While none of us have a crystal ball, it doesn’t stop us from making “educated guesses” about what will happen to the real estate market here, based on our past experience. One prominent realtor here has said that we’ll experience a 20% drop in prices due to the storm. Another has rejected this notion and feels that we won’t see a drop. Our team has had many discussions about this and here’s what we think will happen:

1. Private Sales: There will be a lot of “private sales” – sales that don’t go through the MLS. This is a small island and there are many Realtors® here, compared to the population. Everyone has a ‘friend” who is in the real estate business here. Many of those people who just want to sell quickly and get off the island will let their “Realtor® friend” know about this, and their “Realtor® friend” will have customers who will snap up these properties. So, many sales will not go thru the system and will not be used as “comparable sales” for appraisals. That’s probably a good thing for keeping the market healthy.

2. Market Value Decline: Those few people who don’t have a “Realtor® friend” and/or who want to list, to get a better price, will likely receive offers well below their desired selling price, and may end up taking them just to get out. So this will likely have the impact of dampening sales prices, and we could definitely see a decline in market value – but who knows by how much Investors will always seek out beautiful spots where there are people desperate to sell. So once homes start going on the market (we haven’t seen a surge of new listings, that’s for sure), there may be a “feeding frenzy” of people scooping up hurricane damaged homes from people who are just ready for a change and to get back to some sense of normal.

3. Back to Normal: Once the infrastructure gets back in place and we have power, internet, cell service, our island will be green and humming and those of you in cold climates will likely be ready for some warm weather…. and once here and you see how wonderful it is….you may be interested in exploring real estate options. St Croix has ALWAYS been a bargain in the Caribbean, and will likely be even MORE of a bargain soon…so buying may resume at a normal pace and at more reasonable (for here) prices. Our inventory is still way down – so at least at this time, it is not a buyer’s market. So these two factors combined lead us to think that there won’t be a dramatic drop in the overall market value of homes here.

St Croix is very resilient. The island is greening-up very quickly and there is infrastructure progress every day. We still have a LONG way to go, but by the first of the year, I think we will be nearly back to “normal.” Till then, it is a tough place to live and work – and the elderly and those with children may have to leave…creating opportunities for YOU! Considering that closings take at least 2 – 4 months here, buying now will have you SET for wintertime in the Caribbean!