There is no doubt that Hurricane Dorian was one of the worst hurricanes in the western hemisphere and the worst hurricane in The Bahamas. We have all seen the horrific images of mangled buildings, boats and lumber that are the indelible images of Dorian. Not to mention the tragic loss of life and missing persons yet to be accounted for.
So what then is Dorian’s effect on the real estate market in The Bahamas?
There has been a staggering amount of publicity on The Bahamas and in the long run there is no such thing as bad publicity. There has been an amazing outpouring of support for The Bahamas by so many people, organizations and countries, especially the US, and this shows the world that The Bahamas is a loved and admired country and many who might not have thought about The Bahamas will now have it on their radar and will think of visiting in the years to come.
In the near term the outlook is as follows. Many homes have been destroyed in Abaco and Grand Bahama. What this means is that there will be many people looking to rent homes and condos which is good for the markets in Nassau and Grand Bahama. In Grand Bahama many people are looking to rent homes that did not get flooded more towards the south of the island. The rental market that was on the slow side before the storm will certainly now improve and people will migrate more south on the island and thus push the prices up for both sales and rentals.
The same can be said for all of New Providence. We have had an unprecedented amount of evacuees, some from Abaco, to Nassau and they all need to live somewhere. Everyone that can afford to rent is finding a home or condo which in turn will help to drive rentals, and thus the sales market as people like to buy solid income real estate.
Many people have asked me if Dorian will scare away buyers and my short answer is NO. Indeed we have new buyers coming in now seriously looking to buy on all islands. Certainly if your home made it through the storm without too much damage that is a huge sales point for the viability of that home. In addition many homes (not all) have hurricane insurance and once the owners have their relief funds they may decide that they don’t want to go through the re-building process and they can then opt to sell their home as is at a greatly reduced price, which is good for both buyer and seller.
There are always opportunities in real estate one just has to be ready to take advantage when the opportunity presents itself, helping a buyer or a seller fulfilling their needs as we move on to the next chapter of rebuilding the great islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama.
Please feel free to contact me, John Christie, if you have thoughts or comments.
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Published September 17, 2019 by HG Christie Ltd
John@hgchristie.com | 242.357.7572
