The St. Lucia real estate market has been strong in the last few years with many overseas buyers investing on the island, primarily from North America, UK and Europe. Two new developments started in 2007 are targeting buyers from the US market.

There are very few lenders in St. Lucia geared for non-resident mortgages and the application process can be protracted. The role of the mortgage broker in this process is invaluable as it will remove much of the stress and frustration as nothing happens quickly in St. Lucia.

All mortgagors require legal representation and the mortgagee also has lawyers acting on their behalf. The applicant pays their own mortgagor legal fees and also those of the mortgagee. The legal process is further complicated by the addition of the vendor’s lawyers and the fact that many of the legal firms don’t work efficiently with each other. The legal process in St. Lucia is therefore painfully slow and mortgage applicants will require someone on island pushing the process or it will stagnate.

Non-resident property purchasers require an Alien’s Land License to own property on the island and this is applied for by the purchaser’s attorney through the Prime Minister’s office.

All mortgage applications are subject to a satisfactory valuation report provided by a valuer approved by the lender and paid for by the applicant.

Generally repayment terms are between 20-25 years and the maximum loan-to-value is 75% but may be lower. Borrowing in US$ has been the most attractive currency in the past few years where the interest rate is linked to the three-month US$ LIBOR rate plus the lender's mark-up. Current rates are available on request.

For more information telephone Clarence Hiles at 246 228 2188 or by email at clarence@caribbeanmortgages.com.