INTEREST RATES FOR RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES ARE BETTER IN SAINT LUCIA THAN IN THE USA!
“Buy on the fringe and wait. Buy land near a growing city! Buy real estate when other people want to sell. Hold what you buy!” – John Jacob Astor
It is a great time to be seeking to acquire property if you know where in the world to look. I am staying with my conviction that Saint Lucia is a unique destination for business and pleasure. With our CIP programme being one of the best in the world’s 195 countries, foreigners are invited to invest in the real estate sector of this beautiful warm water destination – Saint Lucia, known as the Helen of the West Indies.
Even in the early days after Columbus discovered the islands of the West Indies, Saint Lucia was a coveted island that saw 14 battles between the English and the French with the latter ceding in the end and left a culture of English and French. Citizens speak English as the official language with the French Creole/Patois freely spoken by most St. Lucians, especially the elderly.
With this brief introduction to Saint Lucia, I am ready to share some insiders’ information with you.
- While the banks are very liquid at this time and in recent times are a bit more flexible with their Mortgage offerings, especially for residential properties. We are seeing interest rates as low as 3.5 percent on land purchases with Credit Unions competing aggressively in this category.
- Properties are still on the market at prices set 5 – 7 years ago, and in spite of the exorbitant increases in building materials prices due to COVID 19, and other disasters which further pushed prices upward; these developments have not seen any rapid increase in the selling prices of properties. I will like to point to two reasons for this situation.
a) Many owners are responding to pressures from their bankers, and the prospects of looming foreclosure. They are pushed to either hand over their property to the banks or try to get a quick sale to save their credit, and possibly recoup some funds.
b) Low demand by St. Lucians for properties over US$150,000.00
- Sellers depend heavily on Foreign Direct Investment to fuel sales in high end residential and commercial properties.
Looking at the US housing market, the past three years have seen substantial upward movement in prices. In many cases, the final offers exceeded the list price by as much as 10%. Things drastically changed during the second quarter of 2022 as inventory shrunk, and mortgage interest rates moved from 2.68% in December 2020, to currently 6.97% as of 10/09/22.
My advice is not to be emotional when making any decision regarding property. Do not get impatient. Do not put yourself in a situation to suffer from Buyer’s Remorse which is not unusual in such situations. To my friends in the developed world, especially those in the USA, it is time to look offshore.
Builders in the USA are now seeking to sell at wholesale with discounted rates at between 20 to 25% in spite of inventory drying up. The impact of the current mortgage rates is being felt and things will not get better any time soon.
This month’s Special Deal:
A Commercial Property at a Corner on a high traffic road, just off an Industrial Estate in the Quarter of Vieux Fort with an area of 21,000 sqft, building 9,000 sqft, 2 levels.
Minimum Price: US$250,000.00.
A Special Viewing is scheduled for Sunday, 23rd October, 2022 at 3.00pm. For reservation contact Ed Harris by Email: stluciagreatpropertydeals@gmail.com
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Stay tuned.
Edward Harris
Blogger/Business Consultant/Realtor/Broker
Mobile/WhatsApp: 1-758-485-1456
