Jamaica’s pandemic property boom opened doors for some buyers and created expensive commitments for others. Years later, the real measure of homeownership may be less about rising prices than the lives people can afford to lead.
Across the Caribbean, property markets are moving at very different speeds. Yet from Kingston to Bridgetown, Georgetown to Nassau, one problem increasingly unites buyers: the amount paid for a house is not necessarily what that house will ultimately cost.
A new national rental database will make landlords and properties easier to identify. Jamaica already requires rented premises to be registered, but the information remains far less visible.
Jamaica cannot persuade more homeowners to insure their properties while policyholders wait nearly a year for claims to be settled
Jamaica’s churches possess land, history and influence. The question is whether those assets are being protected and used to meet the country’s urgent needs.
Property Market
The Financial Services Commission’s latest industry-wide assessment shows 1,563 Hurricane Melissa claims still unresolved, with insurers reserving more for US-dollar claims than they have so far paid. The regulator says it is examining why settlements are taking so long.
Certificates of Possession have been presented to 221 Tivoli Gardens residents, but registered ownership remains a further step. Another 29 occupancy audits and work on strata titles are outstanding.
KINGSTON, Jamaica — The land belongs to the family. Everybody knows it.…
Jamaicans are spending millions buying apartments without always knowing the financial condition…
Mortgages & Money
KINGSTON, Jamaica — When Bank of Jamaica raises interest rates, a familiar fear quickly follows: mortgages are about to become…
RENTING
KINGSTON, Jamaica — A Jamaican earning the national minimum wage of J$17,000 for a 40 hour week makes roughly J$73,700 a month before deductions. Put that…
