St Vincent property market

St. Vincent is locally called "the mainland". For a long time the island was inhabited by Arawak and Carib indians until finally the latter, after fierce struggles, were defeated by the English in the late 18th century. Most of them were killed or deported to Mosquito Coast. After that the island has been alternately in the hands of the French and English who established plantations which used slave labour (abolished around 1840). It is now an independent country within the British Commonwealth.

Today, although the surrounding area is a haunt of the rich and famous, offering yachting, diving and fine beach, St. Vincent’s remains worlds away from the many Vincentians who are without jobs. High unemployment has prompted many to leave the islands, and a major effort has now been made to diversify the economy from banana exports to tourism.

Although a mountainous island, it is covered with tropical greenery. With the main population centre being mountainous and lush, the interior is covered by Rainforests - The whole island is dominated by the Soufriere volcano (3000feet high) to the north. There are no white sand beaches (which you will find further south in the Grenadines) but this makes the island unique as it is totally unspoiled by the more commercial style tourism. Even so, there are a number of very interesting places on the Island.

The St. Vincent’s property market is very much in its infancy and most would term it as an emerging market. The island currently only has two approx 30 bed hotels which seem to be consistently booked. Other types of accommodation for holiday makers are guest houses which are owned by locals who rent out one or two bedrooms of their own houses. The scarcity of beach front land makes St. Vincent property a very good investment opportunity. The average charges tend be around £100 per night for studio and £150 for a suite.  Apart from this there is a lack of comparables but with the onset of the international airport opening in 2010, it is likely that occupancy levels will be very high.

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