As of the beginning of September this year there was a healthy increase in the number of sales taking place over the past year versus the previous year.
As of 1 September, 2011, there were 108 residential property sales, up from 79 on the same time frame (September 2009 to September 2010) last year. Condo sales also increased, from a total of 206 to 217.
From the beginning of the year until 1 September, 73 homes were sold in Cayman verses 54 for the same time period in 2010; condos saw a jump from 137 to 166 for the same time frame. As of the beginning of September 2011, the average sale price of a home for the previous year (September 2010 to September 2011) was US$844,105, compared to US$729,112 for the same time frame to September 2010. Condo prices saw a drop in price at the lower end of the market but an increase in the higher end: as at September 2011 for the previous year the average price of a one-bed condo sold was US$215,771 verses US$221,056 in 2010. For the higher end (four bed condo or more) the average price at which they were sold rose from US$930,801 in 2010 (September to September) to US$1,026,882 in 2011.
In addition to these numbers we also saw an increase in the sale price volume which was up by 27.3 per cent year to date. These are all good indicators that the year ahead will see very positive movement all round.
The benefits of Dart’s investment
The Dart Group’s latest and most significant investment in Cayman, which will begin in the third quarter of this year, brings with it wide-ranging benefits to the Cayman Islands, not least of which will be the instigation of modern waste disposal facilities and the capping of the George Town landfill (commonly known as ‘the dump’). The dump has been a terrible eyesore and growing environmental problem for Cayman for a number of years and there has been much discussion as to its solution. Now the issue will finally be addressed and the potential for a green environment being provided for, going forward.
As part of the Dart Group’s agreement with the Cayman Islands Government, they are providing the land site for a new modern, ecologically-sound waste disposal facility in Bodden Town. Note – this will not be another dump, as it is intended that this will utilise the most modern ways of recycling waste disposal. This is issue is so critical to Cayman not just because of its environmental impact on Cayman or the fact that the dump has been such an eye sore; but because it affects our children for generations to come and addressing this in the appropriate manner is the only way to secure the environmentally-conscious island that we currently have.
The first phase of the deal will see Dart close, cap and remediate the George Town Landfill, and part of the resulting land will be converted into a public park, for everyone’s benefit. Landfill capping is a particular type of technology that provides for the containment of the structure, forming a barrier between the contaminated material beneath and the surface, thereby creating a shield between it and people and the environment from the harmful effects of its contents. It is also anticipated that the migration of the dump’s contents will be limited in this way.
The Dart Group’s $200 million investment will begin from the third quarter of this year until 2013 and with it create 500 to 600 hundred jobs directly and several hundred more indirectly, while at the same time generating tens of millions of dollars in Government revenue. This can only be a positive step for the country.
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