The Tribune

Harbour Island is set to record one of its best years in real estate, according to Robert Arthur, Coldwell Banker Lightbourn Realty’s sales associate.

Mr Arthur said he has just closed on two multi-million dollar sales, and has several other ‘irons in the fire’.

“This is going to be one of the best years for sales on the island – in the village and on the ocean (sea front),” he said. “There’s definitely been a surge. Last year one or two sold on the ocean; this year five…Five for sure, or six, have sold on the ocean.

“In the village, everything has gone crazy. Pretty much everything has sold, except for one or two homes,” Mr Arthur added.

He is recognised as an authority on real estate, having earned numerous top international sales awards, one of which placed him in the top 1 per cent of a Coldwell Banker global network of about 90,000 sales agents in 50 countries and territories.

He has also been featured on HGTV’s show, House Hunters, twice. Mr Arthur said Harbour Island is seeing various types of investors, including people who want to transfer some of their wealth from one place to another.

In addition to Americans, a few Europeans are moving their money to the Bahamas and demonstrating confidence in Harbour Island, he added.

“Many of these people become a valuable part of the community; they contribute a lot to the community,” Mr Arthur said.

He said huge sums of money are being invested in building and renovating homes, and that “millions of dollars’ worth” of construction is going on, pumping money into the Harbour Island economy.

For instance, one family is investing at least $20 million into the renovation of just one property.

In a number of cases, he said the guts of historic cottages have been torn out because of termite and water damage, but the owners are salvaging material and putting the homes back together as they found them.

Mr Arthur added that there was much development on the horizon, but in a controlled sense so that Harbour Island retains its character and charm.

Asked to respond to local talk show chatter that foreigners are buying up all the land, Mr Arthur said: “First of all, every one of the properties sold has been purchased from foreigners, not Bahamians.

“If the foreigners didn’t buy the land, and spend money on construction, there’d be no work for the carpenters, painters, plumbers, or the food lady selling lunches to pay for her kids’ school books, or any of us who live here.

“This is how we make our living. We wouldn’t have a viable source of income without the foreigners, and these people are part of our community. Some of them have been contributing to this community for many years.

“It’s like the pig farmer complaining about all the people eating bacon. If the people didn’t eat bacon, there wouldn’t be a pig farmer,” he added.

“Secondly, with a number of the recent sales we have seen just the opposite taking place. Real estate owned by Americans for many years has been sold to Bahamians. And not just a couple of plots of land, but at least seven properties have changed hands from foreigners to Bahamians.

“This is huge considering the land values on the island. This is something to be celebrated by the folks here,” Mr Arthur said.