St. Maarten Private Eye

It is not just "subprime problem" in the USA , it's a full-blown real estate recession/depression. "Subprime" talk was a cover up, cheer leading, farce put up by the banks, the treasury and the government.

But how will it affect SXM? In my opinion there are 3 major effects:
1. no more cheap and easy financing - fewer people can afford to buy.
2. even those who have money, are no longer "speculating" on real estate price doubling every 12-24 months. again, less demand.
3. (most relevant in my opinion) In places like south florida real estate prices are down by over 30% in some locales. Certain new condos sell for under $200 per sq. ft., some go for under $160 per sq. ft, down 60-70% from initial "list prices" of $500-600 per sq. ft.
A lot of people who have considered SXM as vacation retreat or retirement place can now buy significantly cheaper in South Florida, where they have stable gov't, stable communities, low (at least for now) crime rate, where they are "at home" and don't have to deal with foreign gov't regulations. where there's no hassle transporting furniture, or a car, paying all those import taxes, doing residency paperwork, etc etc. don't forget that the basic cost of living in SXM is a lot higher than in the mainland USA.
in the last decade the real estate prices in SXM (and other places south-of-the border) were playing catch-up to the real estate prices in the USA, and in particular to the prices in South Florida. As the real estate prices in the USA (and to a lesser extent in Western Europe) are falling hard and fast, I believe SXM prices will have to follow the trend again... until it will be advantageos financially to buy in SXM vs. other locations.
My comments apply to the "middle" of the market. It has no relevancy for a very high-end, multi-million dollar villas, liked so much by Wall St execs, mafia/shadow business/drug dealers, and certain SXM "civil servants." Those 3 groups of people seem to be doing just fine no matter what it's like for the rest of us. The demand for high-end is still quite high.