ALL of the info below represents MY PERSONAL OPINION.
The island is interesting - especially from a real estate perspective. The east end is where most of the high end houses are - there does not seem to be as much crime there. It's drier out there - but homes facing east have nice tradewinds and gorgeous views of Buck Island. Views of Buck Island are very "sought after" here - and the better the view - the higher the price.
The most prestigious and expensive neighborhood here is Shoys (Anna's Hope, Buccaneer Bay are other names). It is a gated community right beside the lovely Buccaneer Hotel. Great views, amazing homes, wonderful location. Big bucks.
Another desirable, and more affordable, area is Judith's Fancy. It's about 10 minutes west of Christiansted off of North Shore road. It's a gated community with North Shore oceanfront and a gorgeous park overlooking the salt river (where Columbus landed). Ocean-front lots sell for $300,000 and up - and homes from half a million up. It is a nicely diverse area. Great place to walk. Safe. It is an older neighborhood - so there are "fixer uppers" available - but they are not inexpensive.
Further up the North Shore are the communities of Morningstar and Tradewinds. Lots in these neighborhoods tend to go for $50,000 - $150,000 and many of them have decent views. It's not densely populated and seems to be a reasonably nice area. Salt River is a pretty area, too, with a number of lots now available there. The beach area is a popular area for the locals - who come "en mass" there on Easter weekend and for other festivities.
The La Vallee area - which is further west on North Shore road is a desirable area as well. There is rarely anything on the market in this area, and when something becomes available - it is snatched up quickly. Perhaps it's the proximity to Cane Bay, which is a beautiful beach with great diving and snorkeling. You can literally swim out to "the wall" - which is a reef that drops about 13,000 feet. Even though this is a nice and desirable area, there is crime there. Most folks have fences, alarm systems, etc. to combat it. It is also somewhat remote from shopping and town (either one).
Further out the North Shore road (all the way to the end) is Carambola, which is a beautiful resort that many think resembles Hawaii. There's a fairly new subdivision, Prosperity Ridge, that has some great lots - but also significant building restrictions. It's a "high end" neighborhood. If you go up "the Beast" - you'll come to another gated community - called Hibiscus Point. Great lots in there as well - but multi million dollar homes are being built in there...so there are significant building restrictions and architectural review requirements.
Carambola Golf community and Ginger Hills (a bit further up "the Beast") offer reasonably priced lots ($80,000 - $200,000) - but again - have significant building restrictions. There are some condos there as well that are nice. Homes are very expensive.
The areas past there and on into the rainforest tend to be lower priced homes with very little land. This is sort of "center island" and where local people - not "tourists" or "second home owners" are located. There are a few of these neighborhoods that some would consider safe and nice - but not all.
If you take the Scenic Road west - which is not paved (but funds are allocated for it to be paved....) - there's a fairly new subdivision out there that is nice -although VERY remote. Good views - and the prices are $45,000 and up. Taking Scenic road east from the Beast there are several nice neighborhoods - Vista Concordia being one of the nicest. Homes range from $700,000 and up in this area - and the views are spectacular.
Frederiksted (west end) is undergoing major renovations. The land and homes out there are less expensive than out east, and may be the ones that will appreciate the most, due to the proposed developments that are due to occur in that area (casino, 5 star hotel, marina, equestrian center, high end neighborhoods, golf community). Right now - much of the area is "run down" and it still looks like an economically depressed area - (with the associated crime) but this may change radically in the next 10 years. There's a saying here 'West is best" - and the folks who live there love it. I like it out there, too. The water is beautiful, calm and the feeling in that community is very laid back. The west end of the island is wetter (the rainforest is there) - and therefore more "lush" looking. It looks more like a tropical island there!
There is a lot of land for sale on the south shore. On the west end of the island, the tradewinds blow the smoke from Hovensa (the big oil refinery) past this area - which makes it somewhat less desirable. That, of course, makes the lots less expensive! Carlton is an "up and coming" area and land in this area is pretty affordable. There are several large beach-front parcels for sale there that are very nice.
South shore on the east end is a developing area. Not much there now - but several large developments are supposedly coming to this area (Wyndam Hotel as part of Paul Golden's project - but still tied up in litigation - so not sure what will happen - and Robin's Bay development). The ocean, beaches and views are spectacular.
All our real estate is coded by quarter. I would be happy to send you a map that shows you what the quarters are - which will help tremendously if you're looking at real estate here.
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