, and issues of commission are not an issue. A walk around Vina will yield more than a few billboards advertising new projects, and at the base of most building sites you will find sales office.

Some Tips for Buying property in Vina Del Mar, Chile

Trust but verify in the Chilean real estate market. The nature of the market is such that you should apply the basic rules of real estate. Essentially, trust but verify. Just because a sales rep or real estate agent tells you something, does not mean it is true. Agents telling you what you want to hear in Latin America is a serious problem of Latin culture for the Expat or Foreigner shopping for real estate, and Vina del Mar is no different.

Have a title search conducted, checking carefully any leans, restrictions on the sale of the property, issues with common expenses for the building and maintenance.

Contracts should for the most part be very stock boiler plate sales / purchase agreements that must be signed in front of a Chilean Notary Public, but when buying in to a building or more importantly buying direct from an owner make sure you have an attorney examine the contracts as with any property in Chile. The same real estate laws of Chile apply to apartments, regardless if a big company is selling it.

The Future of Vina Del Mar, Chile

The big move in the real estate market in Vina is really related to the way the town has transformed from a weekend or summer resort destination in to a year around destination. Ten years ago it would be common for a building to be completely empty during the week. Now, expect to find most buildings to be occupied by more permanent residents at around 50% or better year around. The summer months have about a 100% occupancy rate, especially around the new year celebration that has grown in to a Chilean tradition of synchronized fireworks between the cities up and down the Central Chile coast (Vina is in the middle). When looking to buy or rent, plan for winter months when people from Santiago are more inclined to let that expensive second summer home go for a better price.