Turks and Caicos Condos - Condo Articles

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Clients often ask us whether they should consider a preconstruction condo in a new development rather than an existing condo in an established development. Unfortunately there is no simple answer. The answer ultimately depends on the individual's objectives, requirements and financial position. I will attempt to expand on that statement below.

Pricing considerations:

Historically preconstruction condos have proven to be better investments with early purchasers acquiring at a significant discount to equivalent completed units on the open market. That has changed with developers pricing preconstruction products more aggressively on the basis that buyers will opt for a preconstruction purchase to take advantage of the staggered payment schedule, meaning that they can get more condo than they could afford in a completed development. As a result preconstruction purchase prices have risen from the US$400 per square foot range to well above US$600 a square foot in some of the newer developments and we are now seeing preconstruction condominiums on the ground level priced above US$1 million. To be fair the cost of construction has increased ,and new preconstruction products tend to be more ambitious in terms of design and finish, but that only accounts for part of it. Because of that value oriented investors in a position to purchase an existing unit that meets his/her specifications this can often identify apparent pricing disparities.

Readers of articles on our main Turks and Caicos real estate listing site will be aware of our observation that condo "sales" (mainly pre-construction) in the Turks & Caicos Islands and related enquiries appear to have lagged residential housing and raw land sales for the past few months (the latter two being extremely strong).

This is probably largely due to the fact that condo sales in particular are more seasonal and we have just come through low season - July to October is the low season for tourists who are the main buyers of condos. However, the reason I am writing about this is that our company has seen a drop off in the number of pre-construction related enquiries even though we are getting a lot more enquiries overall. I have sounded out a few of the more established real estate agents here and their feedback indicates that they have experienced the same thing to varying degrees. Obviously my "on the ground" research is not comprehensive and may not be representative of the overall market - but I have decided to comment on it in any event :)

Nuts About The Seven Stars!

It has been a while since I put an article on this site. I just wanted to make a brief comment about how impressed I am with the recently opened Seven Stars Resort. I have always been enthusiastic about the project because of its design, specifications and floorplans but the completed product is truly special. One quirky feature which you may not be aware of is that the Seven Stars Resort has its own security team which is comprised of very polite and unobtrusive Nepalese Gurkhas. Having a highly trained team of British commandoes for resort security on Provo is obviously overkill, but it underscores the development team's commitment to the peace of mind of its owners and guests. That sort of attention to detail is apparent throughout the resort, and I fully expect it to set a new standard in service on Grace Bay.