Antigua's property market offers Jolly good value
Antigua's property market offers Jolly good value
Investors looking for a second home in the sun are being presented with new Caribbean opportunities, as property developers wake up to the potential of Antigua. The Financial Times explores the surge in interest on the island.
When the United Progressive Party came to power in 2004,
Antigua's new government realised that to stimulate economic growth, they needed to build up their tourism and property industries. Antigua's minister for tourism, Harold Lovell, commented: "We must attract the upper end of the residential property market because it is important that people have homes here...to bring in expenditure and revenue."
As part of the development drive, the resort of
Jolly Harbour is to get a face lift, which will see it triple in size. The first phase to be completed, the Marina Residence, will offer apartments overlooking the harbour and a further 132 plots will be available on a man-made island in the centre of the resort. Other developments will be scattered over the island; a British investor is redeveloping the Seaforth area southwest of St.John's and developments in Nonsuch Bay also offer investment opportunities.
Property consultant Brice Baxter explained that UK buyers currently have an advantage over US investors due to the favourable rate of exchange with the dollar, to which Antigua's currency is pegged. According to Baxter, at present, Europeans can buy for 25 to 35 per cent cheaper than their American counterparts.
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3 June 2008
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