Cuenca attracts people from the coast looking for more security

The newspaper El Mercurio has published an article reporting that Cuenca has become a refuge city for people from the coastal region of Ecuador. Below a summary: 

• These individuals seek to escape the violence on the coast and come to Cuenca to live and invest in residential and commercial real estate.

• According to lawyer and real estate agent Pablo Rodríguez, the following areas in Cuenca are popular for living: Misicata, El Ejido, Puertas del Sol, Ordóñez Lasso, Yanuncay, and Challuabamba. Other desirable destinations include Paute, Gualaceo, and Santa Isabel (Yanuncay Valley).

• Investors in commercial properties seek locations near the Alejandro Serrano Aguilar stadium in El Vergel. For workshops and factories, they are exploring opportunities in the province of Cañar.

• Rodríguez notes that Ecuadorian migrants in the USA and Europe, along with their family members, are purchasing fewer properties. He believes these Ecuadorians find investing in Ecuador too risky.

• Luis Tobar, an economist and professor at the Salesian Polytechnic University (UPS), states that the increase in property purchases by people arriving from other cities is one of the factors contributing to rising rental prices in Cuenca.