Casa de Campo real estate: buying into the Caribbean's classic resort community in 2026

In 2011 we called Casa de Campo “the wonder of a tropical seaside resort”. The phrase still fits.

The resort covers 7,000 acres on the south-east coast at La Romana. The designer Oscar de la Renta shaped its original interiors and its style. Pete and Alice Dye guided some 300 local workers with machetes to clear the Teeth of the Dog golf course through jungle and along the rocky shore. The course opened in 1971, and the world’s golfers have been coming ever since.

Here is the 2026 version of that article: what still makes the place special, what living there costs today, and how buying inside a resort actually works.

Teeth of the Dog, still in the world’s top 50

Our 2011 article quoted the claim that Teeth of the Dog was “the only Caribbean course consistently in the world’s top 100 (usually top 50)”. In 2026 it still is, and no longer the only one. Golf Digest’s World’s 100 Greatest Courses for 2026–2027 ranks:

• Teeth of the Dog at No. 50, with seven holes “hunkered down on the ocean”;
• Jack Nicklaus’s Punta Espada, at Cap Cana, at No. 57.

Casa de Campo also has Dye Fore, above the Chavón river gorge, and The Links. The resort adds a marina, polo, a shooting centre, tennis, beaches, and Altos de Chavón, the hilltop replica of a 16th-century Mediterranean village with an amphitheatre and design school.

What a villa costs: 2011 vs 2026

	2011 (our article)	2026 asking prices
Typical villa	~US$1,700,000	16 villas on DRListings: US$2,475,000–4,200,000; typical ~US$3.35–3.6 m (October 2026)
Top of the market	~US$3,000,000	Punta Águila (oceanfront) US$12–36 m; Costamar US$14–20 m; Río Arriba US$8–20 m+

Sources: DRListings, October 2026; Villas in Casa neighbourhood guide, 2026. Asking prices.

In fifteen years, the 2011 top of the market has become its middle. Casa de Campo has kept its position as the Dominican Republic’s most established luxury address, and at the top, inventory is thin and prices are set by a small international clientele.

The neighbourhoods, by setting

• Oceanfront: Punta Águila, Punta Minitas and selected Cajuiles parcels. These are the trophy estates.
• Golf frontage: Dye Fore Estates (about US$2.5–7.2 million) and Cajuiles.
• Marina district: Costa Verde and the areas around the marina, for boat owners and those who like restaurants on foot.
• Established interior neighbourhoods: Barranca (about US$3.4–6 million), Cacique, Caletón, Costamar, Los Lagos and Río Arriba.

Typical villas in the current listings have around six bedrooms. Many are sold furnished, and most come with staff quarters. Casa de Campo villas are built for long stays with family and guests.

How buying inside a resort works

Buying in Casa de Campo is buying a Dominican property, with the same rules as anywhere in the country, plus the rules of the resort.

• The same legal basics. Foreigners can buy freely. Have your own lawyer verify the certificado de título and the survey, and pay the 3% transfer tax on the appraised value. See how a foreigner buys property in the DR.
• The community’s own rules and fees. There are architectural guidelines, maintenance fees, and membership and access arrangements for golf, the marina and the beach club. Ask for the current schedule of fees and the rules on renovation before you make an offer.
• Renting it out. Many owners place their villas in the resort’s rental programme, which manages bookings and staff. Compare the programme’s terms with private management, and run the numbers net of the high running costs of a large villa.
• Annual costs. Large villas carry the 1% IPI property tax on assessed value above the exemption, staff salaries, insurance (including hurricane cover), pool, garden and power. Budget them as a percentage of the price before you fall for the view.
• Selling. Since Law 30-26 (June 2026), individuals pay a flat 10% capital-gains tax on property sales, down from up to 25%. At these price levels the difference is large.

Where to start. The resort’s own sales office is Casa de Campo Real Estate, and international brokers list here too. Our 2011 article pointed readers to the resort’s website; that is still the right first stop.

Getting there

La Romana International Airport is next to the resort and handled about 2.5% of the country’s air arrivals in 2025. Punta Cana airport is about an hour east on the Autopista del Coral, which opened in 2012. Santo Domingo is about 1.5 hours west. Cruise ships also call at La Romana.

Our 2011 verdict, kept

We wrote that a villa here “deserves each and every penny you would spend on it”, once you have walked through one. We would still say so, with the caution that Casa de Campo’s pennies are now spent in the millions. At that level, the checks that matter are the boring ones:

• the title;
• the fees;
• the state of the roof and the pool machinery;
• how quickly comparable villas actually sold.

La Romana & Casa de Campo is a planned area on Caribe Scout. Listings from the resort’s community, credited to the agents who publish them, appear as the area goes live. See the area.