Virgin Islands Real Estate Trends

Excerpt from a message sent by our Governor:

"As many of you know, I have already publicly announced my support of Senator Barack Obama to be our next President of the United States. I had the great opportunity to meet with the Senator here in the Virgin Islands during his campaign visit and I was impressed with him as a person and a leader. I also respected the fact that he took the time to come to the Virgin Islands and listen to the challenges we face as a Territory while bringing his message of hope and change directly to our people.

This year's presidential election has been a very exciting time for the Virgin Islands and I am extremely proud to campaign on behalf of Senator Obama in what has become an historic moment for our Territory, and our Country. 

Our voice was recently heard loud and clear around the country when, in a landslide victory, Virgin Islanders overwhelmingly voted for Barack Obama in our territory's caucuses. Senator Obama received a tremendous 90% of the Democratic Caucus vote -- His highest percentage of victory in any race so far!!!"

So goes the political race here and how our Governor feels. He was really soliciting contributions but I thought it important to share the "island" endorsement.

The recent Sports Illustrated's 2008 Swimsuit Issue features a model standing at St. John's Caneel Bay on its front cover. The cover shot was taken on Paradise Beach at Caneel Bay.

In addition to the eye-grabbing cover shot, the 2008 issue features St. John on 11 pages with photos and one full editorial page with information about St. John and the Virgin Islands.

According the the Virgin Islands Daily News, "The St. John photos were all taken by famed fashion photographer Raphael Mazzucco."

Additionally the paper reported: "The decision to showcase St. John on the cover gives the territory a spotlight that no other destination featured in the magazine receives, Tourism Commissioner Beverly Nicholson-Doty said in a written statement.

She added that cover already has received publicity on the Late Show with David Letterman, Good Morning America, and other national broadcast television shows."

All good news for the US Virgin Islands!

FOR MORE INFO ON THE SWIMSUIT ISSUE

http://www.chiff.com/recreation/sports/swimsuit-issue.htm

Anyone owning or wishing to own property on St. Thomas, St. John or St. Croix can breathe a sigh of relief! We have been going through a property re-valuation and with the increase of property prices over the last few years we all expected to see huge property tax bills in our mail boxes.

The current way to calculate property taxes: take 60% of "fair market value" and then multiply by 1.25%

In a recent article in the daily news:

"The original bill, which deJongh presented to the Senate, was replaced in its entirety by an amendment Thursday. That amendment - co-sponsored by Malone, Richards and White - is nearly identical to both deJongh's proposal and the bill defeated by the Senate two weeks ago. The bill states that different kinds of property would be taxed at different rates. Unimproved noncommercial property would be taxed at 0.49 percent of its value. Residential property would be taxed at 0.38 percent of its value. Commercial property would be taxed at a rate of 0.71 percent of its value, and timeshares would be taxed at 1.4 percent of their values.

To mitigate the impact of the bill, it contains several exemptions that the Senate made more generous through amendments. People who live in their homes can receive an annual homestead exemption of $400. Veterans are eligible for a $650 exemption - increased from $450 by an amendment proposed by Sen. Juan Figueroa-Serville. Senior citizens who have individual incomes of less than $30,000 or household incomes of less than $50,000 - income caps increased through the Malone, Richards and White amendment - are eligible for $500 tax credits. Residents with disabilities and individual incomes of less than $30,000 or household incomes of less than $50,000 receive a $500 tax credit, also increased through the majority members' amendment.

Disabled veterans would be exempt from property taxes. An amendment sponsored by Hill allows residents with homestead exemptions to have a second exemption.

In cases of an increase in residential taxes of more than 125 percent, people who live in that residence and have a household income of less than $135,000 - a cap increased through the majority's amendment - would receive a tax credit for 40 percent of that increase, up to $5,000. Ottley sponsored an amendment that extends that credit to unimproved noncommercial property with large increases.

Amendments sponsored by Hill chip further away at a resident's tax burden. One provision of Hill's amendments cap the taxable increase in values of residents' homes at 3 percent every five years. Hill said the cap will protect an average resident from being affected by burgeoning home prices and new developments. "

While property tax bills will be higher but not as high as expected. Good news for our islands and property owners.