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Cuba’s New Real Estate Market
Report

Cuba’s New Real Estate Market

Latin America Initiative Working Paper

Philip Peters
Brookings Institution, 2014
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Eye Opening
  • Well Structured

Recommendation

After more than 50 years of transacting covertly, Cubans now have the right to buy and sell property openly and legitimately. Prior to the passage of legislation in 2011, Cubans’ homes served strictly as shelters, not assets. The new law expands human rights, normalizes property rules, and gives Cuban citizens the potential to amass personal wealth and gain better housing. getAbstract recommends this on-the-ground recounting of the birth of a “new and unusual real estate market” for its insights into Cuba’s road to economic reform.

Take-Aways

  • Cuba’s 1960 Urban Reform Law set out the state’s view that “housing is for people to live in, not to live from.” The legislation turned renters into homeowners.
  • But this and other subsequent laws made it illegal for private parties to buy and sell residential real estate in Cuba.
  • In November 2011, as part of its economic reforms, the Cuban government lifted its ban on private real estate transactions. The new market is cash only, which makes it difficult and expensive for many Cubans to buy homes.

About the Author

Philip Peters is president of the Cuba Research Center, a nonprofit based in Virginia.

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