Caribbean property risk climate

Caribbean summer tourism shows encouraging recovery as vaccinations progress, the IPCC’s landmark Sixth Assessment Report raises urgent questions for property risk in the region, and Hurricane Grace reminds investors of persistent climate exposure.

The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season has set all-time records as Hurricanes Eta and Iota devastate Central America and the Caribbean. The compound crisis of pandemic and storms is testing regional resilience to its limits, even as the Barbados Welcome Stamp continues to generate extraordinary global interest.

Caribbean property markets are showing unexpected resilience as the remote work revolution reshapes buyer demand. The Barbados Welcome Stamp is driving the ‘great reshuffling’ of where wealthy buyers want to live, while the 2020 hurricane season continues to intensify with potentially devastating force.

The Caribbean faces its deepest economic crisis as nearly all hotels remain closed, hundreds of thousands are unemployed, and the Atlantic hurricane season opens on June 1 — adding catastrophic weather risk to an already unprecedented pandemic emergency.

Two months after Hurricane Dorian’s catastrophic assault on the Bahamas, reconstruction planning is taking shape while property insurance, resilience standards, and Caribbean hurricane risk come under intense professional scrutiny. Other island markets continue to perform strongly.

Hurricane Dorian’s Category 5 assault on the Bahamas — 185 mph sustained winds, $3.4 billion in damage, 70,000 displaced — marks the Caribbean’s worst property disaster since Maria. We examine the full scale of the loss and the shape of the reconstruction challenge ahead.

The 2018 hurricane season draws to a close having largely spared the Caribbean, a merciful contrast to the catastrophe of 2017. Barbados’s IMF programme negotiations near conclusion as the Mottley government demonstrates fiscal commitment, and the winter tourism season opens with strong advance bookings.

Caribbean property markets hold steady as the 2018 hurricane season reaches its peak, with unaffected islands sustaining strong tourism momentum. Barbados PM Mottley’s three-month-old administration accelerates economic reform discussions while the region reflects on its improved preparedness versus the 2017 catastrophe.

August 2018: Caribbean hurricane preparedness dominates the agenda as the 2018 season peaks; Barbados IMF talks advance under PM Mottley; the economic recovery trajectory across the region strengthens despite elevated construction costs.

Mia Mottley’s BLP won all 30 seats in Barbados’s 24 May 2018 election — the most decisive electoral result in the island’s history. The new PM brings a bold economic reform agenda. The Caribbean tourism season closes strongly, the 2018 hurricane season opens on 1 June, and nine-month reconstruction updates across Irma and Maria territories.

The Caribbean’s 2017 peak summer season is delivering exceptional results across tourism, property, and investment metrics. The hurricane season remains active with meteorologists closely watching Atlantic development. Jamaica and the DR lead a strong regional property performance as Guyana’s oil transformation deepens.

Caribbean summer 2017 tourism is booming, with June delivering strong occupancy and revenue across major destinations. The hurricane season is active with early named storms tracked. Jamaica’s property market surges and DR construction accelerates as Guyana’s oil story deepens.

The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season opens June 1 with NOAA forecasting an above-normal season. Caribbean hotel development pipeline accelerates, Guyana oil advances, and T&T navigates LNG market headwinds as the region’s property market enters peak summer momentum.

Hurricane Matthew devastates Haiti and strikes Jamaica and the Bahamas, leaving a trail of property destruction across the Caribbean. We assess the damage, the reconstruction challenge, and what the approaching US election may mean for the region.

Hurricane Matthew formed on 29 September and is rapidly intensifying toward Category 4–5 strength as this edition goes to press. The storm poses an imminent and severe threat to Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba, and the Bahamas. Caribbean property markets have delivered strong Q3 performance, but the next 72 hours may bring the region’s most serious storm test since Sandy in 2012.