Caribbean Property - Bucking the Trend

nospam@example.com (Stewart Andrews - Contributor) — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 23:38:21 -0500

Property in the Caribbean is still looking attractive to buyers and sellers alike even in these financial times. Development land is being purchased for new resorts in particular in Dominican Republic, Barbados prices are continuing to rise and Belize has been identified as the ideal retirement spot.

Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is really taking off in tourism and property. The country has been recognized as being the number 1 Caribbean destination for tourists, taking the place of Puerto Rico who held this title for 40 years. A total of 3.4 million tourists visited the nation in 2008 resulting in Minister of Tourism, Felix Jimenez, announcing a plan to invest US$1 billion into tourism infrastructure developments that are to be completed by 2012.

The government has furthered this commitment by giving the go ahead to 16 new condo-hotels and real estate conversion projects which add almost 6000 new rooms to the current stock. There is also the added benefit of no stamp duty, tax on rental income or capital gains tax on property for owners in the Dominican Republic.

Barbados
Even during this economic climate, according to local estate agents, the prices are still appreciating between 10 – 15% per annum on mid-range real estate in Barbados. The price of luxury property is ascending faster and the property market has steady growth.

The lifestyle offered by Barbados, with its many amenities including golf courses, spas and restaurants along with ease of access from the UK has led to much interest from British buyers. One theory is that the Brits have recognized that they could live a more comfortable lifestyle there compared to their home country and are making the most of any redundancy payoffs to escape.

Property in Barbados is still just affordable and prices ranging from US$250,000 to US$40 million.

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Caribbean Real Estate

nospam@example.com (Stewart Andrews - Contributor) — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 13:01:00 -0500

The worlds financial markets have all over recent months seen increasing volatility, due to a serious weakness in the sub prime lending sector. This has happened because financial institutions lent heavily to people with poor credit ratings over recent years, when money was in good supply and interest rates were low. It did not require a crystal ball to see that when interest rates finally rose from their all time lows, that there would be a high level of defaults from borrowers who could not repay their mortgages.

In America, the results of this financial crisis have been building for some time, with many areas of the housing market suffering a decline in real estate values and new house starts falling dramatically.

In the UK, the effects on the housing market have been far milder, partly due to more conservative lending policies and traditionally higher interest rates. In September, UK house prices were still climbing at 8.5% annually, with some areas seeing a significant rise in prices and other areas where prices have fallen slightly.

Several clients have asked me if the financial instability in the worlds mortgage markets will lead to a decline in Caribbean real estate values similar to America ? The simple answer is no, and anyone hoping that they can buy a Caribbean property cheaper next year than they can now, is unfortunately only likely to be deluding themselves.

The Caribbean real estate market is an international market driven for the most part by well healed foreign investors looking for second homes, investment and vacation properties. The number of people choosing to enter the second home market is continuing to grow, and last year more people in the UK chose to relocate abroad and buy a house in the sun, than ever before.

Mortgages have traditionally been difficult for ex patriots to obtain in the Caribbean and therefore Caribbean lending institutions are not exposed to any serious risk. Additionally, since Caribbean real estate prices are continuing to climb, properties repossessed by lenders can usually be sold quickly.

The final factor that helps underpin the continuing growth in the value of Caribbean real estate , is the limited physical land mass of the Caribbean islands. Land in the Caribbean, is very much a finite commodity.

For the above reasons, and unless there is a total meltdown of the worlds financial institutions, it is likely that real estate on the majority of Caribbean islands, will continue to show a year on year rise in property values for the foreseeable future.

Stewart Andrews - Contributor - Caribbean Living Lifestyle Blog

Caribbean Property - Bucking the Trend

Caribbean Real Estate