By the Caribbean Journal staff

It’s shaping up to be a banner year for the Turks and Caicos real estate market, according to a new report by Turks and Caicos Sotheby’s International Realty.

Total sales volume has jumped to $63.06 million in the first quarter, a 16 percent increase over the first three months of 2017, while the average sales price increased by a whopping 49 percent to $900,763 in the same period.

Single-family home sales led the way in the first quarter, with dollar volume up 53 percent to $38.7 million, with the average sales price of a single-family home rising just under 40 percent to $1.684 million.

A home for sale on Grace Bay Beach.

That was paced by sales like a villa at the Amanyara that sold for $5.65 million and a newly-constructed villa at the Shore Club that sold for $5.885 million.

Single-family sales led the boom as condominium sales were actually down in the period, though several units changed hands for more than $1 million, including a Palms penthouse that sold for $3.1 million.

That included only re-sale condominium data, however, the company cautioned, pointing to a surge in new projects and a strong underlying demand for condominiums — and little existing inventory to meet the demand.

“This scarcity is evidenced by a drop in average days on market for condominiums from 349 to 276 days,” the brokerage said in its report.

A home for sale in Providenciales.

The company pointed to another $108 million in pending transactions on the territory’s MLS, dominated by $85 million in luxury villa sales.

The brokerage predicted that pattern would sustain, as pre-construction villa and condominium sales continue as more and more projects break ground.

“We simply could not have hoped for more in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, and could not be more proud of the performance of our tourism, development and real estate sectors as we experience another great tourism and real estate season,” Turks and Caicos Sotheby’s said in a statement.