The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Exuma has seen a “tremendous 80-100 per cent improvement” in its waterfront real estate market over the past two years, with a leading broker urging the Government to extend the duty-free building materials exemption for another year.

Judy Hurlock, of Coldwell Banker Lightbourn Realty, told Tribune Business it would be “wonderful” if the Christie administration extended the Family Islands Development Encouragement Act to incentivise construction on Exuma and the other islands.

Disclosing that 42 properties were currently being built in Exuma, Ms Hurlock said the island’s high-end real estate market was continuing is revival from being “dead” at the recession’s height, and attracting “the kind of buyers we really need in the Out Islands”.

She added that to move real estate, sellers had been forced to reduce their asking price by up to 70 per cent, with one property - originally listed at $3.5 million - ultimately being snapped up for $800,000.

And, citing direct airlift as key to the growth of Exuma’s real estate market, Ms Hurlock said attracting such service from New York would be “the icing on the cake” for local professionals.

“A lot of beachfront homes have changed hands in the last two years, and inventory for sale on the beach is very limited, so we’re seeing a rise in interest,” Ms Hurlock told Tribune Business.

“It went dead for two years, in terms of people looking for beachfront lots with the intent to build. Before everything crashed, a lot of beachfront land was changing hands, more for speculation than anything else.”

Ms Hurlock, though, said Exuma’s water and beachfront real estate market was now attracting a different breed of buyer - one that made a welcome change from the speculators and flippers.

“We’re seeing buyers looking for homes for early retirement, renting them out in the meantime,” she explained. “They want to spend more down here, bringing their friends and families.

“We’re getting the kind of buyers we really need in the Out Islands, who spend a lot of money in the community to rent cars and buy goods. That’s the kind of development that’s best for the Out Islands.”

Estimating that there had been “an 80-100 per cent improvement” in market activity, Ms Hurlock said: “For several years there was very little movement.

“Prices were very high then, and it took sellers a long time to realise they had to come down in price to something more reasonable.

“I do think it’s a buyers market in Exuma; we’re not seeing prices rise. I’ve sold quite a number of waterfront and beachfront homes. A lot of properties have moved that were sitting on the market for several years until they brought prices down.

“People are looking for second homes again. They felt it was a luxury they couldn’t afford,” Ms Hurlock added.

“I think the economy is gradually growing and improving; not at the speed it did from 2005-2007, but with a more reasonable and gradual increase in values.”

To maintain the momentum, Ms Hurlock urged the Government to extend the building materials duty exemption beyond June 30, 2014.

“There are 42 properties under construction on Exuma, which is very good, taking advantage of the duty exemption,” she told this newspaper.

“If we can get another year, that would be wonderful.”

Ms Hurlock told Tribune Business she had sold a half-acre lot for $200,000, noting that a similar sized property would have sold for between $200,000 to $500,000 pre-recession.

She revealed that some waterfront/beachfront properties have sold “for 30 per cent of their original asking prices, and added: “Between 2008 up to three years ago, real estate was just about non-existent, but has really picked up.

“I like to see Mr and Mrs Average and their families coming here and really becoming the backbone of the community, interacting with the locals. You have businesses popping up, and I’m extremely confident we’re going to see it continue - the interest in Exuma and the island.”

Praising Sandals for attracting direct flights to Exuma from Toronto and the Canadian market, in addition to Delta Airlines and American Airlines’ existing services, Ms Hurlock said such access was vital for the real estate market’s success.

“Direct flights from New York will be the icing on the cake,” she told Tribune Business. “It is getting easier to get here, and that’s an important factor if people want to come here several times a year.”

Ms Hurlock said a key difference between the Nassau and Exuma real estate markets was that the latter did not have many local buyers, making it reliant on second home owners.

“In the Out Islands, you don’t get the population moving from one spot to another,” she said. “Most of our real estate is from foreign investors. As long as we provide what they want, they’re going to continue coming down.”