The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Bahamian realtor yesterday said a record number of “bidding wars” are erupting over lower to mid-market properties due to a limited supply that is unable to keep up with still-buoyant market demand.

Matt Sweeting, broker with 1 Oak Bahamas, told Tribune Business that sellers are currently less willing to negotiate on purchase price and coming down “2-5 percent if at all” as opposed to up to 15 percent discounts that some accepted in the past.

Disclosing that buyers are also turning more to bank-repossessed and distressed properties to find their “ideal” purchases, he added that market activity in early 2022 had remained as strong as the same period in 2021 with many would-be purchasers having spent more than a year searching for a home.

“The 2022 first quarter has been equally as busy as the first quarter in 2021,” Mr Sweeting told this newspaper. “We’re anticipating that this year to be just as positive as last year. We think that bull market that we saw in 2021 is continuing on in 2022, and that is indicated by the first quarter numbers.”

With market demand and buyer interest still high in the local segment, he added: “There’s not a lot of inventory on the market, so people looking for real estate last year are still on the market. We’ve found a lot of buyers in the market from the first quarter last year are still trying to find their ideal piece of property in 2022.

“That’s entry level, first-time buyers in the $200,000 range still looking for property; that low to mid-range buyer is still trying to find the ideal property. What they are doing in this market is looking at repossessions to find their ideal property.”

Rather than seeing real estate prices increase, Mr Sweeting said competition for the same property was intensifying. “I’ve seen bidding wars more than I’ve ever seen in my career,” he told Tribune Business. “We’ve been in three bidding wars, and won two for our clients.

“We’re also seeing less negotiation in this market. What may have been possibly in the area of 15 percent taken-off the price, now we’re seeing 2-5 per cent if at all.” Meanwhile, Mike Lightbourn, Coldwell Banker Lightbourn Realty’s president, affirmed strong demand trends had continued through to 2022.

“We just hope it keeps going, that’s all,” he told Tribune Business. “There’s no let up here. So far, so good. It’s good for us and, more important, it’s good for the country. What lies ahead, I don’t know. There will be a slowdown. It’s happened in the US, so it will happen here. The interest rates will be rising and you know the rest of it.”