The first quarter in the real estate market in TCI was quite an eventful one. The hot market continued with a very comparable quarter to 2020 in all ways except how much the buyers were spending. Let’s take a look!
Number of Sales in First Quarter
There were 82 sales this quarter, compared to 88 last year. Of course last year we didn’t know what the following 12 months had in store for us. This year, buyers were going in with their eyes wide open (as well as their wallets). This quarter is especially impressive when you consider that the stamp duty reduction ended in December.
One factor holding the market back at this point is lack of inventory. The hot market has taken its toll on the number of available properties, and is driving many buyers to consider building their new home.
Who is Buying in TCI Right now?
This is the interesting part of the data from the real estate market in TCI. If you compare 2020 and 2021, you notice a new trend, and that is the rise of the luxury market. Even though there were a similar number of sales, 2021 saw an increase of nearly 60% in total dollar volume, going from just under 80M to 125M. The average home dollar value increased from 907k to 1.5M! In the middle of a pandemic!
This is really fascinating, and something we touched on in an earlier blog. What seems to be driving this is the desire of high net worth individuals to have a safe haven, out of the big cities. Or maybe Covid has made people realize life is short, and they want a place to escape with their family, to have quality time together. I can’t really say, but regardless, it has triggered something which is making affluent buyers want to own their own little piece of the Turks and Caicos.
Check out the full report from Q1 report here. Thanks to The Agency for keeping us informed!
