Cayman Property Review 2011 Featured on Cayman News Service
(CNS Business): Property purchased in the Cayman Islands in 2011 by the Dart Group amounted to 28% of the total value of all transfers and amounted to more than CI$139 million, according to the fourth annual, independent review of the Cayman Islands property market by chartered surveyors, Charterland Ltd. Of the 1,286 transfers registered in 2011 at least 82 of these properties were acquired by companies in the Dart Group – equating to just over 6% of the total number of transfers. However, even ignoring acquisitions by Dart, the review found that there was a substantial recovery in the Cayman property market last year, especially in the high end market, with the number of transfers, excluding the Dart Group, up 18% over 2010, and the total value of up 39%.
Overall, transfers in 2011 increase by nearly 27% over the year before, but Charterland found that the total value of those transfers almost doubled, up from CI$259 million in 2010 to CI$497 million in 2011, which was the third highest year on record. The average value per transfer increased by 53% — CI$388,000 in 2011 compared with CI$255,000 in 2010. This represents the highest average value per property transfer for any year on record, the review noted.
In addition to the increase in the overall volume and value of transactions, the Charterland review revealed that there were nine property sales in 2011 of more than CI$5 million, whereas there were none in 2010 and only one such sale in 2009. The highest sale value, in excess of CI$66 million, was a portfolio of properties purchased by Dart.
The second highest sale, which was unrelated to Dart, was CI$33.6 million for the sale of the Water Colours condominium development, which is under construction. The former Ansbacher House (now dms House), a commercial office building, was acquired by the dms group for CI$8,232,000 under a purchase agreement signed in 2008. Another commercial building known as Zephyr House also sold in 2011 for a total value of CI$4,872,000.
The most expensive dwelling sold in 2011 was a house on Boggy Sand Road which was sold for CI$5,208,000. Unsurprisingly, the three highest value condominiums sold in 2011 were all on Seven Mile Beach: CI$3,232,908 for a unit at The Sovereign; CI$2,748,774 for a unit at The Commonwealth; and CI$2,413,467 for a unit at Waters Edge.
Overall, the review found, there was a large increase in the sale of high-end properties in 2011 over the year before, with the volume of sales of lower and mid-range properties remaining fairly stable
The proportion of purchasers registered with Cayman Islands addresses remained fairly constant at 89%. Of the remainder, 7% were registered in the US, less than 2% were from Canada and 1% from the UK, with the remaining purchasers having registered addresses elsewhere, including the rest of Europe and the Middle East.
There were 67 sales of condominiums located on Seven Mile Beach in 2011, an increase of 49% over sales of similar beachfront properties in 2010. However, fewer buyers from overseas bought SMB properties last year — just over 18% compared with 33% in 2010.
“Based on our research and analysis, it is clear that, even by ignoring the substantial property acquisitions by companies of the Dart Group, there was a marked recovery in the Cayman Islands property market in 2011, with increases in both the number of property transfers and the total value of those transfers that compare favourably with increases in any previous year,” the review stated.