Demand for Caribbean real estate has doubled in the first six months of 2015 compared to the same timeframe last year, according to an examination of inquiries conducted by Caribbean luxury property specialist 7th Heaven Properties. al aaliya island
According to an analysis of inquiries obtained via the 7th Heaven Properties website and the company's magazine The Caribbean Property Investor, interest in Caribbean residential and commercial real estate has risen significantly across all price ranges.
The bulk of inquiries come from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, with inquiries from American and Canadian buyers more than doubling, and inquiries from British buyers up more than 30%.
Inquiries for residential real estate have increased significantly in St Kitts and Nevis, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Antigua, and the Dominican Republic.
Inquiries for properties in all price ranges have increased: inquiries for properties priced between $1 million and $2 million USD have more than doubled, and inquiries for properties priced below $1 million USD have increased from 39 percent to 44 percent.
Inquiries for commercial real estate, such as hotels for sale and land for construction, have increased significantly in St Lucia and Jamaica.
According to Walter Zephirin, the Managing Director of 7th Heaven Properties in London, "Inquiries for Caribbean real estate have risen significantly in the first half of this year, owing to increased buyer confidence in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The impressive performance of the region's tourism sector, especially in places like the Dominican Republic and the Turks and Caicos Islands, as well as the continued success of highly attractive Citizenship through Investment Programs in St Kitts and Nevis and Antigua, has fueled demand for Caribbean property."
Zephirin went on to say, "With a solid revenue pipeline, the outlook for the second half of 2015 is highly promising. A series of announcements about increased airlift to the area, as well as major resort developments linked to Robert de Niro in Antigua and Barbuda and Leonardo DiCaprio in Belize, as well as the first licensed casino in Jamaica, have raised the Caribbean's profile and appeal to buyers."
The Cayman Hotel will be operated by Kimpton.
Kimpton Hotels, headquartered in San Francisco, will oversee the construction of a 263-room hotel on Grand Cayman, the company's first project outside of the United States.
Dart Realty is building a hotel on Seven Mile Beach that is expected to open in 2016. The property will also include 56 residences and six beach bungalows, and will be described as the "first design oriented, boutique-style hotel and the first new development on famed Seven Mile Beach in a decade."
Kimpton, a luxury hotel specialist, has hotels in Scottsdale, Arizona; Sedona, Arizona; Miami, Florida; Vero Beach, Florida; San Diego, California; Santa Barbara, California; and Aspen, Colorado. It has recently confirmed plans to construct new hotels in Palm Springs, California, and Savannah, Georgia.
"Expanding into the Caribbean was an easy decision for us because of our already strong presence in major feeder markets like South Florida, New York, Washington, DC, Chicago, and Dallas," said Kimpton CEO Mike Depatie.
Dart Realty, a Dart Enterprises subsidiary, is the developer of Camana Bay, which has been dubbed "the Caribbean's premier example of New Urbanism."
Dart intends to begin work on the Seven Mile Beach project, which is located near Camana Bay, in September. Chief operating officer Jackie Doak told the Wall Street Journal that the organization would fund the $170 million project from its own funds.
Prospective buyers are mostly from the northeastern United States, where the recession did not have as much of an effect, she told the newspaper. She estimates that luxury residences in the Camana Bay area cost between $900 and $1,100 per square foot.