Buying off plan in Asunción: how to check a developer before you pay

Many new apartments in Paraguay are sold off plan, or en pozo as it is known locally: the buyer pays in instalments while the building goes up, usually at a lower price than a finished unit. It is a common and often sensible way to buy. It also means that, until the keys are handed over, the buyer is in effect financing the developer.

On April 29, 2026, Raúl Constantino, president of Capadei, the Paraguayan Chamber of Real Estate Developers, used a television interview to warn about foreign developers arriving in Paraguay with no track record and no financial solvency. If buyers' projects are not delivered on time, he said, confidence in the market could suffer, and he urged the oversight authorities to look at the solvency behind each construction.

What prompted the warning

The warning came alongside complaints, reported by Última Hora, from buyers in several Asunción projects of one foreign owned developer. Some buildings were due as early as 2023 and remain unfinished, and others have not started. One detail stands out: the firm had been cleared to operate on the stock exchange, which buyers took as a sign of reliability.

The lesson is not that off plan buying is unsafe. It is that no single approval proves a building will be finished. The risk sits with the developer, so the developer is what needs checking. Capadei itself only admits companies that have completed at least two developments, according to a 2024 InfoNegocios report.

Five checks before you pay a deposit

• The company and the people behind it. Confirm the developer is a registered company with a RUC, Paraguay's taxpayer registration number. Find out who the shareholders are and ask for a list of buildings it has completed, then visit them and, if you can, talk to owners. Capadei membership is a useful signal because of its two project rule, though not a guarantee. A price well below comparable projects deserves questions rather than enthusiasm.
• The land. Check that the developer, or the trust holding the project, owns the land and whether it is mortgaged. Since January 2026 these records sit with the Registro Unificado Nacional (RUN), which merged the property registry and the cadastre, the official record of land boundaries.
• Permits. Ask to see the municipal approval of the plans and the environmental licence. Mr Constantino has said a project should always have both.
• Where your money goes. Ask whether payments are held in a fideicomiso, a trust created under Law 921 of 1996. Only banks, financial companies and trust companies authorised by the Central Bank of Paraguay may act as trustee, the trust's assets cannot be mixed with the trustee's own, and they are protected from the creditors of both the trustee and the party that set up the trust. Ask who the trustee is, confirm it is authorised, and read what has to happen before money is released to the developer. Paying straight into a developer's own account offers far less protection. In a 2024 case reported by InfoNegocios, a builder collected buyers' money without depositing it in the fund set up for the project.
• The contract. Have a lawyer review the purchase contract before you sign: the delivery date and any grace period, penalties for delay, your right to a refund if the project stalls, the specification of the unit, and when the title deed will be signed before a notary and registered in your name.

A note for Investor Pass applicants

Paraguay's new Investor Pass, set out in Resolution 0283 of April 2026, offers permanent residency through a property investment of at least US$200,000. The investment can be shown with a notarised private purchase contract on which at least 30% of the price has been paid, so property still under construction can qualify. Homes for personal or family use do not count.

That makes off plan purchases a realistic route to residency, and it makes the checks above more important. A deposit of 30% on a US$200,000 unit is US$60,000 paid before the building exists, and the property has to stand up both as an investment and as the basis of your application.

What it means if you are considering Paraguay

Buying off plan can work well, provided you choose the developer as carefully as the apartment. Our real estate due diligence service in Paraguay checks the title and ownership of the land at the registry, the cadastral records, liens and unpaid taxes, the permits, the developer's track record and where your payments are held, with the contract reviewed by a licensed lawyer in our local team and a written recommendation at the end. If the purchase is part of a residency plan, our Paraguay residency program, including the Investor Pass route, covers the application with a fixed fee quoted in writing.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice.