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Ruth Ann and Bill Harnisch are building their dream home in Freeport, Grand Bahama. The professional couple from New York had originally considered a home in Florida.
Then they saw Grand Bahama.
“It’s a bargain here,” said Ruth Ann Harnisch. Not only are their no property taxes, but real estate here is a better value than in Florida, she said.
“One simply cannot say enough about the sugar-sand beaches and lovely blue water,” she said. The couple is building a three-bedroom house with a detached guest house.
Like many new houses, it sits on a canal, where the couple will be putting their boat. Within minutes, they can be out the door and in the boat, cruising in off-shore waters.
Many parts of Grand Bahama are crisscrossed with the canals, which were dredged in the 1960s. The idea was to build real estate developments. Now, decades later, the real estate market is taking off.
“We refer to ourselves as a ‘Venice of the Caribbean,’” said realtor James Sarles, an American who has lived 15 years in Grand Bahama.
In increasing numbers, he said, “baby boomer” couples are coming to Grand Bahamas, seeking second homes or property. It can be had for a comfortable few hundred thousand dollars – or soar into the millions.
“Americans are coming here mainly because of the beautiful and peaceful environment. It’s a great retirement spot,” said Sarles of Coldwell Banker. He added that Grand Bahama has been getting favorable attention thanks to heavy advertising by the Ginn Sur Mer resort, a $4.9 billion US mixed-used project under construction.
“People are coming down because of Ginn but then looking over some of the other great properties here.”
Greg Ulmer, vice president of sales and marketing for Ginn, said “We have a huge baby boomer population who are buying resort real estate,” he said. Residential property at Ginn now ranges from US $635,000 to $1.4 million, Ulmer said.
Grand Bahama, the fourth largest island in the Bahamian archipelago, has been an undervalued market over the years, Sarles said. Now, property values are “appreciating at a very good rate.”
A lack of marine space in Florida is what’s prompting some people to come to Grand Bahama, where marina space is plentiful, Sarles noted. The island reaches as close as 55 miles to southeastern Florida.
Property may be had over a wide range of prices. There are multi-million dollar beachfront homes or “you can buy a canal lot for $150,000 US dollars which has 120 or 130 feet of deep- water docks, minutes from the ocean,” Sarles said.
“Really, we have everything from $100,000 US dollars apartments to $12 million beachfront homes.” |
