September 2026 Costa Rica property market: 85,204 active listings, with Santa Cruz at the top
The CostaRicaRealtor data desk reads September 2026 as a wide, uneven market where seller expectations still need a hard check in several cantons.
September 2026 is not a tiny market. CostaRicaRealtor is tracking 85,204 active listings, with a median of 68 days visible on our platform. That gives buyers room to compare, but it also means sorting through a lot of weak pricing, duplicate exposure, and listings that look better online than they do after a site visit.
The sharpest price signal is at the canton level. Santa Cruz leads the high end at $565,000, followed by Osa at $499,900 and Quepos at $450,000. On the more affordable side, Alajuelita sits at $155,000, Aserri at $155,121, and El Guarco at $167,222. Also worth watching: 67.7% of listings had a price cut among listings with a tracked price history, based only on the 5,715 listings where that history is available. That is not the whole market. And only 4.3% of listings appear across multiple portals, which tells me visibility is still fragmented.
As of September 2026.
This month's numbers
- Active listings: 85,204
- Of the 5,715 listings we have tracked through at least one price change, 67.7% have cut the asking price (a buyer's-market signal).
- 4.3% appear on more than one portal (no MLS means the same home is listed several times).
- Median time visible on our platform: 68 days (counted from the listing's first day with us, so it is a floor, not a measure of how fast the market moves).
Most expensive cantons (median sale price)
| Canton | Province | Median price | $/m2 | Sale listings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Cruz | Guanacaste | $565,000 | $2,907 | 4016 |
| Osa | Puntarenas | $499,900 | $2,500 | 1416 |
| Quepos | Puntarenas | $450,000 | $1,826 | 253 |
| Acosta | San José | $440,000 | $2,149 | 269 |
| Golfito | Puntarenas | $437,500 | $1,808 | 61 |
| Flores | Heredia | $429,057 | $736 | 138 |
Most affordable cantons
| Canton | Province | Median price | $/m2 | Sale listings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alajuelita | San José | $155,000 | $1,360 | 148 |
| Aserri | San José | $155,121 | $714 | 167 |
| El Guarco | Cartago | $167,222 | $1,025 | 335 |
| Turrubares | San José | $171,623 | $85 | 226 |
| Desamparados | San José | $180,000 | $970 | 811 |
| Naranjo | Alajuela | $180,512 | $121 | 126 |
What it means for buyers
Buyers should not treat the asking price as the final word, especially in the higher-priced cantons. Here’s what nobody tells you: a price cut does not always mean a bargain. It can mean the first price was fantasy. Since 67.7% of listings had a price cut among listings with a tracked price history, ask for the pricing timeline before you fall in love with the view, the pool, or the mango tree.
Be blunt with your shortlist. Compare Santa Cruz, Osa, and Quepos against Alajuelita, Aserri, and El Guarco only if the lifestyle tradeoff makes sense. Beach access, rental demand, road quality, schools, hospitals, and Registro Nacional checks all matter. So does patience. Nothing in this data shows how quickly homes sell here, so rushed offers should be the exception, not the habit.
Figures are Costa Rica Realtor's own computation from asking prices across the whole Costa Rica market, the most complete Costa Rica market picture available. Free to cite with attribution to costaricarealtor.com.
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