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Friday, 24 October 2008 00:00 |
With its golden beaches and exotic allure, the Caribbean continues to draw in a wide range of tourists making it the ideal location for a property investment.
Once islands such as Barbados and Antigua were the preserves solely of the rich - royalty, celebrities and businesspeople would enjoy the fruits of the archipelago to the exclusion of regular holidaymakers.
But this situation has changed drastically in recent years thanks to massive amounts of infrastructure investment and a proliferation of cheap flights and cruises to the largest of the Caribbean's 7,000 islands, islets, reefs and cays.
A wide range of properties on offer
Being made up of so many land masses of disparate sizes and location, there is a great amount of diversity to the Caribbean property market.
On the idyllic island of Margarita, for example, it is still possible to purchase brand-new property with high rental yields for as little as ?30,000, up to 70 per cent less than in some of the more mainstream resorts.
Meanwhile Roatan, which the Wall Street Journal recently highlighted as the Caribbean's next big 'it spot', currently enjoys average prices in the region of ?156,000. Local property experts expect the Honduran Bay Island to witness capital appreciation of between 15 and 20 per cent over the short-to-mid-term.
Inwards investment
This phenomenal growth is partly due to the inward investment that many of the islands have seen in recent times. In Roatan alone, multi-million pound improvements are currently being made to its main cruise terminal, improving access to the tiny island massively.
The Dominican Republic, meanwhile, has announced plans to spend near £13 million improving the quality of its beaches with new sand in a bid to boost tourism to the Caribbean's second largest island.
"We want to guarantee excellent conditions and develop our tourism industry further," a spokesman from the Tourism Ministry said, adding that several new developments including golf courses and spas are also underway.
Strong demand for tourism
Official statistics reveal why governments are so willing to invest. According to the Caribbean Tourism Industry, the Dominican Republic welcomed nearly three million international visitors between January and August 2008, up 3.1 per cent from the same period last year.
It is no wonder that most cruises are forecasting a continuation of strong tourism numbers - during the same six-month period, Cuba was visited by some 1.7 million international holidaymakers, while the smaller islands of Bermuda and St Lucia both recorded over 200,000 visitors.
Future growth
There are also a large number of developments planned right across the Caribbean. Recently, it was announced that golf legend Gary Player will be designing a new 18-hole championship course in St Lucia with over 100 accompanying villas.
News portal Property Wire reports that the Caribbean real estate sector is also benefitting from the growth in eco-tourism.
Not to be confused with the Dominican Republic, the rugged, mountainous island of Dominica is benefitting from its under-developed nature, with investors looking to appeal to holiday-renters that wish to stay away from the bustle of the main resorts in more natural surroundings.
Property adviser Lisette Stevens told the website: "Dominica has a lot to offer and is a healthy market for buyers. It is known for its nature and investors are encouraged to think about using renewable energy."
With so much choice, there is bound to be something that appeals to every type of property investor in the Caribbean. Prices remain affordable and capital appreciation is assured, despite the current state of the world financial market.
Peter Treherne, of property investment consultancy Independence Properties, believes that the Caribbean market remains a good prospect for the foreseeable future.
"A number of Caribbean governments are spending huge sums of money on improving the image and infrastructure of their islands," he said. "There are very few regions of the world that offer so much to so many.
"The vast cross-section of investment types, accommodation styles and price points mean that the Caribbean can cater for practically every investor." |
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