DR Market Pulse — August 13, 2026: Inflation Cools to 5.47%, Remittances Hit a Record $7.3B, and Hyatt Adds a Fourth Punta Cana Flag

The Big Picture: Inflation Finally Bends Lower

Annual inflation eased to 5.47% in July, down from 5.67% in June, as the Central Bank's consumer price index rose just 0.19% for the month. Core inflation — which strips out volatile food and fuel items — held steady at 4.96% year-over-year, comfortably inside the Central Bank's 4.0% ± 1.0% target range. The Bank credits recent government-mandated cuts to regular and premium gasoline, diesel, and LPG prices for taking the edge off the supply-side pressure that had been building since the Middle East conflict pushed oil higher earlier in the summer.

It's the first meaningful cooling in the headline number since inflation began climbing in the spring, and it gives the Central Bank more room to keep holding its policy rate at 5.25% — unchanged since the July 31 decision — without the same inflationary trade-off it faced a month ago.

Tourism: The Best July on Record, and the Games Take Their Final Bow

The country logged 1,083,448 visitors in July — 921,718 by air and 161,730 by cruise ship — making it the strongest July in Dominican tourism history, up 2.9% from July 2025 and 60.6% above pre-pandemic 2019 levels. Through the first seven months of 2026, cumulative arrivals reached 7.7 million, a 7% year-over-year increase, with July's activity alone generating RD$8.7 billion in tourism-sector taxes.

The 25th Central American and Caribbean Games officially closed on August 8 at Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez in Santo Domingo, capping a 16-day run that drew over 6,200 athletes from 37 nations and an estimated 300,000 visitors, backed by roughly US$160 million in venue construction and renovation across 16 sports facilities. Attention now turns to the post-Games question hanging over the capital: how the city keeps that new infrastructure — and its freshly raised profile as an events destination — working for it now that the closing ceremony is over.

Money: Remittances Cross a New Record, Rates Stay Put

Remittances reached US$7,316.4 million between January and July 2026, up 6.4% year-over-year, after July alone brought in $1,097.1 million (+4.7%). The United States remained the dominant source at 81.4% of the month's formal transfers, with Spain a distant but growing second at 6.6%. The Central Bank continues to project remittances will clear US$12.2 billion for the full year — a steady tailwind for household spending and, indirectly, for housing demand outside the tourism corridors.

Foreign Investment: A Record First Half

Foreign direct investment hit US$3,276.5 million in the first half of 2026, up 7.7% year-over-year and a new first-half high. Energy led the sector breakdown at 27.8%, followed by tourism (20.1%), with real estate development and mining tied at 12.4% each — together those four sectors captured nearly three-quarters of all inbound capital. The Central Bank projects full-year FDI will exceed US$5.3 billion.

Development Watch: A New Hyatt in Punta Cana, Tropicalia Presses Toward Late 2026

• Punta Cana — Hyatt announced Hyatt Vivid Punta Cana, a new adults-only all-inclusive slated to open in the third quarter, joining Secrets Macao Beach and the group's other recent Dominican additions. The property will offer four pools, swim-out rooms, five specialty restaurants, a speakeasy-style jazz club, pickleball and tennis courts, and a dedicated wellness program, with rates starting at $409/night for stays from September 1 — another data point in the steady stream of new international flags choosing the east coast this year.
• Samaná / Las Terrenas — The Four Seasons Resort and Residences at Tropicalia, developed by Grupo Cisneros on Playa Esmeralda, continues moving toward a targeted late-2026 opening. General contractor Bouygues Construcciones and architect Isay Weinfeld are building out the 95-key resort and 25 private residences on the roughly $200 million project, designed around a low-density, passive-cooling footprint along nearly a kilometer of beach.
• Cap Cana — Utopía Development's Puerto Marina Residences, the quiet-luxury project on the Cap Cana marina announced earlier this year, continues advancing toward its projected late-2027 opening — a reminder that the marina district's current wave of ultra-luxury supply will take another year-plus to fully land.
• Santo Domingo — With the Games venues now handed back to daily use, the capital's residential pipeline keeps building in parallel: Traventto, a new project in La Esperilla from a partnership between Arquitectura y Concreto and Inmobiliaris, adds to the wave of vertical development already underway at Coralia, City Center, and LM38.

What This Means for You

Buyers: cooling inflation alongside a steady 5.25% policy rate is the most favorable financing backdrop of the summer — real borrowing costs are easing even without a rate cut, which strengthens the case for locking in pre-construction pricing now. Investors: real estate's 12.4% share of a record first-half FDI haul confirms the sector remains one of the country's top four capital magnets — worth tracking how much of that flows toward new entrants like Hyatt Vivid versus established pipelines in Cap Cana and Samaná. Sellers: the best July in Dominican tourism history, plus Santo Domingo's freshly built-out sports infrastructure now looking for its next act, point to broadening demand pressure beyond the usual coastal hot spots.

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*Meridian publishes this Market Pulse weekly. Explore verified listings across Punta Cana, Cap Cana, Santo Domingo, and Samaná at investwithmeridian.com.*