WILL SUNWING HELP
OUR REAL ESTATE MARKET?
It looks like
Sunwing is really coming and that's good news for the Grand Bahama Real Estate
Market. I drove by the old Holiday Inn (Reef Village) recently and saw
containers arriving and lots of activity. The owners of the hotel are spending
a lot of money preparing the "new hotel". According to
Sunwing's website "Starting January 16th, 2014, they will be offering
weekly winter service from Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg and Edmonton to
Freeport, Grand Bahama, along with year round flights from Toronto.
They are introducing a the brand new Memories Grand
Bahama Beach and Casino Resort, a 4 1/2-star all inclusive
family-friendly resort located on a pristine stretch of white sandy beach."
This is great news for Grand
Bahama because we have a chance to move forward again with thousands of new
people coming to the market to see our beautiful island. If they like what they
see they will want to spend more time here and that will have a direct positive
effect on the Real Estate Market. New People means New Potential
Buyers. The key will be if they like what they see and experience good
customer service. So Grand Bahamians we have a chance to get things moving
again BUT ultimately its up to all of us to make their experience a good one.
If you are a property owner please take pride in your property by sprucing up
and cleaning up your yards. If you are a business owner please make an effort
to tidy up the look of your buildings. If you own a building that you have let
go derelict have some consideration for all of us living here and clean
it up, fix it up, or plant landscaping so it does not look like a ghetto.
If you know the owners of these derelict buildings say something to them
because they are hurting our chances of recovery. I hope the GBPA steps up to
the plate and forces these owners to clean up their act because the first
impressions of all of these people coming to Freeport will make or break the
market.
There is a classic
children’s story about Chicken Little—a character who is hit on the head by an
acorn and proceeds to run with his friend Ducky Lucky and others to tell the
King that “the sky is falling… the sky is falling!”
If you talk to
people around Freeport, or listen to the daily onslaught of mainstream news,
you probably agree with Chicken Little that the sky is falling when it comes to
our economy. If asked about real estate prices on Grand Bahama,
Chicken Little would tell you that “the Sky is Falling”, and
everyone’s house prices are falling so don’t sell or don’t buy. We have
many Chicken Little messengers on the island that think Grand Bahama will never
get out of its current slump, and that the housing market will never
recover—nothing could be further from the truth and Sunwing could be the start
of this recovery. Here’s another way to look at it:
There are 2
important points to consider regarding our current real estate market.
One. Unlike our
neighbors to the North, we never really experienced the boom market, which
created the American housing bubble. In 2008 when the US housing bubble burst
and many homes lost almost 50% of their value, sleepy Grand Bahama prices did
not move very much— because they had never soared that much—and so they also
did not come down that much either.
Two. We seem to
forget that real estate follows a cycle; we forget that history repeats
itself. Its like we all have amnesia and we have never seen down markets
before. There is a saying that what goes up must come down, and what is
down must come up. Real estate is no different. There were major
shifts or down real estate markets in 1979, then 1987, then 2008.
According to top economists, we are slowly (very slowly) recovering and the
markets may stay flat for a while, so we are in a new paradigm—a new model for
growth. Our neighbors across the pond will tell you that the market is recovering.
Our Bahamian Neighbors will tell you that their markets are recovering as well.
And with Sunwing bringing thousands of people every week to GBI we will have
new potential buyers in the marketplace which is good for the real estate
market.
It’s All About Timing
If you wait for the
markets to hit bottom or fully recover you might be waiting a long time. Prices
don’t really go up or down for logical reasons. Sellers and buyers change their
minds based on their confidence in the marketplace—that’s what really causes
prices to go up and down. Unfortunately, no one can tell you exactly when we
reach bottom, because when the market prices begin to rise, it’s only then that
you realize you missed the bottom!
There is no doubt
in my mind that if you are looking for motivated sellers and deals in real
estate, this is the time. It’s one of those times when the
aggressive people make a lot of money, and the more timid just look from the
sidelines and become what I call a “Would of, Could of, Should of” seller or
buyer.
If you are a
potential home buyer, condo buyer, duplex buyers, land speculator, canal home
buyer, or commercial buyer get up off your seat and look around for deals. The
market is soft right now, so this is the time to get a terrific value at the
right price. Listing prices have not fluctuated on paper, but the actual deals
that are being made reflect reduced prices.
No one knows for
sure what is in store for the world economics, or Freeport, but what we do know
is that throughout history, real estate has proven to be a great long term
investment. While prices are down and sellers are motivated, this may be the
right time for you. If you have been thinking about real estate, this is the
time to get out there and start looking. If you are a seller, get your property
ready because Sunwing will soon be bringing thousands of Canadians to the
Memories Grand Bahama Beach and Casino Resort and hopefully many of these
people will be interested in Real Estate that's priced to sell.
Shift Happens
Freeport is a city
with great potential. It will move forward. Sure we could improve on quite a
few things, but it only takes a series of small changes to make a major shift.
If we fix things like the airlift situation, create a first class cruise port,
develop medical tourism, create more jobs, attract more investors and visitors,
beautify the island’s landscaping, and have all of Freeport working together,
these changes will create a major shift in the economy and Freeport will be
reborn.
This will of course
change the real estate landscape, and the market could change from a buyers
market to a sellers market almost overnight. There are many people working
towards this change and we all need to pitch in to help our community fulfill
its promise. It will not be done for us. All of us in our own small way must
make it happen—and it will.
It is time to bring
the magic back to Freeport—a community that was once proudly dubbed The
Magic City. At Coldwell Banker/James Sarles Realty, we believe in the
future of Freeport.
Good Luck with your
property hunting. Until next week,
 |
| James Sarles, President Coldwell Banker James Sarles Realty |
