Charterland’s Cayman Property Review 2009 Featured on Cayman News Service

(CNS): Although the Cayman Islands real estate market is continuing its four-year downward trend, analysts say this year’s fall in value was, at least, not as much as had been expected. Although transfers fell by around 9%, Charterland Ltd chartered surveyors said it could have been a lot worse. Simon J Watson, the firm’s director, said there has been much speculation as to how the Cayman property market was impacted by the economic environment of 2009. The decrease was expected but it was actually less than many property experts had predicted, he observed.
Watson noted that, although the market in Cayman is small and the data on which any analysis depends is small, it is still possible to discern certain trends in the local market. As a result of that, his team has conducted a full and comprehensive review of the property market in the Cayman Islands in 2009 to help investors make more informed decisions.
“At Charterland, we believe that you should make property-related decisions based on the best possible information; with this in mind we present our second annual review of the Cayman Islands property market,” he added.
Watson also explained that the review was conducted based on data from transfers from investment sales only and not those known as ‘Natural Love and Affection’ or nil consideration transfers.
The report, which can be found on the Charterland website, revealed that 2009 saw a continuation in the decrease in the number of property bought and sold in the Cayman Islands, with only 1,444 properties being transferred, down by just over 9% from 2008. This is the fourth year that transfers have fallen from an all-time high in 2005 of 2,640 — a total drop in transfers of 45%
“Whilst this continued decrease in the size of the market was expected by most property professionals in the Cayman Islands, the 9% decrease was actually less than many predicted,” the report said. “The total value of the number of transfers also demonstrates a continued slow-down in the property market in 2009, with a total value of all transfers of CI$404 million, a decrease of over 16% from 2008 and by 33% from the high of CI$606 million in 2006.”
The authors said that the continued down-turn was not unexpected but the trend in the average value of the properties being transferred is much more stable, with only a fall of just under 2% from an average value of CI$285,000 in 2008, to an average value of CI$280,000 in 2009.
“This relatively small decrease in average value is all the more significant when compared with average property values in Florida, which have fallen on average by 14% overall and with some areas experiencing a decrease in average values by as much as 17%.”
With only a single sale over CI$5 million, compared with 6 such sales in 2008, the report found that the market for high-end properties in particular was impacted by the downturn. This highest sale in 2009 was Starfish Point property at the end of Water Cay Road, Cayman Kai, which was acquired by Kenneth Dart in December for CI$10,500,000.