The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

A $12 million West Ridge condominium development is expected to be completely sold out within “a month to a month-and-a-half”, its realtor telling Tribune Business yesterday that eight commitments were secured at this weekend’s open house.

“The turnout was incredible,” said Ryan Knowles, a realtor at H G Christie. “It was an incredibly successful open house. We had well over 100 people that came out to view the units.

“We had only sent out the invitations a few days prior, so to be able to generate that amount of traffic in a couple of days shows the level of interest and demand out there for this type of property and for the location.

“Everyone is looking to the west now to invest and to live. A lot of it has to do with Baha Mar, and this is a validation of all of those things I would expect the entire project to be sold out within a month to month-and-a-half, that’s my projection based on what we saw two days ago.”

The 36-unit Venito condominium project is being developed by Sebas Bastian’s Island Ventura Development Group.

“There are 36 units in the development,” Mr Knowles said. “We started the open house with about 15 having been sold, and we got written, signed commitments for eight of the units.

“Right now, if you factor that in, there are probably about 11 or 12 left. They are all three-bed, two bath units. Prices start at $299,000. There are two types of units, middle units and end units. The middle units are $299,000 and the end units are $319,000.”   

Mr Knowles told Tribune Business that in-house financing had led to a “huge shift” towards Venito and similar developments.

“We have seen in the last three to six months a huge shift towards that sort of structuring of new development,” he added.

“It can be very difficult to borrow money from commercial banks. Developers are now seeing an opportunity to make sales, to get people in who want to buy, who have good jobs, are college educated young professionals who just need a little help to get started.

“The real estate market is trending upwards. In our office the amount of calls are increasing. People who have been waiting are now coming back and saying  they are ready. We see the market turning around. The local market is still definitely strong.”