~To track real estate trends ~
Willemstad/Philipsburg - The Centrale Bank van Curaçao en Sint Maarten (CBCS), together with Kadaster Sint Maarten, officially launched the Property Price Index (PPI) dashboard for Sint Maarten on their respective websites. This user-friendly online tool tracks real estate price developments across the island, helping individuals, businesses, policymakers, and researchers make informed decisions.
While the PPI is valuable for anyone interested in buying, selling, or analyzing real estate, its main goal is to support the CBCS in assessing how real estate trends affect financial stability and in detecting potential risks early, thereby helping to maintain confidence in Sint Maarten’s financial system.
The real estate market is not just about homes, offices, and apartments; it also represents a significant risk exposure to the country’s financial system. As of December 2024, mortgages accounted for 64.4 percent of total outstanding loans in the local financial sector of the monetary union. This implies that any sudden change in property prices — whether rising too quickly or falling too sharply — can have spillover effects on financial institutions, the economy, and individuals’ financial well-being. By tracking these trends early, the PPI serves as an early warning indicator, enabling the CBCS to take timely action to prevent broader, system-wide risks.
The PPI dashboard presents average and median prices in Sint Maarten’s real estate market, covering (land) parcels and apartment rights. It also provides data on mortgage and sales volumes across 8 districts. The CBCS compiles and analyzes the index using transaction data from Kadaster Sint Maarten, the official registrar of the ownership of immovable properties in Sint Maarten. The PPI includes data from 2016 up to March 2025 and is updated quarterly.
The CBCS will continue its efforts to develop a similar PPI dashboard for Curaçao. These initiatives underscore the CBCS’s ongoing commitment to informed decision-making and the long-term stability of the financial system of the monetary union.
Willemstad, May 5, 2025
CENTRALE BANK VAN CURAÇAO EN SINT MAARTEN
