Roatan is the largest of the bay islands in Honduras, and the Roatan real estate market is leading the way for investor activity in the country.

Roatan tourism

Roatan is famous as a diving location and is located near the second largest coral reef in the world. Many tourists travel to Roatan solely for the diving experience, but Roatan has rounded itself out as a major tourist destination outside of diving. The island has numerous beautiful beaches and offers great deep sea fishing opportunities. The cruise industry has had an enormous impact upon Roatan, and effectively put Roatan on the map. While Roatan is clearly now a part of many Caribbean cruise lines, the cruise industry is still growing, as indicated by $50 million being spent on a new cruise ship port by Carnival.

LatinFinance estimates that more than 40% of the entire Honduras tourism revenue comes from Roatan. The magazine also estimates that Roatan's tourist numbers will swell from the approximately 250,000 in 2006 to over 1 million in 2008.

Roatan real estate investments

There are a growing number of real estate investment opportunities in Roatan, however, prices have been steadily climbing. Investors can purchase raw land, pre-construction homes, new homes, older homes, condos and more. One popular investment strategy has been to buy up tracks of land, sub-divide them and then sell off the individual lots.

Foreign property ownership in Roatan

Foreigners have the same property ownership rights as citizens in Roatan and in Honduras as a whole. In 1998 the Honduran government passed a law that allowed for foreign individuals to have full ownership of property.