Colonia is an attractive and convenient town in Uruguay that provides one of the best city retirement lifestyles in Latin America. The city is busy year-round thanks to a thriving local population as well as travelers from Uruguay’s other cities, Buenos Aires and around the world. It offers everything required for comfortable, pleasant living, from elegant five-star restaurants and cheerful sidewalk cafés to all the amenities and services you could want, all with an impressive collection of 17 th-century architecture as the backdrop.
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You can your spend days and evenings walking along the banks of Colonia’s expansive, lazy river, poking around the marina and exploring the cobblestoned streets and alleys of the historic center. It’s all walkable and less than 30 miles from Buenos Aires by ferry.
It was the Portuguese, not the Spanish, who settled Colonia in the 1600s, and their original settlement has been meticulously preserved. Colonia’s historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, drawing people from far and wide to enjoy its colonial homes, fine-dining restaurants and exclusive shops.
Colonia has four seasons, and the weather is mild all year with moderate rainfall. The hottest month is January, with an average high of 81 degrees. The coldest month is June, with an average high of 53 degrees.
Simply put, this town of around 26,000 is a quality, branded destination. Colonia’s property market has benefited from this. Gains over the past dozen years have exceeded those in this country’s much better-known destination of Punta del Este. Like the rest of Uruguay, Colonia held strong through the 2008 recession, posting solid gains while North America, Europe and elsewhere across Latin America watched their markets (and economies) crumble.
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Single homes, rather than condos or apartments, have traditionally dominated the real estate market in Colonia. Today, however, condos are more common. This is good news for retirees, as a condo that you own or rent can be a convenient and hassle-free place to live in retirement.
Three areas of Colonia in particular offer great lifestyle options for retirees: Barrio Histórico, Centro and the Zona Balnearia (beach zone).
Barrio Histórico. Barrio Histórico is the original colonial settlement, built almost entirely of stone. If you’d like to buy or restore a historic building, this is the place to shop. Barrio Histórico boasts a good number of homes from the late 1600s, still standing and still occupied. These are classic structures of character with interior courtyards, rooftop terraces and many original architectural details.
Barrio Histórico is also the place to focus your attention if you’re interested in an apartment that you could live in part of the year and rent out the rest of the time. This zone has a high concentration of fine restaurants and upscale shops and a continuous supply of international visitors coming to enjoy them.
Centro. Centro, just outside Barrio Histórico, boasts its own share of antique buildings. This reasonably priced sector is known for quiet, tree-lined streets, casual restaurants and parks. It also has a bustling shopping district where you can get everything you need to run the household.
Centro offers easy access to the historic center’s restaurants, galleries and attractions, yet its side streets are relatively free of tourist foot traffic. Centro provides real estate and lifestyle values in the city. It’s possible to purchase a well-located and very rentable house in Centro for as little as $220,000. A comparable house in Barrio Histórico costs $100,000 more.
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Zona Balnearia. The Zona Balnearia runs along the ocean-like Rio de la Plata heading north of town. It’s a residential area with quiet neighborhoods and stunning water views, especially at sunset.
If you’re looking for a single home with a larger yard that’s near the water, the Balnearia is a good bet. A number of good-looking condo projects are springing up on the Balnearia. Priced from $250,000, these are selling well to wealthy buyers from nearby Buenos Aires, which is only an hour away by ferry. These would also make ideal retirement residences, full or perhaps part time.
Kathleen Peddicord is the founder of the Live and Invest Overseas publishing group.
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Colonia, Uruguay: An Undiscovered City Retirement Gem originally appeared on usnews.com
