Boosted by high-dollar deals that took place earlier in 2011, the real estate market is boasting its strongest numbers since 2006, according to the total value of transactions through the first three quarters of the year.
Meanwhile, the number of transactions is up only ever-so-slightly compared with the first nine months of 2010, and is down 38 per cent compared with the high-water mark of 2006, according to data from the Cayman Islands Lands and Survey Department.
The gorilla skewing this year’s statistics is the Dart Group’s acquisition of prime Seven Mile Beach property from developer Stan Thomas, including the former Courtyard by Marriott. According to government data, real estate transactions in the Seven Mile Beach area totalled more than $130 million during the first six months of the year.
For the year, the average value of property transactions is $405,000, more than double the average value for the first nine months of 2010 or 2009, and 34 per cent more than the first nine months of 2006, which has the second-highest average value on the books. The average value of freehold transfers has dropped in two consecutive quarters since the first part of 2011; however, each of the three quarters of 2011 is in the top three for average value, out of the 23 quarters on record since the beginning of 2006.
Year-to-date
Through the first three quarters of 2011, the Department tallied 1,330 freehold transfers with a total value of $539 million, which already exceeds the total value of freehold transfers in all of either 2010 or 2009 ($307 million and $397 million) and is verging on totals from 2008 and 2007 ($558 million and $551 million). From January to September 2006, there were 2,162 freehold transfers totalling $576 million. The entire year of 2006 saw 2,777 freehold transfers worth $691 million.
The total value of freehold transfers in the third quarter of 2011 was nearly identical to the second quarter, $144 million. In the third quarter, there were 451 freehold transfers, with an average value of $319,000. In the second quarter, there were 396 freehold transfers, with an average value of $364,000. The first quarter had 483 freehold transfers, with an average value of $519,000, for a total of $251 million.
Quarter-over-quarter
The first quarter of the year had the highest average value for freehold transfers during any quarter since the beginning of 2006; the second quarter had the second-highest average value; and the third quarter had the third-highest average value. (The lowest average value for freehold transfers, $171,000, was set in the first quarter of 2010.)
Compared with third quarters of previous years, the third quarter of 2011 had the second-lowest number of freehold transfers. Only 409 freehold transfers took place in the third quarter of 2010. There were 719 freehold transfers in the third quarter of 2006. The total value of freehold transfers in the third quarter of 2011 is right in the middle between the low extreme in the third quarter of 2010 ($78 million) and the high extreme of the third quarter of 2006 ($209 million).
The average value of freehold transfers in the third quarter of 2011 is 67 per cent greater than the average value in the third quarter of 2010 ($192,000), which is the lowest on record.
Month-to-month
There were 159 freehold transfers in September 2011, with an average value of $277,000, totalling $44 million. In August, there were 166 freehold transfers, with an average value of $178,000, totalling some $30 million. In July, there were 126 freehold transfers, with an average value of $559,000, totalling $70 million.
The numbers in September 2011 are very close to September 2009, which had 154 freehold transfers totalling $44 million. The poorest September on record occurred in 2010, when there were 123 freehold transfers totalling $32 million.
The Valuation and Estates Office, which receives its numbers on a slightly different schedule than the Department receives freehold transfer numbers, reported 277 sales transactions during September 2011, compared with 144 sales transactions in August 2011. The average sales price in September was $442,000, for a total of $122 million. The average sales price in August was $198,000, for a total of $28 million.
In September, there were 89 land sales with an average price of $703,000, totalling $63 million (51 per cent of the total sales for the month); 123 residential sales with an average price of $344,000, totalling $42 million (35 per cent of the total); 57 condominium sales with an average price of $203,000, totalling $12 million (9 per cent of the total); six commercial sales with an average price of $942,000, totalling $6 million (5 per cent of the total); and two industrial sales with an average price of $100,000, totalling $200,000.
In August, there were 58 land sales with an average price of $124,000, totalling $7 million (25 per cent of the total sales for the month); 22 residential sales with an average price of $364,000, totalling $8 million (28 per cent of the total); 62 condominium sales with an average price of $213,000, totalling $13 million (46 per cent of the total); two commercial sales with an average price of nearly $25,000, totalling more than $49,000; and no industrial sales.
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