Properties for sale in the Cayman Islands stayed on the market for 50 days longer during the third quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2023, according to a recent report.
Provenance Properties’ Q3 Market Report shows homes took on average 186 days to sell, compared to an average of 136 in 2024.
However, the report notes that this may be a temporary variation as it “differed from the positive trends in the preceding quarters”.
It adds: “With the sales-to-list discount close to historical lows and the sold-to-list ratio at 0.77, we interpret the trends as a normalisation.”
There were 77 real estate transactions during Q3, with a total value of US$185 million, down 8% on the same time last year.
The price of condos in Cayman have increased at a relatively low 3% from Q3 in 2024, the report says. This compares to a 4% rise between 2023 and 2024.
The most expensive condo sale in Q3 was $5.9 million for a top floor unit at The Residences at Seafire on Seven Mile Beach, it says.
The 2,224 square foot two-bed plus den apartment was on the market for eight months.
Condo prices have more than doubled in value over the past decade, the report notes, which is the equivalent to a 9% compounded annual growth rate.
The condo rental yield, meanwhile, has been below 6% for the fifth year in a row, currently standing at a median rate of 5.6% across the whole condo market
“Our proprietary rental price index shows that residential rates are 2% higher than in 2024,” the report says.
“We’ve seen a moderate softening during Q3 in line with expected seasonality but expect this to reverse in Q4 as demand increases and long-term rental supply reduces over winter.”
Condo values have risen around 5% annually across the islands since 1997, with West Bay outpacing this with a 6% average annual appreciation.
In the last 10 years, West Bay’s real estate market recorded a median total annual sales volume of about $250.7 million across 174 transactions per year.
