The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Bahamian realtors and developers were yesterday said to have enjoyed up to 35-40 percent year-over-year increases in the dollar value of completed sales in 2025, with one asserting that his firm expects to “match or exceed” this performance this year.

John Christie, HG Christie's president, told Tribune Business that - while he had expected The Bahamas’ high-end and international market to slow from its COVID “boom” - the fall-off had not been as much as expected and now buyer demand had “picked back up to full strength”.

He asserted: “2025 was a great year. In terms of dollar value we were almost 40 percent higher than the year before. In actual sales, we were almost the same. We had 406 sales, and we expect 2026 to be strong. I think we’ll match or exceed last year.

“Baker’s Bay put out a memorandum that said in 2025 they were 35 percent higher in dollar value as well. We were in line with them. Everyone is doing pretty well, and Albany has very little inventory, too. Those people coming here have got to buy. It’s great.”

Mr Christie added that the high-end, international segment of the Bahamian real estate market is “strong for any number of reasons” with numerous European purchasers targeting this nation and potential investor appearing to be less spooked by ongoing economic uncertainty and the world’s continued geopolitical turmoil.

“I was on the phone with a couple of developers, and we had a very busy Christmas period with several sales happening over that time,” he told this newspaper. “We anticipate that 2025 will be very strong and even better than 2025. There are a lot of things under contract now that will be reflected in 2026.

“I did expect after the boom in 2021-2022 things would slow down; they did a bit, but not to the extent we expected. It’s picked back up again and is back in full swing.” Asked whether he foresees any headwinds and challenges for the Bahamian real estate market in 2026, Mr Christie replied: “Only a lack of inventory. It’s a good thing and a bad thing.

“The lack of inventory means that when something comes on the market, people are buying it, whereas in the past they had to put it on, wait and wait, while buyers waited to see if the price came down. Now, if they want something and it is priced right, they have to buy it or lose it.”

Mr Christie added that the increasing use of the Bahamas Real Estate Association’s (BREA) multiple listing system (MLS) to list and sell property was helping to build an accurate, reliable information database to show what vacant land and buildings should be priced at to achieve a quick sale.

“We have a real market,” he told this newspaper: “We have real data. People are more generally listing properties at more realistic values closer to where it will sell. In the past, people threw numbers around and waited and waited for up to a couple of years.

“Now, if they have a good realtor and the seller listens to them, they will price it right and it will sell pretty quickly…. It also seems like, even though there’s always something going on in the world and the stock market, no one pays attention to it any more. It’s just business as usual unless it gets really bad but I think people are pretty bullish right now.”

Mr Christie and his firm are currently marketing for sale a 2.41-acre property on Paradise Island’s western end, located between the Yoga Retreat and Royal Caribbean’s Royal Beach Club, that features 15 bedrooms and bathrooms plus three partial bathrooms. It also possesses 200 feet of beach and harbour frontage.

Describing this property as “a bit of an outlier”, Mr Christie nevertheless said that “people are inquiring about it and it’s just a question of finding the right buyer”.

“A contemporary architectural masterpiece, the estate offers 16,786 square fee of air conditioned interiors and 21,185 square feet of total living space across three principal buildings for the owners, plus a fourth dedicated primarily for the staff,” HG Christie’s website said of the Paradise Island property.

“Recreational amenities include a versatile multi-use court configured for tennis, two pickle ball courts and basketball….. Completing the property is a 160-foot dock with a boat lift, which can be easily upgraded to accommodate a large yacht with minimal modifications.”