Turks and Caicos real estate market update – October 2006 | Print |
Turks & Caicos Real EstateThis is just a brief follow up to my previous article posted in August 2006 which pointed out the increasing momentum in the real estate market in the Turks and Caicos Islands evidenced by the TCREA MLS sales statistics.

Note: The final figures for September were in fact better than represented when this article was first published.  As far as we can determine this was due to delayed posting of sales by member agents.  September figures were in fact, stellar, with the US$ value of closed sales jumping by an enormous 76%, as shown below.  On this basis we will delay the release of information by at least a month to ensure that the figures are more representative of what is happening.:
 


[SEPTEMBER 2006 ]

  2006 2005 %INC/DEC
[ 2005 - 2006 ]
Total # of Sales [Month] 17 18 -6%
Total # of Sales YTD 227 172 32%
Total Sales Dollar Volume [Month] $9,906,000 $5,631,300 76%
Total Sales Dollar Volume YTD $111,898,752 $80,455,970 39%

TCREA MLS statistical reports for September show closed sales as actually being down 5% when compared to 2005.

Overview of August - September 2006 real estate market:

Undeveloped land:

Demand for undeveloped residential lots continues to be strong particularly at the high-end (US$1 million +) and the middle range (US$200K – US$400K).

Residential housing:

The high-end residential housing market has always been more sedate than the undeveloped land market, however, with the rise in prices of undeveloped land there has been more activity on the housing front.

Condos:

There has been some slow-down in preconstruction condo sales, due wholly (in our view) to the softening in the condo market in the US and a resulting change in “investor” sentiment. This point is covered in more detail on our site which focuses exclusively on the Turks and Caicos condo market where we give our view of the stronger areas of the Turks and Caicos condo market and point out consequential pricing discrepancies that now exist.

Bernadette Hunt - October 2006