The International Community Foundation is pleased to announce its “Retiring Responsibly in Mexico” research series with our first report “U.S. Retirements Trends in Mexico’s Coastal Communities:  Lifestyle Trends and Demographics.”  You can access the report here:  http://www.icfdn.org/publications/retireeresearch/. 
Forthcoming research studies will address trends in health care, volunteerism, philanthropy and civic engagement, real estate as well as the environment.  For more information on the International Community Foundation, visit our website at http://www.icfdn.org.

Great question!  After giving this careful consideration, I have come up with a magic formula that will tell you the exact time to buy, right down to the day!  There are clearly some good buying opportunities right now.  Last year's global economic crisis, large inventory of available properties, and “swine flu” pandemic, brought fear and uncertainty in the marketplace.  Nobody wanted to be the one who “overpaid” for their home in paradise.  My experience is that sale prices here in general fell approximately 15 percent.  We are seeing a lot of buyers return to the market (December was one of our best months ever), but many sellers are still willing to negotiate in order to make a sale. 

On the southern part of Quintana Roo, following highway 307 towards the Beliz border, you run across a beautiful quiet little town nestled along the lagoon called Bacalar.  Bacalar has various oceanfront real estate properties that are for sale which have caught the attention of many northerners.  The majority of Mexico oceanfront real estate in Quintana Roo is located in Cancun, the Riviera Maya, Cozumel, and of Costa Maya.  But Bacalar’s oceanfront properties are unique in that the water is not salty, but fresh water fed from underground springs.