Cayman Islands Real Estate

Cayman Islands are situated in the Western Carribean Sea. Referred also as "Caymen Islands", "the Caymans" or "Cayman", these islands were first seen on May 10, 1953 by Christopher Columbus. Columbus named Little Cayman and Cayman Brac, "Las Tortugas" when he saw several sea turtles in the area.

The major city of the island country is George Town. Cayman Islands consist of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. It is located four hundred eighty miles south of Miami. The three main islands lie one hundred forty-nine miles south of Cuba and one hundred sixty-seven miles northwest of Jamaica. Grand Cayman, which is the largest among the three islands, has an estimated land mass of seventy-six square miles. Cayman Brac, which has the most impressive landscape as a land mass of ten square miles. Little Cayman, is only ten square miles, and is famous for its Bloody Bay wall Marine Park, considered as one of the finest diving sites in the world.

Statistic reveal that Cayman Islands has an estaminated population of 45.017 in 2005. Of this figure, more than fifty percent are of Caymanian ancestry. Sixty percent of Caymanians is a mixed race of mostly African-European. Half of the forty percent are of European blood and another half of the African descent. The most populated island is the Grand Cayman, followed by Cayman Brac, which has two thousand residents, and the Little Cayman with only about two hundred permanent residents in the area.

Caymanians enjoy an envious standard of living. However, more than eighty-five percent of the island's food must be imported because of the scarcity of natural resources. The first major activity in the island was the harvesting and supplying of sea turtles to passing ships until 1790. Because of the dawn of modern telecommunication and transportation, international finance and tourism in the island country developed. More than seventy thousand companies have already been in registered in the Cayman Islands in 2004. Forty percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product is contributed by the financial services sector while thirty to forty percent is from the tourism sector. The islands are deemed as one of the best places in the Carribean where tourists can enjoy and relax.

Grand Cayman, where hotels, resorts, and condominiums abound, is the primary tourist destination of the Cayman Islands. The main attraction of this island is the Seven Mile Beach, which is considered as one of the best beaches in the world. Tourist destinations include the Pedro Saint James National Historical Site, Bodden Town's Mission House, and the Mastic Trail. The Cayman Island is known for being an excellent diving destination, with its inviting waters and nearby wall dives. In Sting Ray City, snorklers are allowed to interact with and feed stingrays.

The real estate sector in the Cayman Islands offers great opportunities for growth and return of investment. Although the real property prices increase annually, there are still many good bargains in the islands. There are inland houses, luxurious beachfront properties, simple apartments, and ocean front homes in Cayman Islands that investors can choose from. There are local real estate agents whose services can be employed to help find the best properties in the island. Over the years, the real estate market has been a strong sector. However, many investors withdrew their investments when the Hurricane Ivan unfortunately damaged Grand Cayman in 2004. The extent of the damage on the properties reached almost seventy percent. Ivan was the most destructive hurricane to hit the island after eighty-six years. Within the span of two years though, Grand Cayman underwent an extensive rebuilding process.