International residential purchases on the once-popular islands of Trinidad and Tobago are grinding to a halt in the wake of new regulations, industry executives say.
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In 2007, the government enacted a new law requiring foreign buyers on Tobago to acquire a license. Since then, not a single license has been issued.
“The regulators have been very slow to finalize a transparent procedure for obtaining the licenses,” Nicole Ferreira-Aaron, a partner at Hamel-Smith & Co, a law firm based in Port of Spain, told Property Wire.
On Trinidad foreigners can still buy up to one acre of land without a license, as long as they use an internationally traded currency. But industry observers fear that a controversial new property tax law proposal may further diminish interest from overseas investors.
“After enormous price increases from 1991 to 2006, Trinidad and Tobago’s property market suddenly cooled, and has been falling for the past two years,” Global Property Guide reports, noting local and foreign demand “plummeted” in 2009.
Property prices on the islands rose 157 percent from 1991 to 2006, thanks in part to the growth of the petroleum and construction. But the islands have been losing favor.
“Trinidad and Tobago was very popular with buyers from the UK, Canada and the U.S,” writes Nicholas Marr, c.e.o. of international property portal Homesgofast.com. “It seems the combination of the global slow down; reports in violent crime and new laws have dampened the appetite from international buyers.”
