Macacona

About Macacona:

Macacona is the third district of Esparza canton, covering 34 square kilometres northeast of Esparza town. Three national roads cross it. The Interamericana, Ruta 1, runs through on its way between San Ramón and Barranca, and the main entrance to Nances opens straight off it. Ruta 742 starts in Macacona, crosses the Río Barranca by bridge into San Jerónimo and keeps climbing toward Piedades in San Ramón, while Ruta 131 completes the network. For commuters that means the highway is always close, though a lot facing Ruta 1 trades quiet for access.

This is a cluster of barrios rather than one town. The municipality lists the district seat, Los Nances, Paraíso, Alto de Conchal and La Angostura as its settlements, with San Roque, Bruselas and Guapinol among them, and part of Marañonal falls inside Macacona while the rest belongs to Espíritu Santo. Nances, which locals call Barrio San José after its patron saint, has the area’s EBAIS clinic. The census counted 2,776 residents in 2000 and 4,742 in 2011, and the municipality now puts the number of homes at around 1,800.

The university is the newest driver of demand. UCR’s Sede del Pacífico, whose main campus is at El Cocal in Puntarenas, bought 151,761 square metres here and started teaching in Esparza in 2017, first in rented space in town while its 700-square-metre building at Nances was finished. Business informatics, multimedia technology and cultural management were the first programmes to move. By 2025 nearly three hundred students attended classes at Nances, and the university council was discussing more construction there to take pressure off the crowded Puntarenas campus. Whenever that next phase comes, a public university that owns land in the district gives rentals and small businesses a steady base.

The district sits at an average of 243 metres and reaches down to the Río Barranca. Across Esparza canton, September and October bring the heaviest rain, with landslides on hillsides and flooding on low ground. That makes a lot’s exact position as important as its size. If a parcel lies near the river or below a cut bank, see it in the middle of the rainy season before you sign anything.

Houses in Macacona:

Most homes here are practical single-storey houses built for everyday life. At the accessible end you find two-bedroom, one-bathroom houses of around 60 square metres on lots under 300 square metres, a sensible first purchase. Outside the barrios some larger houses stand on a hectare of land, sometimes with a galerón, and a few properties with two accesses onto the main road pair a home with a business. If you are after houses for sale in Macacona, decide early between a home inside a barrio and one on open land, because budget and upkeep differ completely.

Rentals in Macacona:

Rentals follow the campus. Rooms and small apartments in and around Nances are let to UCR students and staff, and even landlords in central Esparza advertise their units as close to Nances. Before buying to let, work out how many months a year classes actually run and what the unit earns during the holidays.

Land and Lots in Macacona:

Land is the heart of this market. Paraíso has small lots, some barely nine metres wide at the front, suited to a house or a small shop, and elsewhere in the district lots of 700 to 1,750 square metres leave room for a detached home with a yard. Parcels of 4,000 to 5,000 square metres come up too: one inside a residencial with a private entrance and its own water connection, another with fibre internet and marketed as room for up to four homes. When comparing lots in Macacona, frontage on a public road, water availability and municipal permits tell you more than the square metres.

FAQ:

• Which roads serve Macacona?

  Ruta 1 runs through the district, linking it east to San Ramón and west to Barranca. From Macacona, Ruta 742 bridges the Barranca into San Jerónimo and continues uphill to Piedades, and Ruta 131 passes through as well.

• Does the university create rental demand?

  It does. Classes have run at the Nances campus since 2017 and nearly three hundred students studied there in 2025, so rooms and small flats near Nances have an obvious market during term. Expansion has been discussed, but buy for the demand that exists now rather than for buildings with no date yet.

• What should I check before buying land in Macacona?

  Start with the ground: if the lot is near the Barranca or on a slope, visit in September or October, when the rain is heaviest. Marañonal is split between Macacona and Espíritu Santo, so use the plano catastrado to confirm which district the parcel really falls in. Then search the Registro Nacional (Registro Inmobiliario) for liens and ask the Municipalidad de Esparza for the land-use certificate.

• Can I build more than one house on a lot?

  Some larger lots are marketed that way, but the municipality has the final word. Frontage on a public road, water for each unit and the subdivision rules decide how many homes fit, so get it in writing before you pay for that potential.

• Is Macacona growing?

  Its population rose from 2,776 in 2000 to 4,742 in 2011, an increase of more than two-thirds in eleven years. The university at Nances adds one more reason for new homes to keep going up.