Bahamas Real Estate: The High End Market

You may be hearing that things are improving in the Bahamas real estate market. While that is generally true, not every section of the real estate market, or indeed, every island in the Bahamas is experiencing the renewed interest yet.

Even where sales are making gains, it often still depends on the ranges of listing prices - foreclosures, mid-range or high-end properties.

Between the economy and the credit crunch, this top 20% of listings is suffering.

Often lenders aren't committing to financing such large loans and, quite frankly, there are simply fewer purchasers out there for high end Bahamas real estate. Some vendors are having great difficulty in adjusting their expectations as to realistic selling prices.

In addition, and very importantly, there are far fewer non-Bahamian purchasers out there. Some real estate vendors feel that since another similar property is listed at a totally unrealistic figure, their property has to have a similar value. They have not taken into account that the other real estate is not even getting any nibbles and the listed price totally distorts the real market value at which it can sell.

As high-end prices will probably still drop, purchasers who do qualify for financing have more power in negotiating these sales. However, it is advisable to seek loan pre-approval before you make any offers. Large loans require larger down payments at possibly slightly higher rates, and qualification takes time.

As the seller of a Bahamas luxury home or vacant property, you may have to bite the bullet and undercut your competition, if you're truly committed to making a sale. Use your Bahamas Real Estate Association agent's Competitive Market Analysis to make your pricing decision, and if you can, offer to finance a portion of the deal yourself. Be creative.

The painful truth is that this high-end market recovery will take longer, so you shouldn't hesitate to set a lower price and offer other concessions to make your sale happen.