The Virgin Islands Multiple Listing Service, a few days ago, was showing 143 residential properties for sale. Prices range from $185,000 to $32 million.
A review our postings about real estate over the past year shows little change in either average asking or median listing prices, even though we read about sharp drops in the real estate market on the mainland.
This chart shows that a year ago, the average asking price of a home on the MLS was $2.2 million. It’s now $2.183 million. However, if you eliminate the two houses at the top of the list, priced at $32 million and $12 million, the average asking price drops to $1.9 million (This is what the chart show.) That’s off almost four percent; still far less than the national averages.
The median house price, the midpoint of the listings, also has not budged. A year ago it was $1.5 million; this year it’s $1.5 million.
Why the stability? Brokers tell me St. John has many strengths, not the least of which is that many home owners are in no rush, don’t need to sell.
Merry Nash at Islandia Real Estate is one of them. "These are mostly not primary residences and most (owners) are not desperate to sell," she said. "People originally bought because they love it here and waiting seems not to be too great a burden. There are always a few who are desperate to sell and these are where the good deals can be found right now."
A real estate broker in Maine, also working in a tourism market, would agree that the pricing of some properties there also may not reflect what they call 'motivated buyers,' and therefore sales are few.