Should I buy in Guatapé now or wait until the highway is built?

Buy based on the property and price you find today, not on a highway timeline: Devimed's concession over the Medellín-Guatapé corridor reverted in July 2026, with meaningful construction on the doubled-lane sections not expected before late 2027, so waiting specifically for highway-driven appreciation means waiting years for a catalyst that has not yet broken ground.

The actual highway timeline, stated plainly

The concession structure reverted in July 2026; a connectivity trust is not expected to be constituted before 2027; and handover to Invías follows in 2028. Construction on the doubled-lane sections between Marinilla, El Peñol, and Guatapé is not expected to begin meaningfully before late 2027, with full completion likely toward the end of the decade. Anyone timing a purchase around near-term highway improvement is working from a timeline that does not exist yet.

Even once construction genuinely begins, a multi-year road project of this scale typically takes several more years to complete, so the full connectivity benefit some buyers are anticipating is realistically a decade-scale story, not a near-term one.

Milestone	Expected timing
Devimed concession reversion	July 2026 (already occurred)
Connectivity trust constitution	2027
Handover to Invías	2028
Meaningful construction start	Late 2027 at the earliest

General infrastructure timeline for the Medellín-Guatapé corridor, as of Q3 2026. Confirm current status directly, since infrastructure timelines shift.

Why "waiting for the highway" is a multi-year bet, not a strategy

If your investment thesis depends specifically on highway-driven appreciation, you are betting on a catalyst several years out, with real execution risk along the way, given Colombian infrastructure projects historically face delays. Buying today and waiting for that catalyst to eventually play out is a very different position than buying today because you found a genuinely good property at a fair price.

Meanwhile, waiting years for a specific catalyst means paying whatever price the market has moved to by the time you decide to act, potentially forfeiting years of use or rental income from the property in the interim for a benefit that may not arrive on your assumed schedule.

What actually should drive your buy-now-or-wait decision

The property itself, whether the asking price reflects real comparables per the índice medians, and your own timeline and purpose for the property, matter far more than a highway announcement years from completion. A well-priced property that fits your needs today does not become a worse decision because a highway upgrade is still years away; it simply means you should not price in that upgrade's effect prematurely.

If your actual goal is a place to use and enjoy now, rather than a pure appreciation play timed around infrastructure, the highway timeline is close to irrelevant to your decision either way.

Common mistakes with highway-timing decisions

The most common mistake is delaying a purchase for years waiting on a catalyst that is not close to materializing, while genuinely good properties at fair prices come and go in the meantime. A second is a seller pricing in highway-driven appreciation today, which a well-informed buyer should recognize and push back on given the actual timeline.

A third mistake is assuming the highway question is binary, buy now versus wait for the highway, when in practice most buyers should simply evaluate each property as it comes to market on its own merits, treating any eventual infrastructure upgrade as a possible long-run bonus rather than a factor that should delay or accelerate a specific decision today.

How a multi-year infrastructure timeline should actually factor into your math

If you do want to account for the highway at all, treat it as a small, uncertain, multi-year tailwind rather than a near-term price driver, and size any expectation around it accordingly in your own return projections. Building a purchase decision around a specific, confident appreciation number tied to a road that has not yet broken ground is speculative in a way that a decision based on today's comparables and your own use case is not.

Frequently asked questions

Should I buy in Guatapé now or wait until the highway is built?

Buy based on the property and price today; the highway is not expected to see meaningful construction before late 2027, making it a multi-year bet, not a near-term catalyst.

When does meaningful highway construction actually start?

Not expected before late 2027, following the connectivity trust's 2027 constitution and the July 2026 concession reversion.

Should a seller's asking price already reflect the highway upgrade?

No, not meaningfully yet, given how far out construction remains; a well-informed buyer should question pricing that assumes otherwise.

Is there any reason to time a purchase around the highway specifically?

Not as a near-term strategy. The realistic payoff, if any, is years away and carries real execution risk.

What should actually drive a buy-now-or-wait decision?

The specific property, whether its price matches real comparables, and your own timeline and purpose for owning it.

Could the highway timeline slip further?

Possibly, given the general pattern of Colombian infrastructure project delays; treat late 2027 as an earliest case, not a guarantee.

Does the highway timeline matter if I just want a place to enjoy now?

Close to irrelevant. If your goal is present-day use rather than a pure appreciation play, the infrastructure timeline should not drive your decision.

Next step

Evaluate a specific property on its own merits and current price rather than a distant highway timeline. See the Guatapé versus El Peñol buying guide and the full corridor comparison for the broader picture.

Get a free, no-obligation property market analysis.