On the list barometers to gauge a country’s worthiness as a second home destination, IPJ contributor Claudia Gonella has found a new one—paved roads from the airport.
This may sound slightly frivolous, but there is logic to the Sore Butt Index. While some may look at long term rental yields or the number of golf courses within a 50-mile radius, for many buyers that first bumpy drive from the airport defines the experience, especially in Central America.
In many ways, it’s almost scientific to focus exclusively on roads to developments from the airport. At the end of their journey, many owners don’t mind traveling down a few dirt roads in exchange for seclusion. But it’s a different matter when you have to go off road every time you want to catch a flight. The Sore Butt Index also serve as a valid measurement of a country’s commitment to infrastructure, it’s willingness to put money into its tourism industry.
In the paved-road-from-airport metrics, Panama is the leader with 80 percent of airport roads paved, according to the study Gonella’s Reveal Real Estate, which tracks the market. Costa Rica was second, with 70 percent of its roads paved from the international airport (thanks to the road from Liberia, in the north.) Then there’s a huge drop-off to Nicaragua, where only 20 percent of the roads are paved, according to Reveal.
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Of course, Nicaragua, which is just starting to emerge as an international destination, is downright cosmopolitan compared to Belize, which is still, in many ways, a different world. Only 13 percent of the roads are paved; there are really only two main roads in the country. Most second homeowners take a puddle jumper to Ambergris Caye, where golf carts are still the primary form of transportation.
However, as the Gonella notes, there is huge progress underway in Belize’s Sore Butt Index, now that the government is finally paving 16 miles of road on the Placencia peninsula, which is developing as the mainland’s primary second home destination.
Reveal also tracks how long it takes to drive from the airport or a development to the nearest grocery store, which may be the true indicator of quality of life.
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