After some 15 years of sellers holding the upper hand, the Corporate Area property market is reportedly shifting in the buyers’ favour.

That’s according to Deputy CEO of Kingston-based real estate dealer different Capital, Gary Matalon, who says the company’s data shows that buyers have more room than ever to negotiate.

“For most of the last decade and a half, sellers in Kingston and St Andrew set the terms. That has changed,” he told Observer Online on Sunday.

“Over the past two years, roughly one in five properties listed for sale has cut its asking price, and fewer than half have sold,” he continued. “When that many sellers are adjusting and that much stock is sitting, the negotiating power has moved to the buyer.”

According to Matalon, the trend is being driven by buyers having relatively more options than years past and sellers competing for the same pool of qualified purchasers.

He also noted that “uncertainty” has sidelined diaspora buyers.

“They traditionally supported the upper end of the market but with inflation and so much global uncertainty…some are in a holding pattern,” he said.

Different Capital tracks listings, price changes and sales across Jamaica. Matalon emphasised that the trend does not mean the market has crashed.

“It’s not a crash and not every property is a bargain,” Matalon said. “Well priced real estate in good locations still sell strong.”

How long will it last? Matalon said that depends on interest rates and how quickly new supply is absorbed by the market.

The Bank of Jamaica last week raised its policy rate by half a percentage point to 6.0 per cent. The increase was the central bank’s first since November 2022.

The policy rate is what the BOJ pays deposit-taking institutions on balances held at the central bank. It does not automatically change the rate on an individual mortgage or business loan, although it can influence the rates lenders offer over time.