Famed for its Platinum Coast, the western region of Barbados beat rival Christ Church to dominate buyer demand. The runner-up region in the south coast was the second most popular area for house hunters, responsible for 30 per cent of enquiries.

Christ Church’s neighbour Saint Philip and Saint James’ next door region Saint Peter received the next highest number of enquiries, with 13.68 per cent and 13.57 per cent respectively. But buyers had little interest in the east coast and the north coast, with the regions of Saint Lucy, Saint Andrew and Saint John attracting no enquiries at all.

Saint James was the first destination of choice for many buyers, with the village of Holetown generating over 1 in 7 (15.18 per cent) property searches by location. But while Saint James accounted for 3 out of the top 10 most searched-for locations, Christ Church’s reputation among tourists attracted house hunters to 4 of the top 10, including the resorts of Atlantic Shores and Silver Sands. Indeed, demand for property in Hastings was particularly strong, receiving 9.4 per cent of searches.

The At a Glance series also analyses buyer behaviour on Google. “Property for sale in Barbados” and “Barbados property” were the most popular search terms, while phrases such as “Barbadian real estate” and “Barbadian property” occurred in almost no searches whatsoever. Buyers showed no particularly preference for property type, but activity visibly increased over the 12 months to March 2013, with searches increasing by 11 per cent in the three months from November 2012 to January 2013.

Editor Ivan Radford comments:

“It’s easy to see that Christ Church and Saint James are the most sought-after property destinations in Barbados. The former, famous for its surfing potential at hotspots such as Silver Sands, is more affordable than the stunning “Platinum Coast” of Saint James, but the At a Glance report shows that regardless of the island’s reputation for luxury property – or perhaps because of it, given the uncertain global economic climate – demand for Barbados property has remained consistent. In fact, Google searches have continued to climb since March 2012, with interest in “property for sale in Barbados” peaking in January 2013 and again in March 2013 – coinciding with a surge in activity on TheMoveChannel.com, when Barbados rose to become the 11th most popular destination on portal for the first time.”

Founded in 1999, TheMoveChannel.com is the leading independent website for international property, with than 400,000 listings in over 100 countries around the world, marketed on behalf of agents, developers and private owners.

The website address is http://www.themovechannel.com/ and the office address is 24 Jack´s Place, Corbet Place, Spitalfields, London, E1 6NN.

Contact Dan Johnson on 0207 952 7650 for further information.