Dominican Republic Real Estate Market 2026: What the Data Supports on the North Coast

Short answer: National demand indicators are up in 2026: 8.56 million visitors from January to August (+6.9%) and foreign direct investment of US$3.28 billion in the first half (+7.7%), with real estate at 12.4% of it. For the north coast specifically, there is no official price index or sales count, only asking prices from brokers. Anyone quoting a north-coast price trend for 2026 is quoting an estimate.

What do the hard numbers say about 2026?

Official and quasi-official figures describe demand for the country as a whole. They are the best evidence available, and none of them is a property price.

Indicator	Figure	Period	Source
Total visitors	8,556,415, up 6.9% on 2025	Jan to Aug 2026	Presidency, Sept 14, 2026 [1]
Of which by air / by cruise	6,610,258 / 1,946,151	Jan to Aug 2026	[1]
Hotel occupancy	68%	August 2026	[1]
Foreign non-resident air arrivals via Punta Cana / Puerto Plata	71.8% / 5.1% (253,701 people at Puerto Plata)	Jan to Jul 2026	Central bank [2]
Foreign direct investment	US$3,276.5 million, up 7.7% (US$233.4 million more than a year earlier)	Jan to Jun 2026	Central bank, via Acento, July 28, 2026 [3]
Real estate share of that investment	12.4%	Jan to Jun 2026	[3]

The origin mix depends on the base. The Presidency's tourism summary names the United States at 44% and Canada at 9% of visitors [1]. The central bank's report, which covers foreign non-resident air arrivals, names the United States at 43.8% and Canada at 16.7% [2]. The Canadian share differs because the first figure includes cruise passengers and the second does not. Neither tells you who buys property.

On foreign investment, an earlier central bank release reported US$5.03 billion for all of 2025, with real estate at 15.7% of the total [4]. Do not read the 12.4% half-year share against the 15.7% full-year share as a decline. They cover different periods, and sector shares move within a year.

How big is the north coast's slice of the market?

Small, relative to the East. Puerto Plata's airport took 5.1% of foreign non-resident air arrivals from January to July 2026, against 71.8% for Punta Cana [2]. In the Presidency's August airport breakdown, Puerto Plata had 3%, against 49% for Punta Cana [1]. The same central bank report found that 79.8% of tourists stayed in hotels, and 86.7% named recreation as their main reason for traveling [2].

For a buyer this means two things. The north coast is a niche market with a different buyer mix from the resort belt in the east, which is not a weakness in itself. And nationwide tourism growth does not automatically flow into this coast at the same pace. The airport share is the number to watch, and a single seven-month figure is too short to establish a trend. We found no year-on-year comparison for Puerto Plata published alongside it.

What do asking prices say?

Asking prices exist, and the best recent set is a July 2026 broker report. CLIC Inmobiliaria analyzed 65,160 active apartment listings, with a data cutoff of June 23, 2026, and reports medians, not averages. It states plainly that the figures are asking prices, not closing prices [5].

Area	Median asking price per m²	Median asking price	Listings
Cabarete	US$2,641	US$285,000	254
Sosúa	US$2,083	US$175,000	282
Puerto Plata	US$2,025	US$197,885	403
Dominican Republic overall	US$2,000	US$210,000	65,160

On that data, Cabarete sits about a third above the national median per square meter, and Sosúa and Puerto Plata sit near it [5]. Other brokers publish different ranges for the same towns, and we do not rank them: there is no independent index to settle it, and method differences (which listings, which cleaning rules) explain a lot. Our article on north coast property trends adds context, and the Sosúa listings let you compare actual asking prices directly.

A frequently repeated claim, that north-coast property prices rose by double digits on the back of remote work, could not be verified when we tried to check its source, so we do not repeat the figure.

What changed in the rules this year?

More than usual, and all of it affects what a buyer or seller nets.

• Capital gains tax. Since June 18, 2026, Law 30-26 taxes capital gains on real estate sold by individuals at a final 10%, replacing a rate most sources put at 25% [6][7].
• Mortgage registration tax. The tax on registering mortgages falls from 2% to 1% in 2027 and ends in 2028 [6].
• Inheritance. Exemptions expanded for estates under DOP 1 million, or DOP 2 million between direct-line relatives [6].
• Short-term rentals. On August 3, 2026, a Dominican law firm reported that the Ministry of Tourism had published draft resolutions for a National Registry of Tourist Accommodations, with mandatory registration, an insurance requirement and, for condominiums, proof that the administration has no objection. The drafts are not in force [8]. A July broker guide reports that a bill to create a Condominium Superintendency is under debate and not yet law [9].
• CONFOTUR. Law 30-26 added a rule against combining CONFOTUR with another incentive regime on the same investment. Core buyer benefits appear unaffected, but the rule is untested [10].

None of this tells you where prices are going. It tells you what a transaction costs and which rental plans need a second look. The details of each are in our guides to CONFOTUR and financing.

What does nobody know about the north coast market?

Several numbers buyers ask for do not exist in published form, as far as we could establish:

• A price trend for Sosúa, Cabarete or Puerto Plata. No official index; only snapshots of asking prices.
• Sales volume. We found no published count of north-coast transactions.
• Time on market and the gap between asking and closing price. CLIC says its figures are asking prices only [5].
• Rents and occupancy for a specific unit. Averages exist, but they vary widely between sources.
• Buyer nationality. No agency publishes property buyers by country. The central bank publishes foreign direct investment by origin only for all sectors together, and tourism arrivals by origin only for visitors. The two cannot be combined [4].

An article that claims otherwise is either using an unnamed source or working from a single broker's pipeline.

How should a buyer use this?

Treat the data as context and test the property itself. Three checks translate it into a decision:

1. Compare the unit with asking prices around it, not with a regional median. The median mixes beachfront and inland units.
2. Budget for the transaction. Entry costs of 4% to 6% plus a seller's commission mean a price must rise roughly 7% to 13% to break even, by our arithmetic from the standard rates [11].
3. Ask for income evidence from the unit. Tourism growth nationally is not a booking history.

For the town-level picture, see Sosúa, Cabarete and Puerto Plata compared, and browse the listings for current asking prices.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. A Dominican attorney should review your situation.

Frequently asked questions

Is 2026 a good time to buy property in the Dominican Republic? Nobody can answer that from public data. Visitor numbers and foreign investment are up nationally, and the tax rules for sellers improved in June, but there is no price index for the north coast to measure timing against.

Are property prices rising on the north coast? We found no official figure. Broker medians exist for July 2026 (for example, $2,083 per square meter in Sosúa), but they are snapshots of asking prices, not a trend [5].

How much of foreign investment goes into real estate? In the first half of 2026, 12.4% of US$3,276.5 million, according to the central bank [3]. For 2025 the share was 15.7% of US$5.03 billion [4].

Does tourism growth help north-coast property? It may, but national growth is concentrated in Punta Cana, which took 71.8% of foreign air arrivals in January to July 2026, against 5.1% for Puerto Plata [2].

What changed for sellers in 2026? The capital gains tax on real estate sold by individuals fell to a final 10% on June 18, 2026. The base calculation for older purchases was still awaiting regulations in July [6][7][12].

Next step

Pick two properties you are considering and compare them with the asking prices listed in the Sosúa, Cabarete or Puerto Plata pages. Then ask for income and cost documents from the seller. For help, contact Instyle.

Sources

1. Presidencia de la República Dominicana, "República Dominicana recibe más de 8.5 millones de visitantes en los primeros ocho meses de 2026" (September 14, 2026): https://presidencia.gob.do/noticias/republica-dominicana-recibe-mas-de-85-millones-de-visitantes-en-los-primeros-ocho-meses-de
2. Banco Central de la República Dominicana, "Informe del flujo turístico, enero a julio de 2026": https://cdn.bancentral.gov.do/documents/publicaciones-economicas/informe-del-flujo-turistico/documents/informe_turistico2026-07.pdf
3. Acento, "Inversión extranjera directa alcanza US$3,276 millones en primer semestre de 2026, según el Banco Central" (July 28, 2026): https://acento.com.do/economia/inversion-extranjera-directa-alcanza-us-3276-millones-en-primer-semestre-de-2026-segun-el-banco-central-9727214.html
4. Infobae, "La inversión extranjera directa sube 11.3% en República Dominicana durante 2025" (February 2, 2026): https://www.infobae.com/republica-dominicana/2026/02/02/la-inversion-extranjera-directa-sube-113-en-republica-dominicana-durante-2025/
5. CLIC Inmobiliaria, "Price per Square Meter Apartments Dominican Republic, July 2026" (data cutoff June 23, 2026): https://clicinmobiliaria.com/en/articles/analisis-de-mercado/price-per-square-meter-apartments-dominican-republic-july-2026
6. KPMG, "Dominican Republic: Changes to tax code concerning income tax, real estate, inheritance and gift tax" (July 16, 2026): https://kpmg.com/us/en/taxnewsflash/news/2026/07/dominican-republic-tax-code-changes.html
7. Siempre al Día, "Ganancia de capital en venta de inmuebles RD: Ley 30-26": https://siemprealdia.co/republica-dominicana/impuestos/ganancia-de-capital-en-venta-de-inmuebles/
8. Pellerano & Herrera, "Dominican Republic Proposes New Rules to Regulate Short-Term Rentals" (August 3, 2026): https://phlaw.com/dominican-republic-proposes-new-rules-to-regulate-short-term-rentals/
9. CLIC Inmobiliaria, "Airbnb in the Dominican Republic: Legal and Tax Guide 2026" (July 1, 2026): https://clicinmobiliaria.com/en/articles/rentas-cortas/airbnb-dominican-republic-legal-tax-guide-2026
10. El Inmobiliario, "La Ley 30-26 introduce una restricción que toca el corazón del modelo Confotur": https://inmobiliario.do/la-ley-30-26-introduce-una-restriccion-que-toca-el-corazon-del-modelo-confotur/
11. Closing costs and commission: Guzmán Ariza https://drlawyer.com/buying-real-estate-in-the-dominican-republic/ ; Navetta Properties https://www.navettaproperties.com/blog/closing-costs-dominican-republic ; BuyDRProperty https://buydrproperty.com/dominican-republic-closing-costs-taxes-a-foreign-investors-guide/
12. El Inmobiliario, "El 10% que nadie sabe cómo calcular": https://inmobiliario.do/el-10-que-nadie-sabe-como-calcular-la-laguna-que-la-ley-30-26-dejo-en-el-mercado-secundario-de-inmuebles/

Last reviewed: October 1, 2026