The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Budget reforms that expand first-time home buyer VAT relief to multi-unit dwellings were yesterday hailed as boosting “the DNA of the Bahamian market” through making ownership more affordable and accessible.

Gavin Christie, managing partner at the Corcoran C.A. Christie real estate firm, told Tribune Business that exempting first-time duplex and triplex purchasers from having to pay VAT on the transaction price directly targets “the Bahamian staple, the Bahamian blueprint” for how younger buyers can attain the home ownership dream.

Amid rising mortgage and construction costs, Bahamians are increasingly turning to duplexes, triplexes and even larger multi-unit complexes to enable them to ‘own a piece of the rock’ by generating rental income from leasing out a portion of their properties to tenants. Mr Christie disclosed that half his firm’s local business is young Bahamians seeking their first investment property, and asserted that such a “massive number” means the Davis administration’s VAT relief will have a significant impact.

And, besides the multi-unit VAT exemption for first-time home buyers, the Corcoran C.A. Christie chief also praised the Government’s decision - flagged before the 2026-2027 Budget’s unveiling last week - to raise the qualifying ceiling for this relief by $100,000 from $500,000 to $600,000. That will likely work with the multi-unit exemption’s inclusion to expand the pool of eligible Bahamian first-time buyers eligible and remove a significant cost cited as one of many barriers to home ownership.

“I think one of the key things that stood out to me was really how this Budget encourages ownership for Bahamians, and is really going to positively impact the local and Bahamian market,” Mr Christie told Tribune Business. “I think that’s a really good move that is going to encourage home ownership.

“If you look at what I call the ‘Bahamian blueprint’, that is working to own a duplex, triplex or income producing property where the owner lives in one unit and leases the other units from a rental investment standpoint. This will really positively impact the home market and, in my opinion, that will be a very large number of Bahamians.

“We get calls on a daily basis from young Bahamians looking for investment properties where they can live in unit and rent the others. I call that the ‘Bahamian staple’, the ‘Bahamian blueprint’. For them to address that in the Budget is a very progressive move. I can’t put a number to it, but it will be a large positive impact. I think you’ll have many Bahamians looking to take advantage of it.”

Michael Halkitis, minister of finance, in announcing the VAT relief’s extension to multi-unit dwellings said it will apply to the whole property’s value and not just the unit or portion where the purchaser will live.

“We are therefore extending VAT relief for first-time homeowners by expanding zero-rated treatment to include multi-unit properties such as fourplexes, triplexes and duplexes.” he said. “Particularly where at least one unit is owner-occupied. To clarify, this VAT relief will be on the entire building rather than just the proportion where the first-time homeowner resides.

“This reform reduces the upfront cost of home ownership, supports small-scale investment and rental income, and reflects how Bahamians are increasingly entering the housing market today. This measure takes immediate effect, helping more Bahamians to own property, build equity and generate income.”

Mr Christie revealed to this newspaper that half the local market inquiries his firm receives are from young Bahamians seeking investment properties such as those described by Mr Halkitis. “If you look at our local business, I would say at least 50 percent is young Bahamians looking for investment properties,” he said.

“It’s a massive number. It’s how they connect the dots with generational wealth. Their parents used to own a duplex, their father had a triplex. It’s something they’ve learned, and its something that - with the new changes in this Budget - they are definitely going to have an impact. One hundred percent.”

By eliminating VAT on the purchase price for first-time home buyers, the Government is directly targeting and incentivising an increasingly popular home ownership model for Bahamians where rental income helps to cover the mortgage payments, thereby enhancing affordability and access to housing.

“It encourages and expands access to home ownership,” Mr Christie added, “and it encourages income-generating real estate, which is one of the greatest means of producing self-wealth. I think that’s a major positive in the Budget that speaks directly to Bahamian ownership. It seems as if this, from a real estate standpoint, was creating more access to home ownership for Bahamians.

“It allows younger buyers to help offset their mortgage with rental income. It encourages small to medium scale investment, and fits in with the DNA of the Bahamian market, where generally you have higher costs and Bahamians need extra income to help support that. I think that’s going to have a really positive impact.”

Housing affordability and availability were two central issues during the recent general election campaign with both major political parties pledging to make increased use of private sector developers and capital to build more homes. Keith Bell, minister of housing and land reform, said in 2024 that The Bahamas was suffering from a shortage of some 12,000 housing units.

And the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), in a just-released March 2026 study on home affordability and ownership in The Bahamas, said there was “a high degree of regulatory avoidance”, with persons adding units and other spaces on to their existing homes without obtaining building permits and/or in violation of zoning regulations.

Bahamians are increasingly converting parts of their homes and residential properties into rental units, such as efficiencies, and using tenant lease payments to cover the mortgage and other daily living costs. Multi-family households in The Bahamas are also growing in number, the IDB said, suggesting that this is driven at least in part by housing affordability issues and represents “a coping mechanism”.

“In 2022, there were 4,029 more households with five or more persons compared to 2010 - 27,628 versus 23,599 - although the share of such larger households remained constant around 23 percent,” the report said.

“The household size brackets that increased the most during this period were nine and eight, which grew by 84 percent and 53 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, the number of three and four-person households decreased, and the number of two-person households increased.

“The decline of mid-sized households and the growth in large-sized households could reflect a pattern of house-sharing as a coping mechanism for housing affordability. The decline of mid-sized households and the growth in small-sized households could also be related to lower fertility, second home ownership and Airbnbs.”