Real Estate & Construction
From The Report: Trinidad & Tobago 2016
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The Trinidad and Tobago real estate market’s fortunes have long been tied to those of the oil sector. Between 1991 and 2006 house prices more than quadrupled as the country’s hydrocarbons and petrochemicals industries grew strongly. This stoked a construction boom that led to the rapid development of grade-A office and residential properties. Following the 2008 financial crisis, prices dropped by 20% but recovered strongly up to 2014, with residential properties reaching 8.7% year-on-year growth by the third quarter of 2014. Falling oil prices have since led to a slowing economy and the oversupply of grade-A residential and office space has depressed rents and valuations. Meanwhile, affordable housing projects have seen cost overruns and industrial estate projects have been slow to get off the ground. Even so, in the Ministry of Finance’s “Review of the Economy 2015” the construction sector was forecast to have a strong 2015, growing 3.4% and accounting for 5.3% of GDP.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Open house: Property values and rents have been affected by broader economic headwinds
OBG
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The Trinidad and Tobago real estate market’s fortunes have long been tied to those of the oil sector. Between 1991 and 2006 house prices more than quadrupled as the country’s hydrocarbons and petrochemicals industries grew strongly. This stoked a construction boom that led to the rapid development of grade-A office and residential properties. Following the 2008 financial crisis prices dropped by 20% but recovered strongly up to 2014, with residential properties reaching 8.7% year-on-year growth…

Analysis

On the waterfront: Talks are under way with investors over major new developments
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Much of the April 2016 mid-year budget review by Trinidad and Tobago’s finance minister, Colm Imbert, focused on the importance of austerity and fiscal prudence, but one project was of particular investment potential. According to Imbert the government had begun discussions with foreign investors “on a set of integrated projects comprising an expanded International Financial Centre [IFC], a five-star hotel and a convention centre in Invaders Bay, coupled with a new commercial port, maritime…

Overview

Built to last: Despite recent tests the sector remains a key economic contributor
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From 2010 to 2015 the construction sector regularly accounted for around 5% of Trinidad and Tobago’s GDP, fluctuating from 5.4% in 2010 to 4.7% in 2012. In the Ministry of Finance’s “Review of the Economy 2015” the sector was forecast to have a strong 2015, growing 3.4% and accounting for 5.3% of GDP. In the fourth quarter of 2015 the sector was estimated to employ around 95,300, 14.8% of the country’s workforce. Unemployment in the sector stood at 6.9%. T&T’s construction sector…