This time of year is notoriously slow in the Caribbean every year. After a brutal hurricane season, the market slowed down more than usual in many destinations that were either hit, or narrowly missed some of the big storms. However, with hurricane season nearly over, and cooler weather coming to much of North America, the Caribbean is once again becoming front of mind.
Good Time to Buy, Poor Time to Build?
With some islands having been hit, grazed or spooked by the recent hurricanes that went through the Caribbean, now may be a good time to buy from sellers who may want to sell their vacation properties. Worried that visitors may stay away for a year or two, bargains may pop up in some markets. For those who missed out on the rock bottom prices during the recession, now is as good a time as any to buy in the Caribbean.
If you are looking to build however, now may not be the best time depending on the island. Islands which saw significant damage will have construction companies working around the clock, driving up the cost of building (or at the very least extending the time to build). Construction work is extremely busy in a number of destinations, as the islands get put back together.
The Future Looks Bright in the Caribbean
Looking ahead in the near future, the timing to buy Caribbean real estate is very good. Large scale investment is back on many islands, and with a strong economy in the US, tourism will continue to be strong in this region. It is expected the Caribbean could see 10-15 years of strong development statistics on a number of islands.
Tourism numbers have been steadily increasing for a number of years now, very few markets have not bounced back since 2009. Even though a number of islands have tried to diversify their economies, they will rely heavily on tourism as long as they have white sand beaches and turquoise blue waters.
Financing Still a Challenge, But We Have Options
If you are looking to finance your new vacation home, know that we can help. Financing options are not the same or plentiful as they are in the US or Canada, but they do exist. Talk to us today about what we can do on each individual island (as the options do vary), and lets get you into that new home sooner!
