Three questions decide whether anything else matters: can you own it, does the register hold, and is your deposit protected. Here are the answers for Costa Rica, each with the law or source it rests on. The answers are written for EU and EEA citizens; where rules differ for other nationals, the ownership answer says so. As of September 2026.
The core answers
Can you buy property here as an EU citizen?
Full ownership without restriction. In the Zona Marítimo Terrestre, the first 200 metres from the shoreline, only concessions are available.
Legal basis: Ley 6043 sobre la Zona Marítimo Terrestre
Is your deposit protected by law?
No statutory escrow requirement; escrow through SUGEF-registered agents is common but purely contractual
Source: costaricacanadalaw.com · 2021
Residence
Residencia por Inversión from USD 150,000, property counts; threshold lowered from 200,000 by Ley 9996
Source: crie.cr
First thing to check
- Whether the property lies in the coastal zone. A concession is time-limited, transferable only with approval, and not ownership.
All 24 dimensions
Scale 0 to 100, higher is better. Each value shows where it comes from: tied to a published index, own research with a source on file, or approximated from comparable countries.
Law and register
| Dimension | Score | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Property rights | 60 | Index |
| Register | 68 | Research |
| Deposit protection | 25 | Research |
| Rule of law | 66 | Index |
| Freedom from corruption | 57 | Index |
| Political stability | 90 | Index |
Money and market
| Dimension | Score | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase costs | 57 | Index |
| Tax burden | 52 | Index |
| Entry price | 64 | Index |
| Rental yield | 64 | Research |
| Price development | 39 | Approximation |
| Demand pipeline | 37 | Index |
Residence and access
| Dimension | Score | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Residence | 95 | Research |
| Exit | 20 | Index |
| Currency | 93 | Index |
| Accessibility | 24 | Research |
Place and building stock
| Dimension | Score | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Climate | 62 | Index |
| Natural hazards | 18 | Index |
| Utilities | 55 | Index |
| Build quality | 63 | Research |
| Construction cost | 59 | Research |
| Quality of life | 45 | Index |
| Healthcare | 57 | Index |
Researched individually
These entries do not come from an index but from research for this country. The source is given with each.
Residence
Residencia por Inversión (residence by investment) from USD 150,000, property qualifies; threshold lowered from 200,000 by Ley 9996
Source: crie.cr · 2025
Deposit protection
No statutory escrow requirement; escrow through SUGEF-registered agents (financial supervisory register) is customary, but purely contractual
Source: costaricacanadalaw.com · 2021
Accessibility
9,602 km great-circle distance from Munich
Source: Grosskreisentfernung Muenchen-Hauptstadt · 2026
Build quality
BQCI 11/15 (WB Doing Business 2020) + WGI Government Effectiveness 56,92 (2024), Gewicht 35/65
Source: archive.doingbusiness.org · 2019
Place and building materials
What to check in Costa Rica
Derived from the four weakest dimensions of this country - statistically, that is where buyers lose money.
- Natural hazards. Exposure to earthquake, storm, flood and wildfire at the specific site, not the national average.
- Exit. Whether there is a working resale market and whether you can get the sale proceeds out of the country.
- Accessibility. How often you can realistically get there - and whether a site inspection is possible in one day.
- Deposit protection. Whether your deposit is protected by law - escrow account or bank guarantee - or goes straight to the developer.
Developers and projects in Costa Rica
The developer index records 25 projects and 11 developers in Costa Rica without rating them, each entry with source and retrieval date. An excerpt:
| Project | Place | Developer | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hacienda El Cafeto | Belén | Eurohogar Inmobiliaria | on sale |
| Esencia Desamparados | Desamparados | Novogar | planned |
| La Ecovilla | La Ecovilla | La Ecovilla | completed |
| Reserva Moravia | La Trinidad | Novogar | on sale |
| Lantana | Las Catalinas | Las Catalinas | under construction |
| Montaña | Las Catalinas | Las Catalinas | under construction |
| Lindora Gardens | Lindora | Eurohogar Inmobiliaria | on sale |
| Epiko | Montes de Oca | Eurohogar Inmobiliaria | planned |
| Puertas del Este | Montes de Oca | Eurohogar Inmobiliaria | planned |
| Eco Moravia | Moravia | Novogar | planned |
| Nogales | Moravia | Eurohogar Inmobiliaria | planned |
| East Enclave | Nacascolo Bay | Ecodesarrollo Papagayo, SRL | on sale |
Individual project pages are currently in German; they contain the recorded data, the source and the retrieval date.
All 25 projects and 11 developers in Costa Rica
What the guide cannot do
A country can look good in all three columns and the specific property can still be a total loss. The reverse is also true: in a country with a weak register, a cleanly titled plot can be entirely unproblematic. The guide tells you what the environment looks like. Whether this one property holds up is decided by the review.