Anthony, indeed you are right. Property is so cheap in St. Nicolas that is makes a lot of sense exploring the option to purchase land and/or property there.

The prices you mention of US $100 per sq. meter ($9.29 per sq. feet) in the Western part of Aruba, such as Palm Beach, in comparison to the broader St. Nicolas area with US $25 per sq. meter ($2.32 per sq. feet) certainly sounds right.

Actually everything “above the bridge” is competitively priced. For the ones who don’t know, the term “above the bridge” refers to the part of the island that is east of the central bridge in Aruba, which separates the island.

As I tell many people, property is not as expensive as it might be in other countries. Take not that foreigners are allowed to own real estate as well. Many do.

I have been looking at the real estate development in Aruba for over 6 years now. And the last two years there have been more and more developers that are starting to look at the option of investing in the middle and south side of the Island.

I myself have started to look at the option of buying land in and around San Nicolaas. The one thing that is holding people back in investing in San Nicolas is the Refinery. But once they start to develop the area of Baby Beach and Sero Colorado (http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=687000911&channel=507936870) then I think the pricing for real estate in that area will sky rocket.

For instance, the average price for a square meter property land around Palm Beach is 100 usd and in the area of San Nicolas and Colony it is 25 usd. For the same amount you can buy a property land four times as big. Than you have enough space to plant a lot of trees so not to see the refinery. Isn’t this the reason some are thinking at this moment to build three hotels and a golf course there! The future will tell if San Nicolas area will once again rise to the place it once was!

Eric Hundin