THE CAYMAN REAL ESTATE MARKET IS MOVING – ARE YOU?

Cayman Property News -The Cayman Real Estate Market is moving, are you?

This past year, the Cayman Islands have seen a remarkable amount of property transactions and new real estate development launches, largely based on Grand Cayman. Naturally, the high profile deals and larger Cayman property developments have stolen the headlines, but the sheer volume of everyday Cayman real estate sales has significantly driven the market to a very merry Cayman Christmas.

Some of the most newsworthy announcements throughout the year are as follows; keep in mind that Grand Cayman is the foremost destination for real estate investment in the Cayman Islands (and world renowned off-shore financial centre) and is only 75 square miles with a growing resident population of 58,000, so this is quite a feat!
Boom time for Grand Cayman Hotels and Residence’s – headlining this years property news is the countdown for the Kimpton ‘Seafire’ Resort and Residences.  Situated on the resort’s 12-acre site, The Residences are Dart Realty’s first Seven Mile Beach properties available for sale, a total of 62 luxury residences in a sophisticated 10-story property neighbouring the first class hotel, now part of The Inter-Continental Hotel group. The Seafire residences present the best of both worlds, with the privacy of a luxury residence and quiet enjoyment of the rooftop lounge along with access to the best-in-class amenities offered at the resort. This includes two beach-view pools, bars, restaurants, the soon to be branded spa, beautifully landscaped gardens-a signature of all Dart properties-all of which will be intertwined by a coastal biking and walking trails.

The private condo residences will offer sweeping views of the world famous Seven Mile Beach and resort grounds, those facing the North Sound will be blessed with views of the Sand bar and Stingray City. These long-awaited residences will be offered with a full spectrum of price points and floor plans with generous terraces, some of which will have convertible walls for flexible interior/exterior living. Entry level studio’s and 1 beds are expected to be available for sale under the US$1m mark and highly-sought after penthouse residences close to US$8m. This may seem rich but when one considers industry norms for prime beachfront property this is very much in line with Cayman real estate values.

One of Grand Cayman’s most popular hotels, the 295-room, extensively renovated Marriott Beach Resort on Seven Mile Beach, has been sold to London and Regional global property investment group. A self-described investment business with a portfolio of over £3b with offices in London, Panama and Dublin and an extensive portfolio of hotel investments, including the Hilton Park Lane, London and Monte Carlo. Their most recent acquisition is The Fairmont Royal Pavilion in Barbados.
The Westin Casuarina Beach Resort, perfectly placed on one of the softest, sandiest parts of Seven Mile Beach which is also one of the few Crown properties on Grand Cayman have been granted a new 99 year lease. (The Cayman Islands Government guarantee’s title to property,  and there are a few pockets of Crown land in this area). The lease is rumoured to be part of a new ownership deal for both the Westin and Sunshine Suites, however this has yet to be formally announced.

Also of interest is the sale of the beleaguered Treasure Island complex, which will be reportedly transformed into a Magaritaville resort, with 110 condo suites to be completely refurbished and then placed on the Cayman real estate market for sale in the New Year. Welcoming their proud new owners this year were the fortunate residents of two new exclusive beachfront developments; the uber-luxurious WaterColours (in fact Fraser Wellon just introduced his next property in the Cayman Islands Yacht Club; Stone Island) and Casa Luna, a selection of 14 detached villas on the shores of South Sound.

There are exiting new developments on the horizon for the Cayman property market, unlike other tropical island destinations, once the developments are revealed and made public followed by high demand in the Cayman real estate market, these developments can generally propagate new projects all the way to fruition with a variation of size, location and price of the product.

St James Point, Beach Bay is the latest announcement for the Cayman Islands property market skyline, albeit a low-rise one! Along with 200 beachfront rooms, there will be 75 residential suites available for sale or lease for short-term vacation with use of the 16 acre grounds overlooking one of the few private beach coves in the Cayman Islands.

Rounding up, we are excited about the current major construction projects and the next residential phase of Camana Bay (this has been given the green light but is still awaiting a completion date however there is no doubt that Dart will have this much anticipated livable part of their 40 year ‘New Town’ planned development done in the very near future). Then there’s the long-awaited  announcement of Cayman Enterprise City or Cayman Economic Zone coming to South Sound. This is exiting news is a boon for the area, which has been waiting in the shadows of Camana Bay’s residential condo release for some time now. Also happening in South Sound is the launch of the second phase of VELA! The first phase sold out pre-construction in arguably best-in-time for Cayman’s property market records! Milestone Properties Cayman is pleased to report that with just less than two months of pre-sales, we are already over 50% reserved. The beachfront condo’s released at Old Prospect Groves have also sold incredibly quickly!

Boggy Sands Club has received much attention for being the latest property to be launched, just a moments walk from Seven Mile Beach. LUXE on the other hand has boat access to the North Sound rather than beach access.

As for the owner occupier/end user aspect of Cayman’s property market, we at Milestone Properties Cayman feel that there is a great demand for well located and perfectly priced properties as the duration that these Cayman property listing are for sale is significantly less than previous years. The amount of inventory available in various locations and price brackets is noticeably lower than pervious years. So, in our opinion THE MARKET IS MOVING, BUT WE WANT TO KNOW IF YOU ARE TOO?

With inventory an all time low (compare to demand) we would like to get more direct listings on our books, especially as we have locally based, qualified buyers and via Chestertons International office in London we can bring international buyers looking to purchase prime Cayman real estate. The beachfront condo pictured above for instance, was on the market momentarily, for a matter of days in fact, before it went under contract!

So if you are looking to sell your Cayman Islands property, and moving up or down the Cayman Real Estate market ladder please get under contact with Milestone Properties so that we can give you a free market appraisal, as well as a pricing and marketing strategy to meet your needs.

At time of press, there is a real lack of inventory across three main sectors; Seven Mile Beach condo’s under US$1m and condo’s in South Sound under US$750,000. Well priced and located canal front lots are scarce due to the building boom, and there is a noticeable shortage of quality homes in South Sound, Governors Harbour and the West Bay Road corridor. Investment properties of all shapes and size, as long as they bear a good yield, are  also limited.

Are you are ‘on the move’, and are you looking to buy a new home in the Cayman Islands? Please let us know, we have new and specialised search capabilities for the Cayman Islands MLS (Multiple Listing Service) that gives you access to hundreds of properties currently listed for sale with every CIREBA agent. The listing service currently holds 95% of the Cayman Islands properties listed for sale and can be searched to tailor to your personal requirements.

You can easily contact us by phone or email with your contact details and your Cayman property ‘wants and needs’.