The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas Real Estate Association’s (BREA) president said yesterday that the industry was hoping to rebound after “taking a hit” in 2015, saying: “It’s definitely a buyer’s market”.    

Carla Sweeting told Tribune Business that while she believed the industry had been through the worst, there was “still climbing to do”.

“As far as real estate is concerned, we definitely struggled last year. Even the Central Bank in its reporting showed where the real estate market definitely took a hit. Like every other sector in the country it is affected by what’s going on around us, the crime, the unemployment, by Baha Mar and the uncertainty of it all,” Ms Sweeting said.

  “We also had VAT’ we had VAT on multiple items. We had VAT last January hit all the professional fees, and we had VAT hit us in July on the actual sales amount.

“I’m hoping that in 2016, as difficult as it is, we move forward.  I’m going to continue to be positive and hope that VAT will eventually be a pill that everyone recognises is here and you just have to deal with it.”

   Ms Sweeting said commercial banks were not lending as they have in the past.

“The banks are becoming so increasingly difficult lending money to people, even though they are full of money,” said Ms Sweeting.

“The biggest thing I see is that we are definitely in a buyers market, where people with money or access to money are going to get good deals and are able to help turn this economy round.”