Given the current low rates of return on cash-based investments due the Governments debt exchange program (JDX), demand for investment-grade property is increasing with institutional investors seeking to increase their portfolio holdings in Jamaican real estate. Business entities are seeking to get in on the ground floor of new developments in order to take advantage of discounts for early investors and pre-construction prices.

Many institutional purchasers are looking at investment opportunities in commercial lots and new residential and commercial developments. Once such purchaser, National Insurance Fund (NIF) estimated that its interest earnings from Government bonds would fall significantly as a result of the Jamaica Debt Exchange (JDX) and so is among the institutions seeking to grow the real-estate component of their asset portfolios by acquiring property in areas that are in high demand.

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