From Floods to Building Boom

Photo: Got $325,000? Too late. They are building Phase III (Both Phase I and II were completely sold before construction finished).

I'm sitting in Mazatlan's airport waiting for a flight out, having turned down an opportunity to buy a coffee cup Souvenir that said "Mazatlan" but on the bottom it said: "Made in China."  Geez, even the Mexico souvenirs are made in China! Ouch.  Mexico is losing jobs to China as well as the U.S.

But not construction jobs.  Apparently the building boom started here about three years ago. I asked a guy selling $300,000 (up) condos on the beach about it.  His response? "Baby boomers."  American baby boomers are coming  down and buying up real estate left and right. He said about 65% of their sales were to Americans, 30% to Canadian and about 5% to Mexican citizens. He also said that a condo that sells for $600,000 in Cabo San Lucas goes for half that in Mazatlan, making it a good bargain. And unlike Cabo, which is all tourists, Mazatlan has other industries from fishing to building trucks.

But i also found out from some American tourists I met on a city bus that the new multi-story condos are having to truck in their water. "New" Mazatlan does not have the piping to service all the new buildings going up.  The contractors have got to be making a fortune. Some units next to my little place (a timeshare with real cocanut trees) are selling for $400,000 - $500,000.  And people are coming down in droves and paying CASH for them.  

Needless to say, I didn't buy a thing.  The room did have CNN International (much better than CNN U.S.) which covered the horrible floods on the Mexican east coast in Tabasco. I'm directly west and there hasn't been a cloud in the sky all week.  

Interestingly, the TV had quite a few English TV programs (with Spanish subtitles). Almost none of it was worth watching, compared to viewing Pelicans soaring just above the breaking waves, looking for a fish dinner.