Costa Rica measures property in metric units. Land is sold in square meters and, for larger parcels, hectares, and houses are measured in square meters, not square feet. In the countryside you will still hear the old manzana, about 7,000 square meters or 1.7 acres, and the word quinta, which describes a country property, not a size. To convert quickly, multiply square meters by 10.76 for square feet and hectares by 2.47 for acres. Check what a listing’s numbers include, because the size advertised for a house or condo often isn’t a registered figure at all.
| 1 square meter (m²) | 10.76 square feet |
|---|---|
| 1 meter | 3.28 feet (39.37 inches) |
| 1 hectare | 10,000 m², or 2.47 acres |
| 1 acre | 4,047 m², or 0.405 hectare |
| 1 manzana | 10,000 square varas, about 7,000 m², 0.7 hectare or 1.7 acres |
| 1 vara | About 0.84 meter (83.6 centimeters, or 2 feet 9 inches) |
| 1 square kilometer | 100 hectares, or 247 acres |
| Quinta | Not a unit. A country property, usually with a house or meant for one, of no fixed size |
Square meters and hectares
The metric system is Costa Rica’s legal standard, and the Registro Nacional and the survey plans it registers record land in square meters. A building lot in a town or subdivision is usually a few hundred square meters, and anything above 10,000 m² is often described in hectares. A hectare is a square 100 meters (328 feet) on each side, about two and a half acres.
Real estate agents often round for speed, multiplying square meters by 11 to get square feet and counting a hectare as 2.5 acres. Both shortcuts overstate the size slightly, by about 2% and 1%, so use the exact figures when you compare prices per square foot or per acre. A 200 m² house is about 2,150 square feet, not 2,200, and a 7,000 m² lot is 1.73 acres.
How big is a manzana?
A manzana is a colonial unit of 10,000 square varas, still common among farmers and in rural listings. In Costa Rica it works out to about 7,000 square meters, roughly 0.7 hectare or 1.7 acres. The usual Costa Rican conversion is about 6,990 square meters, based on a vara of 0.836 meter, but published figures vary slightly because the old vara was never perfectly standardized, and the Nicaraguan manzana is a little larger at about 7,040 m². That is one reason contracts and the Registry use square meters. If a listing gives a size in manzanas, ask for the area in square meters from the registered survey plan.
The vara itself, about 0.84 meter, survives mostly at the hardware store, where lumber is often still sold by the vara, screws and bolts are labeled in inches (pulgadas) as well as millimeters and PVC pipe comes in 6-meter lengths with its diameter in inches.
What is a quinta?
A quinta is not a measurement. It is the Costa Rican term for a country property, usually with a house or a lot meant for one, often used as a weekend retreat or a small farm, and it has no legal size. Most quintas advertised for sale range from a few thousand square meters to a hectare or two, with listings of 4,000 and 5,000 m² common, though some run much larger. When you see the word, look for the land area in square meters and check what zoning allows, since many quintas sit on land zoned for agriculture, where building is restricted and extra houses or subdivision may not be allowed.
How house size is measured in Costa Rica
The house size in a Costa Rican listing is usually the area “under roof,” measured from the outside of the walls. That typically includes covered terraces, porches and the carport or garage, not just the enclosed, air-conditioned living space buyers from North America expect. Practices vary. Some agents leave covered terraces out or discount them, but many simply multiply the length of the house by its width. A home advertised at 2,500 square feet under roof can have far less living space.
House size is not recorded on the property title. The Registry records the land, not the building. The best official record of the building’s size is usually the set of construction plans approved by the municipality, and the house may have grown since without permits. Listings rarely give room sizes. Before you make an offer, ask where the advertised size came from, how much of it is enclosed living space and how much is terraces and parking, and whether any additions were built with a permit. If the size matters to the price, measure it yourself or have it measured during the home inspection.
Condominium sizes
Each condominium unit is registered as its own property, a finca filial, with a registered private area. Parking spaces and storage rooms may be separate registered units or part of the common areas, depending on the condominium. Listings often add the apartment, two parking spaces and a storage room together, which makes the unit look larger than it is. Ask for the living area of the apartment alone and compare it with the Registry record. Our guide to condominium fees covers the rest of what to check.
Check the survey plan against the land
A titled property should have a registered survey plan, the plano catastrado, that shows its boundaries and area in square meters, and the Registry won’t record a sale without one. The area on the plan, the area on the title and the land on the ground don’t always agree, especially on older rural parcels, and fences are not proof of boundaries. Before you buy, have a licensed surveyor walk the boundaries against the plan and check for easements that cross the land. Land with no registered title is a different and riskier purchase, covered in our guide to buying untitled land.
Minimum lot sizes for subdividing land are set by national rules and each canton’s zoning plan, and minimum sizes for agricultural parcels are much larger than for urban lots. If you plan to split a property later, confirm with the municipality what it allows before you buy. Our guides to buying land in Costa Rica, registering your title and closing costs cover the rest of the purchase, and our main guide to buying property in Costa Rica walks through it from start to finish.
