Barbados Property Industry

The real estate trade is inarguably one of the oldest industries in the world. Its birth can be traced back to the period in history when our nomadic ancestors abandoned the hunter-gatherer and vagrant kind of life to form an agrarian society. Then on, the transition paves the way for the establishment of permanent societies, heralding the birth of property ownership and real estate. There was no fair laws governing real estate ownership then. The only law that people knew is that whoever stakes a claim first owns the land. However, if somebody strong and mighty defeats the first owner, then the land belongs to the conqueror. This is the law of the land that people know then, and this is very true around the world.

In Barbados, the real estate trade goes through the same process. First there came the Amerindians, sailing in canoes from Venezuela to make their new home in the island around 350 or so B.C. Then came the Arawak around 800 B.C., the Caribs in 1200, the Portuguese, the Spanish around 1400 and 1500, then British in between the 1600s to the early 1800. The British colonial rule has significantly transformed the country. It is in this period that government was established, the island's agricultural trade flourished and laws governing property ownership was created.

To date, the activity of the country's property market is very visible throughout the island. With the country being a popular tourist destination, visited by millions tourists every year, property demand has been historically high in the country. Ownership of land or any other type of real estate in Barbados is very attractive among investors. This is because local and foreign investors are given the power to own homes on the island, a move that has significantly changed the landscape of the country's real estate sector. Another reason driving the rise of the country's property market is that its capital growth is anticipated to average between 15% and 30% per annum for the following years and decades. In addition, various necessary infrastructure developments are ongoing to meet tourist needs, as well as facilitate the transformation of the country into a world class travel destination.