We continue to bring your round-ups on the luxury real estate scene in popular areas for vacation or retirement. This month we travel to the Spanish colonial gem of Nicaragua—Granada.

This attractive city on a lake, less than an hour from the international airport in Managua, has witnessed a cycle familiar to those of you who have been reading about real estate in the Americas for a while. Before word got out you could buy or restore a colonial home in the center for well under $100,000. Then as the major media piled in and declared Granada to be the next big thing, the U.S. bubble money flowed and speculators piled in. Then the crash came up north and prices dropped. They didn’t drop back to where they started of course, but those who bought at the top are going to be waiting a while to get their money back, much as the buyers in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Florida will be waiting.

If this is your time to buy though, you’ve got to think this is a good point in the cycle. Prices have leveled off and are probably accurately reflecting real worth. So check out our detailed story on luxury real estate in Granada, Nicaragua to see what you can get for $400K to $500K, the range where most of the best high-end properties are tapping out.