Medellin, once famous for its drug cartel, has left the violence behind and is now one of the most thriving cities in South America. Its mild climate gave it the byname “City of Eternal Spring” and if you had a chance to visit the city you will agree. More and more tourists distrust the awful image of drugs and violence Hollywood Movies gave the city and discover the true Medellin. Having been a true disruptive innovator in public transportation projects, Medellin is the first city worldwide that has taken funiculars and turned them into a network of mass transportation.

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Home & Garden TV -HGTV- network will be filming a new episode in Colombia of the popular show House Hunters Internationals. The first city in Colombia chosen by the producers is Medellin and they have plans to make at least another two episodes in Cartagena and Bogota. Shooting will take place in second half of April and the final show is expected to be on air in July 2011.

“Medellin is starting to get attraction from a large and diverse ex-pat population not only from US and Canada but also from different type of investors around the world that have seen the potential of the city, in terms of low cost of living, friendly and open locals, health care, security, accessible and reasonable real estate.” says Mauricio Jaimes , BuyColombiaRealty.com Executive Director, a web-based real estate company specialized in promoting real estate investments in Colombia to international buyers, and who will be acting as the real estate agent for the Medellin show.

House Hunters Internationals is a half-hour documentary style show that features real estate agents and their home-buying clients as they hunt for that perfect new home in a foreign country.

Although House Hunters International show is on air since 2006, this is the first time filming will take place in a Colombian city. It represents a great opportunity to expose the good moment the country currently is experiencing, since it provides exposure to over 97 million households in the United States, as well as several countries around the world, including the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Finland and the Middle East.

In Latin America, particularly in Colombia, the program can be seen on pay cable channel FOX Life.

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Have you ever been to Colombia?  If the answer is yes then you have probably heard things like, “are you crazy?” or “why would you ever want to go to Colombia?”

It is no secret that Colombia isn’t at the top of most people’s “Places to See Before I Die” list.

However, most people who have actually been to Colombia have quickly realized that the stereotypes just don’t hold true in most cases.  In fact, many of the things that people know – or think they know – about Colombia are quite the opposites of reality.

Most expats who have decided to live in Colombia have already figured this out and are content knowing that they have found one of the best kept secrets in the world today.

That being said, this article isn’t another one of many about how Colombia has an undeserved international reputation.  This article is for those of you who have already moved beyond that and have decided that you would like to relocate to or invest in Colombia.

Here are five things that you probably didn’t know:

Visas

Colombia has a wide variety of visas available to foreigners.  Most expats already know about the tourist visa, the business visa and the investor visa but did you know about the retirement visa or the entrepreneur’s visa?

To be eligible for a retirement visa – besides the usual requirements of a valid passport (good for at least three months) and a couple of passport-size photos –  you just need to provide proof in the form of an official document from a foreign government or company stating that you receive a monthly pension.

For an entrepreneur’s visa you must first write a letter requesting the visa stating why you should receive it and you must also provide documents that prove your competency in your specific business field/industry (e.g. college degree, certificates, etc.)  Any professional licenses issued by the governing body of that profession must also be provided.

Stock Market

Yes, Colombia has a stock exchange. Not only that, the Bolsa de Valores de Colombia (BVC) has outperformed all of the U.S. major indices over the past five years.

While America’s Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen by roughly 30%, fallen by 40% and then risen again to its 2005 level (for a five-year growth rate of 0%), Colombia’s General Index has risen 120% from its 2005 level.

Doing Business

Every year the World Bank releases its Doing Business report.  The report is a detailed analysis of the business-friendliness of 183 countries around the world.  Included in the report are all of the G-20 nations as well as a number of emerging economies.

Of the 183 nations analyzed in 2010, Colombia ranks 5th in investor protection.

That’s right. Colombia is ranked by the World Bank as the 5th best country in the world for protecting investors.  Colombia jumped 20 places from 2009 in this category, 28 places for ease of paying taxes (although it should be noted that its overall rank in this category is 115), and 27 places for ease of registering property.

These and a range of other factors make Colombia the most business-friendly economy in all of Latin America according to the World Bank.

I bet you didn’t know that!

Real Estate

As a natural result of an ever-improving economy, Colombia’s real estate market is heating up.

Prices for new constructions (houses and apartments) grew at a rate of 10.75% in 2008 (the last year for which there is data) according to Colombia’s National Administrative Statistics Department (DANE).

While these growth rates are relatively high, many experts believe them to be sustainable as long as the Colombian economy continues to grow at a healthy rate.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

Over the last ten years, Colombia has caught the eye of international investors all around the world.

FDI in 2000 was reported by the World Bank at $2.39 billion U.S. dollars.  Colombia’s central bank expects that number to reach an approximate $10 billion U.S. dollars in 2010 translating to a 318% increase over that period.

American multinational Hewlett-Packard, a leading computer, printer and imaging products manufacturer, recently announced plans to open a Global Service Center in Medellín creating some 1,000 jobs in the first stage of the project.

So what does it all mean?

While foreign tourists and investors alike are discovering the truth about Colombia, there is still much more to be learned and discovered about this Andean nation.

Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, dig a little deeper and you are sure to find something new that you didn’t know about Colombia.

Whether it’s one of the many visa options, a new investment opportunity in a Colombian company, a business idea or a great piece of property, this emerging nation has a lot to offer and has huge potential in almost all areas in the years to come.

Author Matthew Helm is an American who moved to Colombia where he started the website relocationcolombia.com, specialized in information for potential ex-pats and investors.

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Colombia’s house prices rallied by 10.71% (8.21% in real terms) during the year to end-2009, according to the Used Housing Price Index published by the Banco de la Republica Colombia.

House prices have been rising strongly since 2006. Double-digit growth rates were registered until end-2008. In Q1 2009, house price growth moderated to 9.73% (year-on-year), and further slowed to 6.84% in Q2 2009. But in Q3 2009, growth accelerated, and a double-digit increase (10.23%) was again recorded.

The country’s housing market has sailed through the global financial crisis, thanks to improved security conditions, the rise of fixed-rate mortgages, and more cautious investment decisions.

The government’s measures to restore peace and order in Colombia have been generally successful. Consequently, investments have increased and tourism has significantly improved. Despite the global financial crisis, President Uribe proudly announced that Colombia had successfully attracted $8.5 billion-worth of foreign direct investments in 2009. Tourism was the best performing industry in 2009.

The valuable lessons imparted by the Colombian housing market crisis of 1999 have shielded the local market. Buyers financed their home purchases by fixed-rate mortgages. Developers were very careful in initiating construction projects, making sure to supply only just enough.
Colombia’s economy grew 2.45% in Q4 2009, ending the country’s year-long recession. Interest rates remained low at 3%. However, the high jobless rate of 12.40% in April 2010 poses a challenge. Nevertheless, house prices are expected to rise further in 2010.

via Country Overviews | Global Property Guide.

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A few days ago, Colombian voters went to the polls for the first round of their quadrennial presidential elections. For many, it will be the most important decision of the new century thus far.

The current President, Alvaro Uribe, leaves office later this summer after two consecutive terms in office. He is legally barred from serving a third term. Uribe is regarded as the nation’s savior by many Colombians, and as the devil incarnate by others.

While his administration was salted with multiple accomplishments and scandals, Uribe’s lasting legacy will be the tough war that he waged on the FARC and paramilitary groups… and by many accounts, it is a war that the government has won.

I need to pause for a moment and explain a bit about the differences in the various groups in Colombia, which are often used interchangeably by mistake.

The FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) is a Marxist guerilla group numbering anywhere between 10,000 to 20,000 strong. The FARC’s aims are political, and they fund their operations primarily through ransom kidnappings.

Conversely, the paramilitary groups in Colombia consist of loose factions that are largely driven by economic prospects rather than political change. They are not Marxists, they are drug traffickers and extortionists.

While in office, Uribe stood up to both the FARC and paramilitaries, waging a tough war of attrition that turned his nation into a police state, albeit a much safer one than before.

According to Uribe’s numbers, over 16,000 ‘subversives’ have been killed since he took office in 2002, while kidnappings and other violent crime have fallen precipitously. I’m not sure the body stack is an accomplishment, but Colombians generally feel much safer than 5-10 years ago. The credit has gone largely to Uribe.

His hand-picked successor is Juan Manuel Santos, a former defense minister who was an active architect of Uribe’s war on the guerillas. Santos was credited with engineering multiple blows against the FARC, including the 2008 rescue of Ingrid Betancourt.

Santos is viewed as the Presidential candidate who would most seamlessly carry on Uribe’s policies and maintain the stability that the current government has been able to achieve. As such, Santos was the undisputed victor in the first round of the Presidential elections, and he will advance to the June 20th runoff.

Some Colombians, though, are ready for a change. They are weary of the super-security culture in their country and would rather focus on things like education, regulatory reform, and economic growth rather than continuing to wage war on fractured guerilla organizations.

The second candidate who will join Santos in the upcoming runoff is former Bogota mayor Antanas Mockus– an eccentric mathematician and university professor who is as close to Santos’ polar opposite as it gets among political candidates.

Mockus is a self-proclaimed pacifist whose focus on education and tolerance propelled him to second place in the first round of the elections with 21.47% of the vote. He is the change candidate and represents the desire of at least a minority of Colombians who want to move on from terrorism and security.

Santos garnered 46.57% of the votes in the first round though, so it is widely expected that he will handily win the June 20th runoff election to become Colombia’s next president.

The Colombian peso, local stock market, and government bonds have all rallied on the expectation of a new pro-business, pro-security Santos administration. Santos himself has stated that he would like to raise tax revenue, not by increasing tax rates, but by encouraging investment to boost production instead.

I’ve stated before that I think Colombia is largely undervalued. Real estate prices, for instance, are incredibly cheap in many parts of the country, frequently selling for less than the cost of construction. This is due mainly to the ‘Colombia stigma’ that has long plagued the country… it keeps foreigners out and prices low.

In the not-so-distant-future, though, I expect this stigma to fade… possibly under a Santos administration. When that happens, you can be sure that Colombian assets will experience significant growth.

Overall, I think the country has one of the brightest futures in Latin America.

Simon Black
Senior Editor, SovereignMan.com

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For the past 40 years, up until 2007, the American press has ransacked Colombia and particularly, Medellin. But with the sound leadership of President Uribe (80% approval rating) Colombia has overcome many of its security issues and now offers possibly one of the greatest real estate opportunities of all time.

Medellin is a cosmopolitan city of 4 million people that rivals anywhere on earth in terms of beauty, climate and cleanliness. At 4200 ft altitude in a mountain valley near the equator Medellin virtually has a springtime climate every month. There are also very few bugs or insects. Thus there is no need for air conditioning, heaters, screens or bug spray. Even the poorest people here have million-dollar views. The city is very clean even in the poorest areas. There are more universities here than in Boston MA. The health care in Medellin is excellent and many people are now coming to Medellin for plastic surgery and dental work at 1/4th the cost in the US.

In El Poblado, Medellin’s most luxurious suburb, there is more high rise construction than in NYC, Los Angeles and Philadelphia – combined. El Poblado is sort of like Brentwood CA but with hills, views and more vegetation. The local populace, paisas, are extremely friendly and like Americans. The women of Medellin are the most beautiful in the world and friendly to boot. No attitudes here and they are warm and family orientated. There is no age discrimination and in fact it is an honor to socialize or date a “maduro”, a mature person.

Condominiums and homes in Medellin are cheaper than Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama, the Caribbean and most parts of South America. Quality construction with million dollar views can be had for $50-80 per square foot in the nicest part of Medellin and for less in other very attractive neighborhoods. On a comparative basis Medellin is the least expensive of any major cosmopolitan city in the world.

If one looks at what happened to real estate prices in Costa Rica and Panama when Americans began investing there 7-12 year ago, the prices went up more than 800%. For anyone who has visited all three places they will tell you that Medellin is superior in every respect. So when America discovers that the crime rate in Medellin is less than Atlanta, Baltimore, St Louis, Washington DC, Detroit, New Orleans, and other major US cities and continuing to drop, there will be new interest in discovering Medellin. There is a reason that National Geographic named Colombia as one of its top six tourist destinations for 2008.

But the real proof that the truth about Colombia and Medellin will soon be realized is that in the past 18 months there have been more than 130 positive articles about Colombia and Medellin in US newspapers, magazines and TV. This is more good news than in the previous 50 years combined. There are news archives available on the Internet where these articles and TV clips can be accessed. Between the good news and word of mouth, American visa requests in Colombia are at an all time high and growing.

Timing and location is everything in terms of successful real estate investing. Medellin’s location is second to none and the timing could not be better. Do your research and discover why Medellin is truly the world’s best kept real estate secret whether for investing, as a second home or to retire early and live like a king. It is truly an opportunity to “own a piece of paradise”.

By Rich Holman – Owner/Broker

First American Realty Medellin

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Colombia offers a wide range of real estate opportunities for both lifestyle buyers and investors. From affordable Caribbean coastal property in Santa Marta, to the historic treasure and tourist mecca of walled Cartagena, Colombia has plenty of options. Enjoy eternal Spring in the Andes with property in cosmopolitan Bogota, hailed as a paradigm of “urban reinvention,” or take advantage of excellent rental opportunities with an apartment or condo in Medellin. See the following article from International Living for more on this.

I just got back from my third trip to Colombia, and I’ve learned an important lesson about the country: It offers environments that will appeal to pretty much any taste, from urban enclaves to quiet beach towns… from highland retreats to steamy tropics .

I knew Colombia had a lot to offer International Living subscribers. Critical things—like low cost of living, inexpensive properties and a colorful and diverse culture. But what I realized this time—as I traveled to three new regions—was that I was seeing areas that were yet again different from anything I’d seen in Colombia previously. Now, I can’t think of a single segment of the IL membership concerned with climate, culture and lifestyle that couldn’t find their niche in Colombia.

Colombia can offer you a sophisticated, modern urban scene or a cabin in a remote section of desert…a colonial walled city by the sea, or a sleepy Caribbean beachside town…spring-like weather high in the Andes, steamy tropics or the “perfect” weather in between…North American enclaves or indigenous outposts. Unless you’ve got your heart set on snow, you’re almost certain to find your ideal spot in Colombia.

Here are a few of my favorite living options and price points.

Bogotá sits in an Andean valley at 8,450 feet above sea level (2,600 meters), with temperatures near 70° F during the day and in the 60s at night. Recently labeled “a role model of urban reinvention” by The New York Times, Bogotá offers the expat trendy sidewalk cafés; fine dining; green, well-manicured parks; and a number of upscale living options.

While scouting the area I found a 1,200-square-foot apartment in the Chapinero sector for $64,000. In the exclusive Rosales district, a 1,400-square-foot apartment in a new, exclusive condo building was selling for $171,000.

Both Popayán and Medellín offer the “world’s best weather”; that is, they’re at an altitude of 5,000 feet and near the equator . So you enjoy days in the low 80s and nights in the high 60s all year. But aside from climate, these two cities are very different.

Popayán is a small, authentically restored colonial city, with narrow streets dividing clean neighborhoods of bright white Spanish-style buildings. Medellín, on the other hand, blends its Spanish-style architecture downtown with gleaming new condos in the hills, surrounded by tall, green trees and offering expansive city views. Rental returns in Medellín average an impressive 12%, and my personal favorite condo property (with its own private courtyard) is for sale for $90,000.

If you’re after year-round tropical weather and warm seas, Colombia’s Caribbean has another polar-opposite city pair that you’ll enjoy. Cartagena is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with narrow cobblestoned streets, iron balconies  and impeccably restored Spanish colonial architecture. One of the world’s few remaining walled cities, its excellent tourist infrastructure draws visitors every day of the year.

Santa Marta, on the other hand, is a laidback Caribbean town that blends an energetic Latino bustle with a beach offering swaying palms, calm waters and lazy days on fine-white sand. Unlike nearby Cartagena’s humid weather, Santa Marta enjoys a dry heat, thanks to a prevailing offshore desert breeze.

What’s more, Santa Marta may be Colombia’s best investment in the near term, with older three-bedroom apartments starting at $55,000, and a 12th-floor beachfront condo selling for $125,000.

So whether you’re an investor, a second-home buyer, a retiree…or someone who just wants to try a new country, you’re sure to find a climate and setting in Colombia that’s just right for you.

Travel in Colombia: Dramatic and Diverse

Our twin-engine turboprop banked slightly and continued to descend into a deep Andean gorge. A tiny stream wound its way across the valley floor thousands of feet below…yet the jagged peaks beside us extended above our aircraft, thousands of feet into the dark blue sky. Carved into the side of the mountain was the airport’s runway, with sheer drop-offs at both ends and one side offering a 2,000-foot drop to pilots who misjudged their position by more than a few meters. The photo-op was so good that I didn’t take my eyes away from the window long enough to pick up the camera.

The most exciting aspect of scouting Colombia is the chance to see it as a traveler. The Pacific, the Caribbean, the Andes and the jungle all blend together—both culturally and geographically—to create one of the most dramatic and diverse travel experiences in the hemisphere.

And the best part is that Colombia’s excellent infrastructure allows you to travel easily and efficiently from one attraction or region to the next. You can whisk along its modern highway system by car, take a comfortable first-class bus or get there quickly in a sleek, modern aircraft. And all the while you’ll feel like a pioneer…with few North Americans on the road with you.

But that won’t last long. Colombia was named as one of The New York Times’ “31 places to go in 2010,” so the “pioneers” had better get moving…the mainstream traveler will be close behind.

This article has been republished from International Living.

Published on: Tuesday, May 04, 2010 Written by: Lee Harrison

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Over the last two or three years, a steady buzz has been building in architecture and design circles about developments in this city of 3.5 million, which through much of the 1980s and 1990s was infamous for its sky-high murder rate and viciously competitive drug cartels, including a particularly violent one led by Pablo Escobar.

Architects and urban planners who traveled to Medellín seemed to return telling some version of the same enthusiastic story about the renaissance taking place in Colombia’s second-largest city, which has been driven in large part by investment in ambitious civic architecture.

After spending nearly a week in the city in late March, I’m happy to say I’ve joined the ranks of the Medellín evangelists. The citys commitment to public architecture, spearheaded by former mayor Sergio Fajardo, has — as advertised — produced a number of exquisitely designed libraries, schools and parks. Rising in some of Medellín’s roughest neighborhoods, these projects are the capstones of a broader civic rebirth that has seen murder rates tumble nearly 90% from their highs of the early 1990s. Even the tourism business here has begun to make a fragile recovery.

It quickly became clear during my visit what contemporary architecture has meant for Medellín — for its civic identity, in particular, as well as for its long-battered international reputation. And yet the more of the city I was able to see, the more it struck me that an equally important set of lessons might be found by reversing that equation, by exploring what Medellín and its revival mean for contemporary architecture.

The architecture profession finds itself sharply divided these days into two camps, one concerned with experimental, often digitally driven design and the other primarily committed to social and environmental activism. The high-design architects sniff that the humanitarians are terrible designers, or at least unimaginative ones, while the humanitarians complain that the high-design architects are trapped in a hermetic onscreen world with little concern for the fate of overcrowded slums or a degraded planet.

Medellín is one of the few cities where these two very different sets of priorities have come seamlessly together — where buildings meant to uplift poor neighborhoods and offer residents a new range of social services are also strikingly inventive as works of architecture. In that sense its hard-won improvements are meaningful not just for its own residents but for architects and planners elsewhere, even if they never have the chance to set foot in Medellín.

The city’s revival has its roots in the unorthodox approach of Fajardo, an energetic, charismatic former math professor who was elected mayor in 2003 despite a thin political resume. Not long after taking office, he and Alejandro Echeverri, the mayor’s director of urban projects and an architect in his own right, pinpointed several districts in Medellín they thought would benefit from inventive and public-minded architecture. They were inspired, they’ve since said, by the way certain Barcelona neighborhoods were revived in advance of the 1992 Summer Olympics, as well some positive examples from Brazilian cities.

Their nascent efforts were aided by anti-corruption laws passed at the national level by the government of President Alvaro Uribe, including provisions requiring design competitions for nearly all sizable new public buildings.

Because the budgets for city projects in Medellín tend to be quite low by international standards, these competitions have drawn mostly Colombian architects, along with a handful from nearby Latin American countries. That fact alone is responsible for one of most unusual elements of the Medellín renaissance: In an age of globe-trotting celebrity architects, it has been propelled almost entirely by local firms. The city’s new image has been sketched not by Zaha Hadid or Richard Meier but by small offices based in Medellín or the Colombian capital, Bogotá.

Under Fajardo’s successor as mayor, Alonso Salazar, the city has continued to produce ambitious new architecture, including extensive new facilities for the South American Games, which were held in Medellín in March. A notable number of recent design-competition winners have been firms run by young architects; the impressive swimming complex for the Games, for example, was designed by a firm called Paisajes Emergentes, or Emerging Landscapes, whose founders are still in their 20s. Ctrl G, a local firm that in conjunction with Peruvian office 51-1 Architects recently won a competition for an eye-catching addition to the Medellín Museum of Modern Art, is run by a pair of female architects, Viviana Peña and Catalina Patiño, who also have yet to turn 30.

Perhaps most striking of all, Medellín’s new landmarks have largely been built in the city’s most violent and downtrodden neighborhoods, reflecting one of Fajardo’s simplest — and most provocative — policy goals.

“Our most beautiful buildings,” he liked to say, “must be in our poorest areas.”

The best known among those projects is probably the Parque Biblioteca España, or Spanish Park and Library. Designed by the Bogotá-based architect Giancarlo Mazzanti, it is perched atop a crowded hillside neighborhood called Santo Domingo, which was particularly hard hit by the violence of the 1980s and ’90s. Made up of three chiseled, rock-like forms sheathed in black slate, the library is one of a half-dozen complexes initiated by Fajardo’s administration that combine new libraries with substantial park space.

Another remarkable achievement is the open-air Orquideorama, or orchid center, which sits inside Medellín’s Botanical Garden and was designed by Plan B Architects, which is led by 34-year-old architect Felipe Mesa, and the firm JPRCR. It creates a large, shaded plaza under a spreading, wood-lattice canopy and also includes a handful of small, spare buildings for the botanical garden staff. Rainwater collected atop the canopy is funneled down through each of the design’s trunk-like forms to sustain small gardens on the ground.

Plan B also won a competition for the centerpiece of the South American Games, a connected series of gymnasiums beneath a roof made of undulating green panels.

These new landmarks are not isolated works of architecture. In many cases they were built in conjunction with new roads, schools and transit lines — and as a physical extension of social programs meant to draw families once terrified by violence in their neighborhoods back out into public life. Fajardo — who is now running for the vice-presidency of Colombia, with national voting set for May 30 — has called the approach “social urbanism.”

Some of the poorest and most remote areas in Medellín, where public buses have trouble navigating narrow dirt streets, are now served by a pair of so-called metro-cable lines — essentially, an urban version of the gondola systems in operation at many ski resorts — that carry residents to and from the city’s main light-rail line. It is incongruous, to say the least, to see the metro-cable’s suspended gondolas, which we tend to associate with alpine scenes and high-priced lift tickets, gliding just a few feet over the handmade houses that cling to many of Medellín’s steepest hillsides.

Medellín’s new architecture has hardly been a cure-all. The poverty in the city’s toughest neighborhoods remains extreme, and in recent months there has been a disturbing uptick in violence — so much so that some of the Medellín architects I met expressed concern about taking me to visit their projects in rougher areas, even during the day.

Still, by nearly all accounts, the libraries and other new public buildings remain popular and well-used by local residents. And for designers, critics and curators outside of Colombia, the Medellín story — and what that story says in a larger sense about shifting priorities in the architecture profession — continues to be an inspiration. Fajardo and Echeverri were winners last year of the Curry Stone Design Prize, a new award based at the University of Kentucky that seeks to recognize architects and policymakers “who harness their ingenuity and craft for social good.”

When the National Design Triennial opens later this week at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York, it will include a pair of projects from Medellín: Plan B’s Orquideorama and a science museum designed by Echeverri. The designs were selected for the exhibition by Matilda McQuaid, Cooper-Hewitt’s deputy curatorial director, who traveled to Colombia last year. Medellín, she told me, “is a model of how a city can be transformed when architecture and social policy work in tandem.”

In October, the Museum of Modern Art in New York will open an ambitious exhibition on similar themes called “Small Scale, Big Change: New Architectures of Social Engagement,” which collects a number of recent examples of humanitarian design from around the world.

Medellín, in the end, is more than an isolated urban success story or an example of a city that has managed to bridge contemporary architecture’s great divide. It also offers a timely model for Los Angeles and other cities that have long turned almost exclusively to New York and Europe for ideas about how architecture ought to look — and how cities ought to operate.

Just as Gustavo Dudamel, the 29-year-old Venezuelan conductor, has brought fresh energy and a new sense of social commitment to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, so Medellín and other successful examples of Latin American city-making have a role to play in helping Los Angeles reimagine its future.

For American cities and their leaders, what Medellín symbolizes most clearly of all is what we stand to gain by looking south as well as east — and to poor countries, when it makes sense, along with wealthy ones — for cultural inspiration.

By Christopher Hawthorne, Los Angeles Times Architecture Critic

May 8, 2010 | 4:52 p.m. via Medellín, Colombia’s architectural renaissance – latimes.com.

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1. The Remaking of Medellín

A realistic look at Medellin real estate prices

This is an important topic that I thought would make an interesting post, especially for those unfamiliar with Medellin real estate and the city’s different zones or sectors. Like in any real estate market, prices for homes and apartments in Medellin are most often determined by one thing (or is it three?), location, location, location! Medellin is officially divided into 6 different zones or stratas. The government uses these divisions as a way to decide what to charge residents for electricity. Generally, the higher the zone number, the nicer the zone and the more the government charges residents in that zone for electricity per kilowatt hour. This has proven to be an excellent way for the residents of nicer areas like Poblado to essentially subsidize the electricity usage for those who live in the poorer barrios of Medellin.

Medellin neighborhoods, zones and sectors

Though the 6-sector division works well for the municipality, for the purposes of real estae, we have found it easier to divide the city into four zones and, in this case, the higher zone numbers do not necessarily correlate to a nicer neighborhood. Prices in Medellin have been rising steadily for the past several years. It is hard to say what effect foreign investors and home buyers have had on real estate prices in Medellin, but my assumption is not much. Most of the price appreciation witnessed in Medellin has been driven by the stability in the local economy, a growing middle-class and Colombian-expats living abroad and investing in Colombia. Over the last several weeks, I have compiled a list of the average price per square meter for apartments in Medellin’s main neighborhoods. My calculations are based on the asking prices of well over 100 apartments in neighborhoods from all four real estate sectors.

Here is what we found.

The lack of a Multiple Listing Service in Colombia makes it difficult to obtain precise real estate sales information. Nonetheless, data was compiled on more than 100 different apartments in Medellin and are accurate through September 2009. Avid followers of Medellin real estate and Internet sites dedicated to the promotion of Medellin as a travel and investment destination will notice that t

Posted by jisham on Oct 16, 2009 in Business, Investments, Medellin News, Real Estate | via Medellin Real Estate: The Truth About Prices.html.

Luxury Medellin Real Estate, Medellin Property Listings, Real Estate Advice and Consultancy

Call or Email now for an Expert Consultation www.luhorealestate.com Email: info@luhorealestate.com

Office: (+57 4) 312 5827 - Mobile: (+57) 314 728 9411 - USA: (305) 600 0776

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1. The World’s Best Kept Real Estate Secret – Medellin Colombia
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3. For Real Estate Investors, Colombia Has a Bright Future

In a recent post I said “Colombia might just be the greatest city in the world for some people”. Well, today I had to send my assistant flowers because she got bombarded with so many subscriber emails questioning my sanity–

“You must be kidding! Medellin is the heart of the Columbian drug dealing racket!”

“Isn’t Colombia the most dangerous place in the world?”

“Are you kidding me? Colombia is one the most violent places to live. Crimes and kidnapping are terrible.”

We also received a handful of emails like this one:

“Bravo! Finally another American who sings the praises of my favorite city! Medellin is a hidden gem because most Americans are scared to go there… it’s amazing what they believe about getting killed and kidnapped. Their information is outdated by 15-years.”

Naturally, my experiences on the ground here have me more aligned with the latter opinion. In 4-years of traveling to and around Colombia, I have never felt unsafe.

There are definitely problems, no doubt. Antioquia Department, where Medellin is located, is still experiencing paramilitary activity out in the jungles where a lot of the gold mines are located. Gold, drugs, and AK-47s tend to not mix well.

Back in Medellin, however, away from the guerrilla action, I’ve read conflicting reports about whether the crime rate is increasing or decreasing. One report mentioned that the murder rate is up 50% year over year, while the government’s commission (biased, clearly) says that violent crime is down.

Here’s the bottom line– don’t automatically believe all the negative publicity that you read about Colombia. Come and see for yourself.

To pain the picture more clearly, I want to tell you a quick story about a local friend of mine. I’ll call him Victor:

Victor is sharp… very sharp. You pick up on that within 10-seconds of shaking his hand. He studied hard science and engineering in the US for nearly a decade and has a full residency visa to go back whenever he wants.

Ten years ago he returned to Colombia to start an engineering firm in Medellin. The business became successful quickly, and life was good…

… until the FARC came along and kidnapped Victor’s brother. This was in 2000. They held him for over two years to the tune of $1 million, which Victor eventually paid. After releasing his brother from captivity, the FARC destroyed all of their heavy equipment out in the field, effectively bankrupting the company.

Victor had nothing left, a family to feed, and a job offer in the United States waiting for him… yet he decided to stay in Medellin.

As he explained to me yesterday, “We all knew the FARC was on the way out, and that Colombia was entering a new era of stability. The turning point was 2003, right around the time my brother was released. Given the opportunity available here, the quality of life, and cost of living, I wouldn’t be anywhere else.”

Victor now has another successful business. His story is very compelling, and if you come down here you should meet up with him.

Locals understand that the tide has turned… but for now the rest of the world is still transfixed on the ‘FARC stigma,’ drug trafficking, and conflicting reports on whether violent crime is rising or falling. (of course, the rest of the world doesn’t really know what the FARC is, or how they differ from other guerrilla groups)

Frankly, it is this negative perception of Colombia’s danger that keeps it a hidden gem… otherwise cities like Medellin and Cali would be crawling with drunk college kids on spring break, and Cartagena would be mentioned in the same sentence as Punta del Este.

I have no doubt that this will all happen someday, and probably within the next 10-years.

This is why, in my assessment, Colombia (and Medellin in particular) is definitely worthy of consideration to plant an overseas flag, particularly for real estate. For a country with such a developed infrastructure and vast amenities, real estate should be much more expensive.

In some of the best neighborhoods of Medellin, for example, existing apartments sell for roughly $750 to $1,000 per square meter. In many cases, this is less than the construction hard costs– a real indicator of value in my opinion.

In neighboring Panama, you’d be very lucky to see $1,200 to $1,500 per square meter for comparable quality, and $2,000+ is not uncommon for existing home sales. New construction is even more.

Is the perception of Colombia’s risk worth a 40% discount to Panama? When you put your boots on the ground in both places, the obvious answer is no.

Expanding the analysis a bit, I would peg Medellin’s property market in line with Tangiers, Morocco where I was just a few months ago, and slightly cheaper than Pattaya, Thailand where I spent most of March.

In the long run, despite euphoria-based ups and downs, the market always catches up with value. When that happens, I expect that prices of quality real estate assets in Medellin will double.

In the meantime, Medellin’s pro-landlord property market offers viable double-digit rental yield opportunities, especially when catering to long-stay tourists and business travelers.

By Simon Black via Property and security in Medellin.

Luxury Medellin Real Estate, Medellin Property Listings, Real Estate Advice and Consultancy

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