The Time to Buy Virgin Island Real Estate – NOW!
I just received an email from a fellow Realtor in Florida that let me know that his last few clients have been from Europe. My Realtor-network is seeing what I have been telling them for months, “The countries with currency that is valued higher than the U.S. dollar are buying U.S. Virgin Island real estate at bargain-basement prices!
My wife, Ann Marie, just returned from Vancouver, British Columbia. She was attending the International Luxury Real Estate conference where only 250 Realtors were in attendance from 40 different countries. She was networking with Realtors around the world that are having a similar experience in buying U.S. real estate. The
money that is coming into Canada, the United States, and its territories from Europe is buying real estate at a record pace. And the properties they are buying have million dollar price tags. She had dinner with one Canadian Realtor who had sold eleven $20 million estates in Canada the past six months to European clients. So far this year, over 15% of the real estate sales in the U.S. Virgin Islands has come from Europe! And, 40% of it has been all cash purchases!
The Euro is at all time highs compared to the U.S. dollar – around $1.40 per Euro! The Canadian dollar is now MORE VALUABLE than the U.S. dollar for the first time in my life time! The Asian currency is incredibly strong compared to the U.S. dollar. Are you getting the picture? When Ann Marie and I celebrated her 50th birthday in Paris last March it cost us a 37%+ premium for every dollar we spent. That translates into Euros getting a 40%+ DISCOUNT on everything they buy TODAY that is connected to the U.S. dollar. It is bargain shopping time for the world regarding U.S. real estate. That includes the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico!
So, if you are buying real estate in the U.S. Virgin Islands and you have Euros, you are going to purchase that property for a 40% discount. If you review my post titled, Virgin Island Real Estate “Hot Spot”, use your calculator and do the math on the a $500,000US townhome on St. Croix if you are from Europe and the actual price is not $500,000US, it is actually $300,000US if you are using Euros to purchase it! Are you getting the clear picture as to what is happening with the U.S. dollar compared to the Euro? What a great time to buy real estate in the U.S. Virgin Islands if you are in a country that has currency that is more valuable than the U.S. dollar. Let me know if I can assist you with any of your Caribbean purchases.