House Hunting in … Colombia

This 200-year-old Spanish colonial house sits on the corner of a narrow street in the walled Centro Historico, or Old City, of Cartagena. The two-story house has four bedrooms and three bathrooms, and balconies that overlook the cobbled Plaza de San Diego, with hanging planters brimming with bougainvillea and other colorful tropical plants.

The front door opens onto a small foyer and a hallway with terra-cotta tile flooring that extends through much of the 1,938-square-foot house. To the left is a dining room with a covered terrace that extends into the courtyard beyond. At the rear of the property is a vertical garden.

To the right of the front hall is a kitchen with a black granite counter, white-painted wood cabinets, a red-tile backsplash and a black-tile floor. Appliances include a gas stove, a stainless-steel refrigerator and an oven. Adjacent to the kitchen is a laundry room, a maid’s room and a full bathroom. Also on the ground floor are a hall bathroom and a bedroom with a patterned ceramic tile floor, an exposed-beam ceiling and windows with shutters.

Up a spiral staircase is a living room with a vaulted ceiling of exposed beams made of “wild wood found in a forest,” said Paul Juan, the principal owner of Paul Juan Realty, which has the listing. The living room extends on one side to an open-air seating area with a hammock overlooking the courtyard. Most of the furniture is included in the asking price.

The second floor has two air-conditioned bedrooms, including the master, which has an exposed-beam ceiling and its own balcony. The bathroom, in the hallway, has a single vanity with a ceramic sink and a shower. A rooftop terrace is outfitted with a pergola for shade, a hot tub and beach chairs.

Vibrant colonial homes, many of them converted to restaurants, line the short stretch of street leading to the shops at Las Bóvedas, originally an 18th-century military jail. On the Plaza de San Diego, facing the house, is the church-like Bolívar University of Fine Arts and Sciences. Hotel Sofitel Legend Santa Clara Cartagena, housed in a 17th-century convent, is on the corner, and the former home of the writer Gabriel García Márquez is nearby. Supermarkets, government buildings and theaters are within walking distance, and beaches, marinas, shopping malls and Rafael Núñez International Airport are less than 10 minutes away by car.

MARKET OVERVIEW

Prices in Cartagena, a Caribbean port city of almost a million residents on Colombia’s northwest coast, rival those in Bogotá. And homes in the Old City, a nattily preserved Unesco World Heritage site, “could be the most expensive in the country,” Mr. Juan said. In Castillogrande, another popular neighborhood, prices are similar to Bogotá, said Verónica Dávila, director of Julio Corredor Christie’s International Real Estate Colombia.

The market started heating up about 20 years ago as the centuries-old colonial houses and Republican-era mansions of the Old City were restored, some transformed into boutique or luxury hotels, Mr. Juan said. Though the number of foreign buyers dropped off during the global economic downturn, real estate in Cartagena held its own. Prices “haven’t gone down in history at all,” he said, “even in the worst recent times.”

But now, so many high-end houses serve as vacation homes for the wealthy, he added, that few local families are left in the Old City.

Colonial and Republican-style houses sell for between $1 million and $10 million, Ms. Dávila said. “Nowadays, there are as many foreign buyers and investors looking for already-renovated properties as for properties to renovate,” she said. Among her current listings is a 12-room Republican mansion that was converted into a luxury hotel, but is on the market for $5.07 million as a single-family residence.

At the low end, a two-bedroom apartment in the Old City can sell for around $300,000, Mr. Juan said. But in the past year, sales have slowed, he added, because “there is a scarcity of good-quality properties.”

The Old City market, however, remains “very sought after” by foreign buyers and investors with dollars and euros, Ms. Dávila said, a trend fueled by the recent increase of tourism in Colombia, and Cartagena in particular.

The short-term luxury home-rental market is also “very strong at the moment,” said Martha Hampton, the owner of Cartagena Colombia Rentals. Old City rentals range from $880 to $4,000 a day in low season to $1,700 to $7,000 a day during the winter holidays.

In Castillogrande, where a number of amenity-laden Miami-style buildings have gone up in the past decade, more residential units continue to be built, Ms. Dávila said. Prices range from $700,000 for a two- or three-bedroom apartment to $2 million for a “stunning penthouse.”

In Bocagrande, a neighborhood on the peninsula south of the historic center, a strip of hotel and condominium towers and small vacation apartments face the Caribbean beach or Cartagena Bay. New developments “increasingly target primary- and second-home Colombian buyers, especially from Bogotá and Medellin,” Ms. Dávila said. Three- to four-bedroom bayside apartments with city views can command $1 million, while one-bedroom apartments without water views but within walking distance of the beach sell for around $180,000, Mr. Juan said.

Who Buys in Colombia

Foreign buyers have become more commonplace in Colombia in the last decade, Ms. Dávila said. Most of them are from the United States, France, Britain, Spain and Italy, agents said.

Buying Basics

There are no restrictions on foreign buyers, but mortgages are not available to them. Closing costs, including transfer taxes, notary charges and recording fees, are about 2.5 percent of the assessed value. A lawyer is recommended, Mr. Juan said, and legal fees are usually about 1 percent of the sale price.

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