Turks & Caicos Islands Real Estate Winter/Spring 2019/20

Turks & Caicos Islands’ visitors and “snowbird” residents
this winter/spring season will immediately notice
the evidence of development and construction that has
been taking place both blatantly and behind the scenes for
some time. Probably the most striking is the upward climb
of the 12-story buildings being erected in the heart of
Grace Bay. The long-anticipated, much-discussed Ritz-
Carlton project is well underway, dwarfing the properties
nearby.
Concurrently, on nearly every road you explore, you
will see evidence of majestic luxury villas, newly built or
renovated family homes, attractive vacation rental properties
and apartment complexes, along with new resort/
condominums, restaurants, shopping plazas and office
centers, both in operation or being built. The continued
strong interest in living and working in these Islands is
reinforced as you turn the pages of this magazine—the
largest we have ever printed.
Just the facts
According to the Turks & Caicos Real Estate Association
(TCREA) third quarter MLS statistics, which compare
the months of January 1 to October 31 for 2018 and
2019, the number of new listings jumped nearly 15%, to
756, with a 9% drop in “SOLD” listings to 287. What is
striking though, is the dollar volume of “SOLD” listings,
which increased 21% to $264,911,500 with a 33% increase
in the average sale price to $923,037.
As you page through this issue of Turks & Caicos
Islands Real Estate, it’s easy to see that the choice to purchase
property in the TCI is not inexpensive. Many of the
upscale luxury villas for sale trend upwards from $10 million,
with the most significant transactions this year being
the sale of Bruce Willis’s seven acre beachfront property,
The Residence on Parrot Cay, for $27 million and the late
Prince’s five acre island estate for $10.8 million.
Overall, the market after three quarters in 2019 is up
16.5% over last year in dollar volume ($241,145,500 versus
$207,048,195). This dollar volume is more than the market
did in all of 2017!
Historically, the third quarter has been the slowest,
yet is has become apparent over the past few years that
TCI is now a year-round market for both tourism and
real estate, with strong summers and improving shoulder
month performance.
In the last year, the median list price has increased
about 10%, continuing to reflect a scarcity in available
properties, which is what Beth Atkins refers to when she
20 Turks & Caicos Islands Real Estate – The Official Magazine of the Turks & Caicos Real Estate Association