The city of Santo Domingo is growing.  Which direction? Primarily North and 
East.  Below are some photos of the San Isidro section of the Zora Oriental, which is located east of the Ozama River.   

200M squared building lots are selling for about US$ 10,000.  For the construction of a 2,000 square foot home, plus enough space for a garden or small swimming pool, I would suggest a double lot of 400M or more. 

The estimated annual property tax for a 200M squared building lot in this area is about US $ 35.00 

This residential section of Santo Domingo allows home owners to be close enough "to the city", without being in the center of busy business districts. 
In addition, Boca Chica beach and Las Americas International Airport are just a twenty minute car ride away.

The housing market is quite diversifed enough, that almost all tastes and wallets can be satisfied.  The problem for most tourists or foreign visitors is that they never get to make satisfactory comparisons.  Either they are only aware of the higher priced residential properties marketed in English, or they only get to see the over-priced devlopments aimed strictly at tourists.  If you wish to spend US$ 100,000 for a building lot, and an additional US$ 200,000 to construct your home in a golf course comunity, there are plenty of opportunities to do so. 

Our opinion is, buy a comfortable in a residential area, and put the rest of your money in the bank so you can enjoy a tax free monthly income with the interest........and play golf where your choose. 

The residential new construction market in Santo Domingo starts at about US$50,000 and goes up from there.  The photos below are for homes selling in the US$62,500 range to US$85,000 (including the land under-neath the house).  That is less money than what you would pay, for just a building lot alone in some "tourist" oriented communities.