Welcome 2012.  By now, all our holiday travelers are getting back to our island and struggling to settle into a normal routine.  Most are armed with new resolutions with the promise to complete those unfinished projects.  Welcome back all!

Something great happened while you were away.   To let you in on the “news,” our beloved Vice President, Joe Biden, visited St. Croix for a little holiday getaway.  Thank you, Vice President, for giving our island the chance to host your vacation.  We are greatly honored.  We hope you would return in the future and perhaps help spread the word of how great ST. CROIX is!!!

St. Croix is proud to celebrate Buck Island Reef National Monument’s 50th Anniversary yesterday, December 28th.  In 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed the proclamation creating Buck Island a national monument.  Since then, the park has been expanded twice which now includes a 176 -acre dry forest and 18,839 acres of submerged land and coral reefs.  The commemoration was marked with special events, including tours and exhibits.  Residents and visitors were treated to refreshments and cake at Fort Christiansvaern!

It’s amazing how quickly we find ourselves once again in the midst of the holidays and another tourist season signaling the return of our off island homeowners. We’ve had our share of tropical rain so the island is lush and beautiful….right in time for your return for that second home or condo purchase visit! THANK YOU to all for your continuing business and support; my 23-year career on St. Croix is dependent on your referrals and they have been and are always appreciated!

THE FEDELES TEAM GROWS WITH THE VIRTUAL WORLD! That begins with the announcement and launch of our new, upgraded and redesigned website at www.fedeles.com. We hope you find more ‘user friendly’ as well as easier to access the MLS database for your own property searches. My sellers will be intrigued with the special attention that our middle to higher end properties are receiving via the “Featured Properties” pages. A simple “Find Your Dream Property” is all it takes to match the right buyer to your featured listing. Further, my listings are shown ON TOP of any MLS search when performed from my website…be sure to take a look! We will keep you updated with our BLOG as well as other island noteworthy news and tidbits! We look forward to your feedback…

Karla Fennessy, The Fedeles Team marketing expert, continues to develop our marketing initiatives. We are now showcasing our “Featured Properties” to various real estate sites including Realtor.com, BuyStCroix.com, Zillow, Postlets, Craigslist, and via Point2Agent, streaming to others such as HomeFinder, LiveDeal, Zillow, Cyberhomes, Trulia, Frontdoor, HouseLocator, HotPads, YahooRealEstate, and even our own David Fedeles Real Estate Facebook page! A virtual tour will be added for many of those properties for an even greater exposure and marketing awareness! Your property will be visible in all real estate oriented sites except on those sites that may not include USVI in their market area.

Just recently we have added Nancy Toman to the Fedeles Team to work as administrative assistant. Nancy and her husband have lived on island for six years and vacationed here for 12 years so she definitely has the “St. Croix bug!” She will be your ‘contact point’ for questions about your property. This will free up Karla to forge ahead on the ever-growing internet side of our business. Nancy and Karla can be reached at 340-773-4665 X156 and karla@fedeles.com and nancy@fedeles.com. Please give her a big welcome when you call!

*  2010 Statistics = 1/1/10-11/23/10
**2011 Statistics = 1/1/11-11/23/11

HOME  SALES

Real estate sales as depicted from MLS statistics show that transactions are actually down in HOME sales by 9% in 2011 compared to 2010 though the average price is up 2%.   These volume numbers are down about 40% from those that we experienced in the market peak of 2006.  This price increase in 2011 is actually a bit of a ‘price anomaly’ due to two high-end sales including Catherine’s Hope Great House, which sold for $2.99M. and a waterfront home in Cotton Valley which sold for $2.4M. in 2011. Most of the residential activity has been in the $300K-$600K categories.  In fact, there are 53 homes on the market asking over $1.0Mil.!  But there are buyers looking for deals so the KEY is to “price it right” if you expect activity on your property….some houses have been reduced as much as 20-30% from their original asking prices.

CONDO SALES

CONDO sales peaked in 2005 with over 200 condos sold as compared to 55 in 2011.  Again, prices have been reduced so some buyers have taken advantage of some good buying opportunities.  And prices are up in 2011 as compared to 2010 which are pleasantly skewed with five sales in 2011 at our exclusive waterfront Carden Beach Condominiums, including three units in the newly constructed Building 3…take your pick as there are still three units remaining for sale in this upscale community!

LAND  SALES

LAND sales have been the most significantly impacted and are down 10% in volume and 37% in price in 2011 compared to 2010.  The cost of construction continues to escalate and buyers are learning that they can make a ‘better deal’ on a home rather than to construct a new one.  In fact, LAND sales are down over 80% since their peak in 2006.

COMMERCIAL SALES

In the COMMERCIAL sector, we saw two great deals consummated with the sale of the previous Stanford-owned properties including his main office on Hill Street (old Prosser headquarters) for $2.77M. and also the Stanford package of in-town properties which closed for $3.518M.  These were less than half the price that Allen Stanford paid when he ‘made his splash here’ here and before his downfall.  So though unit numbers are down, the average price was considerably higher as compared to 2010, thanks to two local entities which purchased these exceptional opportunities.  In fact, the commercial market is down 77% from its high in 2007.

IN SUMMARY… Make An Offer!

IN SUMMARY, it is truly the TIME TO BUY with prices and interest rates at ALL-TIME LOWS…. and my advice remains to MAKE AN OFFER!!  It is my job to provide updated and timely market information and direction, and I continue to do that for my buyers and sellers…my job is to put them together!  I look forward to serving you in this great market opportunity on St. Croix!

Home Depot is just the beginning as it serves as the anchor store for Island Crossings Shopping Center. “It’s a public-private partnership,” stated Jim Watson, President of Caribbean Development Partners, which includes CDP, The Home Depot, and the VI Government.  Caribbean Development Partners was the first beneficiary of Tax Incremental Financing, a new economic development tool that was approved by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. John DeJongh, Jr. CDP invested $15M. to construct the infrastructure, The Home Depot invested $10M. to build its store and another $13M. in inventory.  “The Government has authorized up to $30M. in TIF bonds and will receive three times that in returns from the TIF revenues” according to the Governor. With a full-service operation we expect Home Depot to become a valuable asset to our community!  In fact, Watson added that CDP will break ground in early 2012 to add three new national tenants that will be new to St. Croix…stay tuned!

The Territory seeks to expand its economic base through the further development of light to medium industry and is administered by the “Virgin Islands Economic Development Commission” (EDC). The EDC Program provides for substantial economic benefits to qualified businesses and to those principals who establish residency in the U.S.V.I. Incentives and benefits for new businesses include a maximum 90% exemption from local corporate income tax payments, a maximum 90% exemption from income taxes paid by resident stockholders on dividends received from the company, a maximum reduction in the U.S. Customs rate from 6% to 1%, a maximum 100% exemption on excise taxes for building materials, machinery, equipment, and supplies used in construction, alteration, reconstruction or extension of the physical plant or facilities and a maximum 100% exemption from property taxes and the territory’s 4% gross receipts tax.

For further information on current St. Croix Economic Development Corporation please visit the Economic Development Agency website: www.usvieda.org.