In a country where most still view Capitalism as the enemy in a sense to way a society should live, Cuba will become slightly more capitalistic to a certain extent if the government moves forth with plans to legalize buying and selling of private property.
Currently entrepreneurs within the country are illegally trading and swapping homes between families who either want an new home or an upgrade of their current abode. These illegal realtors believe that when the government does move forward which such plans that a changes will stream into the country bringing mass relocation, higher prices, property taxes, and a flood of money from Cubans currently living in the United States and around the world wanting to take part in the expected real estate boom.
One of these eager real estate entrepreneurs named José–declined to give New York Times reporter his last name–confides how, “There’s going to be huge demand. It’s been prohibited for so long.” What’s been prohibited exactly? Well, the idea of Private Property.
Considered one of the core’s of capitalism, the plan to legalize the right to own Private Property goes against the country’s main political viewpoint of socialism. So, the very notion of private property being allowed is striking. While the idea is shocking, some believe there will be regulations like suppressing the market which will limit Cubans to one home or apartment which will require full-time residency. A regulation claimed to already be planned out by the state media.
While there will be some control by the state, experts report that property sales in Cuba could transform the country far more than other economic reforms announced by President Raul Castro’s government. Back on August 1st the reforms came as announcement in the National Assembly. The reforms will add to the changes already occurring within the country were self-employment is one of the newest changes on the rise.
Havana’s director of urbanism and architecture in the 1970s and 1980s, Mario Coyula says the changes will be significant since “there will be huge rearrangement, Gentrification will happen.” Havana, one of the cities within Cuba, is expected to go back in time when the city was once stratified. The sales of property would not only support the renovation of the country itself but would also create jobs.
One area expected to expand would be Banking, under new rules payments would be to the banks from the buyers very own accounts. Even the government can expect some expansion. Since the Cuban government owns all property, once they have handed over homes and apartments to their occupants they can exchange the ownership for taxes on the sales.
But what of Cuban emigrants? What is the role they may play with the possibility of private ownership becoming available? Well, not much apparently. Although the new plan appears to prohibit foreign ownership of property, there are loopholes around them. Cuban-Americans living within the states could use the Obama’s administration rules which allow Cubans living in the states to send as much money back to their relatives living in the country. “There’s always money coming in from Miami,” said Gerardo, a broker who kept his last name and describes how “foreign ownership” is acquired, “The Cuban in Miami buys a house for his cousin in Cuba and when he comes here in the summer for a couple of months, he stays in that house.”
The proposed reform benefits the people too. For example, Elena Acea, a 40-year-old woman, shares her apartment with two stepsons. A two-bedroom apartment in-which she has converted into a four-bedroom apartment, which makes Acea hope she will be able to trade her home for three smaller ones so that her eldest son, 29, could start his own family because, “He’s getting married, he has to move out.”
Another Cuban apartment-owner, Katia Gonzalez, 48, received her two-bedroom apartment just blocks from the ocean in one of Havana’s best neighborhoods said she would consider selling her place for a fair price. Gonzalez believes her apartment could be sold for, “$25,000. A little more, maybe $30,000,” meanwhile in Miami a similar apartment to her own may cost ten times as much as that.
While the concept of private ownership could benefit the country in steering it towards a renovated future, providing more for the people there are some issues they will have to understand. For example the way a mortgage system will work? What’s a fair price? And how will taxes become? Until the government truly implements this reform, we can only expect the Cuban will be the wiser if they enter the realm of real estate ownership.
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