The Bermuda Luxury Market Experiences A Growing Demand From International Property Buyers

While luxury home sales have indeed gone up, the average selling price of luxury homes and condos have also experienced an increase compared to the prices from 2010.

2011 has been full of activity with an increase of 30 percent in the number of homes sold from the previous year with an ARV of $153,000 and up as average sale prices have also increased for the luxury residential property market from $6.4 million to $7.5 million for a total increase of 15 percent.

On top of that, the activity coming from international property buyers have gone up by approximately 40 percent which leads to these activities making up a total of 56 percent of luxury real estate property buyers.

The figures were compared to non-luxury real estate properties which have still been found to be in a slump as rents continue to drop while the condo market remains to be quite saturated.

Given the rise in sales, it is clear to see that there is great confidence in the market of Bermuda as international property buyers find themselves enamored by the quality of living that is offered on the island, the various benefits that they are able to receive, as well as the fact that the location is within good range from the United States and the United Kingdom.

There might not have been that many luxury properties sold, but the increase surely indicates a positive trend as there are many who are actively in the process of finding real estate options within Bermuda that are in good condition — preferably with four to six bedrooms, with Tucker’s Town being a main preference which is followed by Fairylands, Point Shares, and Paget.

As for the luxury condo market, there had been 69 luxury condos sold as 15 percent of the purchases had been made by international buyers who went for options with ARV values of more than $32,000.

Most of the luxury property buyers were Americans, followed by British, which are then followed by Canadians. According to surveys, 60 percent of these international buyers purchased these properties as a second home while the other 40 percent had considered Bermuda as a primary residence and place of employment.

As of the moment, there are 17 homes that range from $3.5 million to $32 million while there are 25 condos available for ownerships to international property buyers.

Given the strong demand, it has been made evident that there might have to be some changes made to the existing land policy to make room for the international property buyers who are looking to engage in a real estate market that is highly controlled.