The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamian real estate market is “definitely on an upswing” with inquiry volumes up 10-20 per cent, a leading realtor said yesterday, while warning that 2014’s positive outlook could be derailed if Value-Added Tax (VAT) implementation “goes terribly”.

John Christie, H. G. Christie’s president, told Tribune Business there was “no doubt” the market had picked up, largely through buyers who had been “sitting on the sidelines” deciding now was the time to get active and purchase.

Noting that “savvy investors” were moving on deals now, especially in western New Providence, Mr Christie nevertheless expressed concern that overall market sentiment had not reached the point where it could withstand any negative effects from VAT.

“The market has certainly picked up, without a doubt,” Mr Christie told Tribune Business. “In the Ocean Club Estates, there have been a lot of sales in the last two months. Anything sitting around has pretty much sold.”

H. G. Christie was experiencing “steady demand” for real estate in areas such as western New Providence, he acknowledged, adding that while the increase had not been spectacular, this was likely due to the fact the company’s business had never slumped to “slow” levels.

“The market is definitely on an upswing,” Mr Christie told Tribune Business. “Generally, it’s an uptick across all areas.”

He added that the volume of inquiries received by H. G. Christie had risen by “probably anywhere from 10-20 per cent”, with the main difference being that people previously “looking” were now turning that interest into purchases.

Apart from interest in Old Fort Bay, which H. G. Christie is marketing, Mr Christie said developments such as Sandyport and the Old Fort Bay Town Centre were attracting attention from both residential and commercial buyers.

“The Old Fort Bay Town Centre is really going to become the commercial centre for Albany, Lyford Cay and Old Fort Bay,” Mr Christie added. “That’s going to be a central place. The savvy investors are making moves now.

“We’ve had a very good year. The right properties are starting to sell, and it might not necessarily be people fresh to the market but people who’ve been looking in the market for some time. It means people are willing to buy, whereas before they were sitting on the sidelines a little bit.”

Looking ahead to 2014, Mr Christie said there were signs of another positive year for the Bahamian real estate market, but he expressed concern about the impact VAT’s implementation would have on consumer incomes and confidence.

“The indicators are good, but there are a lot of questions with the VAT and what that’s going to do,” Mr Christie told Tribune Business. “It’s still an investor mentality as opposed to a full steam ahead mentality because of VAT.

“We’re feeling positive about 2014, but the question is VAT and what happens there. If that goes terribly wrong, it won’t be good for anyone.”

Asked how VAT was likely to directly impact the real estate industry, Mr Christie said it was still impossible to tell, as the Government was “still making up the list of what is taxed and not taxed”.

“But if more money comes out of people’s pockets, there will be less money to spend on anything else,” he added, his voice joining those who have called on the Christie administration to delay VAT’s implementation beyond July 1 if necessary to ensure it was got right.

Also calling on the Government to do a better job of collecting the taxes already in existence, Mr Christie said: “A lot of businesses, their profit margins are pretty low right now, so if you tack on 15 per cent, it could be a tipping point.

“Hopefully they will delay it until they get it right, so it doesn’t have a drastic effect on the economy.”

Suggesting that the Bahamas follow Barbados’s lead, and take several years to phase-in VAT, Mr Christie added: “We can’t rush in.”

Pointing out that President Barack Obama seemed to have learned this lesson with his Obamacare roll-out, the well-known realtor urged the Government: “Get more aggressive collecting the taxes on the books right now, collecting real property tax, and stop spending.”