BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Buying property in his home country was once “unthinkable” for Carlos Peñalver, a Venezuelan electrician who left for the United States four years ago as the economy of Venezuela faltered. The capture of President Nicolás Maduro changed the calculus, enough to get Peñalver to start calling real estate agents.

He soon closed on a three-bedroom apartment in the eastern port city of Puerto Ordaz. Days later, prices had already gone up. There were fewer properties available. “I was lucky,” said Peñalver, 26.

It is still early days in what could become a post-Maduro chapter in the South American nation, which has been marked by authoritarian rule, economic collapse and mass migration.

The possibility of political freedom and an improved economy has stirred excitement among Venezuelans at home and abroad. That optimism has fueled a surge of interest in real estate as expatriates, some of whom have built savings abroad, weigh returning — or at least investing — for the first time in years, according to real estate agents who note a jump in inquiries.

Not Yet a Sales Boom

Those calls have not yet become a sales boom. There is no official data tracking the real estate market since Maduro’s removal Jan. 3. But interviews with more than a dozen real estate agents, industry leaders, homeowners and prospective buyers suggest that the market has begun to shift with property owners raising prices in anticipation of a buying spree.

“What’s really at play here are expectations of change,” said Asdrúbal Oliveros, a veteran Venezuelan economist.

Many brokers described listings that have sat unsold after price hikes and owners pulling back their properties until the market is stronger.

Hopes are being stoked in part by changes in Venezuela’s oil sector, the backbone of the economy. Venezuelan lawmakers last month approved new rules meant to attract foreign investment, raising the potential of higher production and growth.

Still, foreign oil companies remain cautious after years of government expropriations, and recent measures are unlikely to unleash an immediate wave of investment. And even under the best of circumstances, any significant improvements in oil production would most likely take years to accomplish.

“People had a purely emotional perception — without a rational basis — that their properties were suddenly worth more,” said Pablo González, president of the Venezuelan Real Estate Chamber.

“Could it become reality?” González added. “I believe it could, but we have to allow economic events to unfold.”

For years, Venezuela’s housing market has been all but frozen as hyperinflation destroyed purchasing power and banks abandoned long-term lending. Expropriations under a socialist-inspired government, mainly of large estates and heavy industry but also of individual homes and apartment buildings, made property ownership precarious.

For many who stayed in Venezuela through those turbulent years and sometimes slipped into poverty, buying a home still remains out of reach, especially at the newly inflated prices.

Luisa Rojas, 42, an administrator in the city of Valencia, said she would like to move from her aging apartment to a newer one, but she cannot afford to do so.

“The country’s instability makes it impossible to plan ahead,” she said.

Such sentiments have narrowed the market to mainly expatriates, real estate agents say.

Venezuela Sees Prices Increase

Even so, agents across Venezuela — from the capital and oil regions to beach destinations and smaller cities — said they had seen price increases ranging from 20% to as much as 50% in some areas.

In the eastern city of Ciudad Guayana, Diogelis Pocaterra, a real estate agent, said that one town house listed at $55,000 two years ago was raised to $85,000, “solely because of Maduro’s detention.”

Prospective buyers have flooded brokers with inquiries, often interested in snapping up what were once known as “opportunity” properties for their impressive amenities at fire sale prices. But those lower-priced homes have largely vanished, agents say, as sellers pull their properties off the market.

“Many people have contacted our agency thinking there are still ‘opportunity deals’ like there once were — beachfront apartments, furnished, for $18,000 or $20,000,” Pocaterra said. “That no longer exists.”

In Cumaná, the capital of the coastal state of Sucre, Adriana Rodríguez, a broker, said prices had risen about 20% since early January, while roughly 80% of listings had been paused as owners wait for clearer economic signals.

“I’ve been working for about 25 days with five clients for whom I haven’t been able to find anything. They contact me every day,” she said, adding that they complain about the higher asking prices. “People see those listings on social media and think the prices are crazy.”

In tourist-heavy regions such as Margarita Island, brokers estimate that about 80% of current inquiries are from Venezuelans living abroad, with more limited interest from foreign buyers.

“Right now, the situation doesn’t justify these exaggerated increases,” Pocaterra said. “These processes take time, and that’s what we need to understand — and explain to owners who are being driven by news, emotion and euphoria.”

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Genevieve Glatsky, Maria Ramírez and Nayrobis Rodríguez/Adriana Loureiro Fernandez
c. 2026 The New York Times Company