Tuesday, October 13, 2026
Jamaica is putting J$11.62 billion into 700 new homes at Greater Bernard Lodge in St Catherine, part of a development expected eventually to hold about 15,000 housing solutions. Since July 1, the National Housing Trust has also reserved at least 20 per cent of its units for contributors aged 35 and under, who can now get up to J$2 million towards a deposit on qualifying open-market purchases.
Yet the Government itself has conceded the catch. In the March 2026 Budget Debate, the Prime Minister acknowledged that earlier increases in NHT loan limits had been accompanied by higher property prices, as extra borrowing power was absorbed by a market short of homes. The Jamaica Mortgage Bank reports average purchase prices in its experience rising from around J$17 million before the pandemic to about J$20 million afterwards. If every new dollar of help is matched by a dollar on the asking price, can first-time buyers ever catch up?
In a woodcut-style scene over a faint grid, two well-fed businessmen pump a railway handcar across the St Catherine plains, one wearing a sash reading “BIGGER LOANS” and the other “HIGHER PRICES”: as one goes down, the other comes up, and the machine keeps rolling. Behind them, a young nurse and a construction worker run breathlessly along the sleepers waving a paper marked “J$2 MILLION HELP”, while far ahead a station signboard promises “700 NEW HOMES”.
Read more: Jamaica’s Housing Trap: More Money, Higher Prices, Same Struggle
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