Cuenca, the southern Ecuadorian highland city long favoured by North American expats, has overtaken the capital on price. Most properties now sell for between $1,427 and $1,713 per square metre, roughly 17% above last year and about $125 per square metre more than Quito, according to market analyst Pablo Muñoz of the Ecuador Association of Real Estate Brokers.

What's driving it? A mix of safety and reputation. With crime rising in coastal cities, Cuenca has become what Muñoz calls a safe haven — buyers from Guayaquil and the coast are purchasing with an eye to relocating later. Add the city's long-standing claim to Ecuador's best quality of life, and it's also the first choice for Ecuadorian migrants returning from abroad, even those originally from elsewhere in the country.

The boom is almost entirely vertical. Condominiums account for more than 65% of sales, and over half of those are new builds. More than 120 large multi-unit projects are under construction or planned to start before the end of 2026, while new single-family houses are barely being built at all. Most sales fall in the $100,000–$150,000 range.

Foreign money is part of the picture too, with a large share of purchases made from outside Ecuador — mostly the United States, plus Canada, Spain and Italy. Interestingly, Muñoz says many of these "foreign" buyers are actually Ecuadorians living overseas, investing with a future return home in mind, much like the coastal buyers.

Not everyone is comfortable with the shape of the market. Muñoz worries about an imbalance: families who want new, modern houses are finding limited stock, with plenty of older homes but few fresh alternatives. Agent Gustavo Neira, meanwhile, sees no sign of the boom cooling before at least 2027 — he doubts construction will outpace demand in the foreseeable future. As for social-media claims that criminal money is propping up the condo market, Muñoz calls it a marginal factor, estimating no more than one or two percent of sales involve anything untoward, since property transactions leave a clear paper trail.

For travellers, the takeaway is this: Cuenca remains one of Latin America's most livable cities — a UNESCO World Heritage colonial centre, spring-like weather at 2,500 metres, and a famously low cost of living compared with the US. But if you've been eyeing a condo there as a retirement plan or second home, prices are moving up quickly and the inventory skews heavily toward apartments, not houses. Anyone considering a purchase should move sooner rather than later, or at least watch how the supply surge affects values by 2027.