How much longer can we continue to be romantic about the glory days of 2008?  Property values have changed substantially since then, however property ‘prices’ have not necessarily followed suit. 

The Terra Group, a well-established and reputable real estate leader in Barbados serving all market segments through its brands Terra Caribbean, Terra Luxury and Blue Sky Luxury, today announced the release of its annual Barbados real estate insights publication, The Red Book 2018^â.  

Common area maintenance (CAM) fees, also referred to as ‘Service Charge’ in some commercial leases, refer to the costs associated with operating and maintaining the space shared by the tenants within a facility, and is charged in addition to the base rent.

Beachfront land has always had great appeal to persons wanting to own a piece of paradise. In Barbados, beachfront development has ranged from as far north as Port St. Charles, all the way down to The Crane Private Residences in the South-East of the island. Over the years, this range has seen increasing prices as the supply of land, villas and condos declines.

Buying a property is a big investment. And as a first-time home buyer, you have much to consider: getting pre-approved for a bank loan, deciding what type of property fits your lifestyle, figuring out where you want to live, finding a qualified agent, and then navigating all the steps from the initial offer to the closing.

Often market commentators are heard speaking about the Caribbean as if it is a single market for real estate investment. That is like going to the Olympics to watch sports.  There is everything from a sprint to a marathon, from horse riding to the hammer throw, and everything in between.  Pick a sport please – they are not all the same.  From my seat I get to see the southern Caribbean real estate market from both the helicopter, and in the trenches.  While there are similarities it's the differences that provide the insight.

BARBADOS (April 5, 2016) – The Terra Group of Companies, a well-established and reputable real estate leader in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean serving all market segments through its brands Terra Caribbean, Terra Luxury and Blue Sky Luxury, today announced the release of its annual Barbados real estate insights publication, The Red Book 2016^â.  This year’s release marks the ninth edition of the Red Book^â, which features a revamped internal layout focusing on detailed insights for each segment of the real estate market in Barbados.

It’s seven year itch time!  Yes, this is the seventh edition of The Red Book.  The challenge each year is to make it better, and by ‘better’ we mean more relevant to you the reader.  This year we have added more statistics, more professional articles and we have even done some “ancient history” research with Hayden interviewing the two agents responsible for the sales at Sandy Lane Estate in the 1960s.  I think you will find that article both informative and entertaining.

The annual event of writing an introduction for The Red Book is always filled with trepidation for me. I do not want to over build expectations and then disappoint, nor do I want to fail to introduce the articles in an exciting way. What to do? Risk behind every door. But that is our world today. Every time I think the market has found a direction, there seems to be a further shift. Recently I read that an engineer does not see the glass as half full like the optimist, nor half empty like the pessimist, but rather as a design that is twice as big as it needed to be. I learnt from this that I need to adjust my expectations and face the reality of our market. The half full glass tells us nothing of our future but only of our present. So that is what I hope we will do for you – provide you with an accurate picture of the real estate market in Barbados at present. Whether you are the optimist, the pessimist or the engineer, you will have the data that you need to reach a conclusion.