Land registration still ‘stuck in 18th century’

As of Sunday, September 25, 2016

The Bahamas’ land registration system remains “stuck in the 18th century, an Abaco realtor believes, while calling on this country to develop a proper Land Use Plan (LUP).

Dwayne Wallas, appraiser and estate agent at HG Christie, told last week’s Abaco Business Outlook conference: “Uncertainty is terrible for investment. If you don’t know what’s going to happen you’re not going to spend your money.

“Having a Land Use Plan and making it public allows investors to know where the Bahamas is going. The Bahamas land registration system is stuck in the 18th century. It’s high time that we change the way land ownership is recorded and registered.

“At the moment, it is a person-based registration system. That needs to be changed to a parcel-based registration system. I believe it has far-reaching implications for the ease of doing business in the Bahamas. It could have a trickle-down effect on the ease of doing business.”

Speaking on the Abaco real estate market’s health, Mr Wallas said: “Overall, the real estate market in Abaco is doing well but it could always do better.

“The real estate sector in Hope Town is ‘booming’ while the rest of Abaco is having a banner year. Treasure Cay is a close second for driving the Abaco economy. They have a strong tourism market as well as posting a strong year for real estate sales.

“The condominium market in Treasure Cay was in terrible shape. For almost eight years since the global recession there was basically no real estate sales of condo in Treasure Cay, and in the last two years that has started to normaliae and see sales,” he added.

“The second homeowner market, I think, is an economic model that can be grown and built upon. It’s working for Abaco; why not encourage it in other parts of the Bahamas.”.

Having looked at real estate sales in the Abacos over the past seven years, Mr Wallas said there has been an 18 per cent growth in sales value.

“Despite the growth and strong activity levels, property prices in Abaco are still dropping around 5 per cent per year. I don’t think that will continue. I think in the next year or two, maybe 12 months, property prices will start to come back up again,” he said.