Real Estate Investment Opportunities in Turks and Caicos
The Turks and Caicos islands actively woo foreign investors with a tax-neutral economy, residence opportunities, and no restrictions on foreigners owning property. The Caribbean territory also offers attractive real estate opportunities on some of its lesser-known islands.
When you buy a property in Turks and Caicos you will be subject to no income, property, or estate taxes. This is music to a property investor’s ears.
Along with Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, and the Cayman Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands are British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean that actively woo foreign investors with their tax-neutral economies, residence opportunities, and no restrictions on foreigners owning property. This makes real estate in the Caribbean a popular international investment choice.
When buying a property in Turks and Caicos you are buying guaranteed freehold rights to the property and can sell it at any time without penalty. You also have the right to apply for Permanent Residency, after which you can claim the island as your principal residence for tax purposes.
The only tax you pay is the stamp duty on the property transfer. The duty fluctuates depending on the current state of the local economy, with reductions during harder times to attract buyers (for example, in mid-2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic the stamp duty was entirely waived for property transactions under $2 million until the end of the year). Stamp Duty falls between 5% and 9.75% of the purchase price, depending on the location.
With an average home purchase cost of $39,500 per square meter, the TCI real estate market is not as heated or expensive as more popular locations for buying a property in the Caribbean, such as Grand Cayman with its average price of $4,200 per square meter, according to Astons, a London-based international property specialist.
The variety of Turks and Caicos homes for sale also offers a much wider choice of locations for investment properties, second homes, or relocation opportunities. Of the territory’s 30 islands, eight are inhabited and each has their own unique features and charm.
While Providenciales, the most developed island, is home to the majority of the territory’s population of 52,000, there are other communities on other islands where established air and sea connections continue to open up areas of Turks and Caicos to luxury residential development opportunities outside Provo’s obvious and most sought-after areas such as Grace Bay, Leeward, Chalk Sound or Long Bay.
New investment property opportunities are available on all the inhabited islands, as well as on some of the uninhabited and private ones. Here are some examples from the islands with the next largest populations outside Provo — Grand Turk, North, Middle, and South Caicos, and Salt Cay. They also have the lowest stamp duty, at 5%.
Grand Turk A 30-minute flight from Provo is Grand Turk, the administrative and historical heart of the territory and a popular tourist and cruise destination. Many vacant lots and beautiful homes are available on Grand Turk. Vacant lots of 0.3 acres are available in the North Wells suburb for as little as $22,500. For a mere $8.75 million there Is a 161-acre undeveloped lot available on the southeast coast with 6,000 linear feet of beach frontage, perfect for subdivision and development.
Salt Cay South of Grand Turk is Salt Cay, a quiet little island that hasn’t changed much in the last 100 years and was, as the name suggests, founded on the sea salt trade. Current listings include a newly renovated three-bedroom, two-bathroom 1,400 sq. ft. property on a half-acre in the South District for $450,000 and a beautifully converted 3,000 sq. ft. former salt warehouse on the leeward shore of the island with three bedrooms for $849,000.
North Caicos: With a permanent population of around 1,500 people North Caicos has tourism and development concentrated around the Whitby Beach area, with vacant lots starting at around $80,000 and Whitby homes starting at around $350,000. Further to the west, Royal Reef, a condo/hotel resort in the Sandy Point area has off-plan studio condos currently for sale starting at $274,000.
Middle Caicos Around 300 full–time residents live on Middle Caicos, the largest of the territory’s islands. Property investment here revolves mostly around vacant lots, as the development of the island is in its early stages. On the north of the island in the Bambarra Beach area there are many vacant lots available, ranging in price from $29,000 for a half-acre of undeveloped beachfront to a 2.9-acre lot with 300 linear feet of beach for $825,000.
South Caicos Though there is real estate action happening in South Caicos, there is little tourism, meaning this island to the west of Grand Turk is very quiet, peaceful, and mostly undeveloped. Around 1,500 live here, most in the main town of Cockburn Harbour. Like middle Caicos, real estate opportunities here are mostly undeveloped land, with prices as low as $35,000 for a half-acre lot near the airport and a number of vacant oceanfront lots in Bell Sound, including a four-lot parcel with 600 feet of beach frontage currently for sale at $850,000. A luxury 6,000 sq. ft. four-bed beachfront villa in Sail Rock with a 90-foot frontage can be bought for $2,675,000 and includes management services by Sailrock Resort, including rental programs designed to maximize your vacation home investment.
