In the past six months the impact of fractional ownerships in the Caribbean is impacting the resale of homes and condos!

The smart developers saw it coming and they are building the product for the demand - fractional ownership of resort properties!  Up until just two years ago if you were going to purchase a home, villa, or condo in the Caribbean, that would have been your choices.  In 2004 the Ritz Carlton at Red Hook, St. Thomas started seeing their gamble of selling just a portion of a residence start to pay off.  What is happening today is a BIG parade of world wide developers joining the game. And, what they are delivering to the Boomers, Brits, Europeans, Canadians, and Latin Americans are a multitude of choices of part time living in Paradise. ( Check out one of my past postings on fractional ownership.)

Just last week I was on St. Thomas speaking with one of the key real estate Brokers in the USVI.  He and his company are the foundation of the resale market in the Virgin Islands. During our discussion I asked him some very pointed questions regarding the impact that fractional ownerships were having on the resale market for homes, villas and condos. He said it has been dramatic! Todays buyers for Caribbean properties are generally not going to be living here year-round.  They are typically on-island in the Caribbean about a month a year, and then they are either back to their home country, or they have another fractional ownership in some other part of the world - following the snow or the sun. 

The fractional ownership model allows for the developer to maximize the value of the property because they are selling it to the buyers for a premium price since there is a management company as part of the package, plus the developer has each villa or condo completely furnished. So, typically there are twelve owners of each property, each of them purchasing a month of the ownership. The buyers are willing to pay much more per square foot for a fractional property than they would for an individual home or condo because of the amenities and the management contract.  Just for example, I did some homework with my calculator and discovered that I could purchase a villa for about $350 per square foot.  Hang on to your hats…the developers of a fractional ownership resort are able to sell each unit for close to $1,000 per square foot, and the buyers are standing in line to buy them!

The appeal is no hassles of management, they arrive to a fully furnished home or condo, they have ownership that can be sold or transferred to their heirs as is the case for any other real estate they own, and the property is in an ultra-luxurious resort setting on the beach or the ski slopes of the most sought after locations in the world! Now do you see why the fractional ownerships are the hottest real estate opportunities happening right now! Remember, the blog posting I wrote about Aruba’s fractional developments that are waiting to be built numbered in the thousands!!! If you want more information about the many fractional ownership resort opportunities in the Caribbean, email me.  I will send you lots of information that will allow assist you in making a purchase decision. Until next time…your Caribbean lifestyle detective remains on duty.