Real Estate

After a short-lived reduction in the number of houses for sale on the Multiple Listing Service, inventory is climbing again.  In the past week, three residences went on the market, boosting the total to 90 – near the record of 91. 

At least one major real estate firm on island has reduced prices on three properties in its printed ad, and s fourth is marked as having an "anxious owner."

Businesses for sale and commercial offers have increased almost 30% thanks, in prt, to the re-listing of Voyages de St. Jan, formerly an upscale restaurant in a terrible location for an upscale restaurant.  Space on the first and second floors is being subdivided into condominiums for office or retail use. 

Ronnie’s Rolling Pin, a pizza place and bakery, is also on the market again, although I swear when I drove by this week I saw a laundromat there.  I’ll look again.

An additional 10 land lots have also been added to the market.

Even though the "For Sale" sign was removed over the weekend, Palm Plaza, a small shopping center a few blocks from the Westin resort is still for sale.  It’s offered by Calabash Real Estate of St. Croix at $2.6 million. 

The sales pitch for the two-story commercial property is that it’s "the perfect condominium conversion project."  Maybe so. 

Palm Plaza was a retail-hit several years ago when it opened, anchored by a wonderful gourmet deli.  When new owners moved in and went to work, vacancies among the other (maybe) dozen units began to appear.  Then the developer of the center sold Palm Plaza – to those gaming people from St Croix, and now they have it for sale. 

Calabash is also advertising "The Lantern" at Cruz Bay.  It’s half an acre, priced at $3.5 million, with "A site map, floor plans, elevations and permits available for developers to build 15 luxury condominiums."

One of the island’s most prominent brokers tells me … there are 91 houses listed for sale … and there are 91 real estate sales people on St. John.

More than 30 new lots overlooking Rendezvous Bay and Ditliff Point on St. John’s south shore have come on the market in the past week.  The nearly-half-acre building sites are priced between $695,000 and $895,000.

The land is just below the almost-infamous "Parcel K", owned by St. Croix gaming interests who intended to build dozens of condominium units on land overlooking Fish Bay.  It has been reported that those would-be developers have decided to sell their island interests.  Reports said they also own Palm Plaza, the shopping center near the Westin Resort.  It, too, is listed for sale.

Residential offerings listed on the Multiple Listing Service continue at their record high level of 90.  There were no additions during the past week. The list of businesses for sale has a new offering.  The Clothing Studio, at Mongoose Junction, is priced at $405,000.  It is one of four Mongoose-located businesses on the market.

Read moreReal estate 2/12/06: Land offerings soar

For the first time since October, the number of properties on the Multiple Listing Service  decreased, week to week.  The MLS is showing 86 residences, compared to 89 last week.  One new house came on the market, also a rental villa, known as Temptress.  The Chocolate Hole property has 2BRs/2Bas plus pool and is priced at $1.895 million.

Not the same story for condos or land.  One new condominium came on the market, bringing the total to 26. The number of undeveloped lots rose to 214, up 4.  There was no change in commercial properties, 15.

There are lots of reasons why island real estate sales people can be confident, despite a record-setting rise in the number of homes for sale on island this winter.

In a study of baby boomers conducted for the National Association of Home Builders, more than half indicated they are "likely" or "very likely" to buy a vacation investment or new primary home in the next 60 months.  There are 70 million boomers, the first of whom turned 60 this month.

The Multiple Listing Service has added two new commercial listings including Best of Both Worlds and The Body Deli.  Both are located at Mongoose Junction. 

Both Worlds sells original jewelry, fine art, and functional art, while Deli (one of its products is pictured at left) is the "first, original, and completely all-natural cosmetic deli in the country."

The residential market continues to bulk up.  There are now 89 houses offered, another record high.  The average price of a home is $2.3 million and the median priced listing is $1.7 million.  It has been at least two months since the number of listings has fallen.

Land and condo offerings show the same pattern.  Owners are offering for sale 210 lots on the MLS, 8 more than there were two weeks ago; condo listings stand at 25, 2 more than at our last report.

There’s a new "most expensive" property on island.  It’s a three-year-old, 5-bedroom, 4.5 bath, 6,600-square foot waterfront contemporary mansion at Fish Bay.  Newly offered on the Multiple Listing Service at $9 million. It, and 85 other residences, are on the market, two more than last week – and another record.

Land offerings also continue to rise, with the MLS now showing 202 properties, 5 more than last week.  There was no change in condos (23) or commercial opportunities (12).