Turks & Caicos Islands Real Estate Summer/Fall 2023

COURTESY WINDWARD DEVELOPMENT
Luxury buyers are looking for quality buildings and modern architecture in properties with spacious indoor and outdoor areas, such
as this rendering of one of the villas at Nivå, a new development at the secluded tip of Turtle Tail.
Turks & Caicos visitors and residents, especially in
the gateway island of Providenciales, likely noticed that
this winter/spring season was also “construction season.”
Bulldozers are clearing land, foundations and walls are
being erected, concrete poured, roofs laid, and interiors
finished at record pace. New and renovated luxury villas,
homes, apartment buildings, and businesses seem to be
sprouting up faster than the fresh leaves of spring.
A look at statistics compiled by the Turks & Caicos
Real Estate Association (TCREA) can help explain the
trend. Sales in the single family home sector topped $214
million, 39% of all sales in 2022. This reflected a 10% drop
in percentage of sales from 2021, which many attribute to
less inventory—thus the increase in ongoing construction
to meet demand. At the same time, brokers noted that
there was no rush to re-sell properties due to higher interest
rates. TCI is traditionally a low-debt jurisdiction and
prices have risen phenomenally over the last half-dozen
years.
In 2022, there were 17 home sales over $3 million
with the highest recorded home sale at $11 million for
Dhyani House on Parrot Cay. The average price normalized
to $1.513 million and completed sales in the new villa
development category represented 15% of sales volume.
The reasons for prices staying strong are multifold—
the affluent still have money to spend and many luxury
purchases are made in cash. There’s a lifestyle change
resulting from COVID-19 that’s likely here to stay—people
are spending more of their time at home and putting
more of an emphasis on their home lives. Since luxury
homeowners can rationalize the expenses of owning
multiple properties since they are spending more time in
them, they are less likely to put them up for sale. As such,
inventory continues to be low as new construction struggles
to catch up.
TCI’s currency is the U.S. dollar and that’s hard to
beat right now. The U.S. dollar has reached a decadeslong
high compared with struggling foreign currencies,
including the euro and the pound. It’s no wonder, then,
that U.S. buyers are flexing their buying power abroad.
Beginning April 1, 2023, TCI became fully open
for tourism and no longer mandates travelers to submit
proof of vaccination against COVID-19 before arriving.
The vaccination lift was the result of a rapid decrease
in COVID-19 cases and zero new COVID-19-related
deaths in recent months. For people interested in purchasing
property, this news is a game-changer. Previously,
potential buyers also had to obtain a negative COVID-19
24 Turks & Caicos Islands Real Estate – The Official Magazine of the Turks & Caicos Real Estate Association