One of the detached Royal Villas with its own pool at Royal Westmoreland.

THE WEST COAST VILLA market is definitely heating up.

Royal Westmoreland on Friday officially opened about 19 new Royal Villas, totalling 22 on the property.

Of this number, 19 have been sold and 87 per cent of the purchasers are from the United Kingdom – including some well- known faces in sports, such as cricketers Michael Vaughn and Michael Trescothick, Rio Ferdinand, the defender for Manchester United, and jockey Richard Johnson.

The three-bedroom fully furnished villas range from US$1.5 million for the semi-detached units to US$1.8 million for those with pools.

Chief executive officer of Royal Westmoreland, Roger Edghill, said they sold out the properties in three months and would embark on Phase 3 of construction this year.

"We are about to embark on Phase 3 of the Royal Villas, which will offer another 13 homes, and thereafter Phase 4, which on completion will bring the total number of villas to 55. All of this development will take place to our north,"he said.

Edghill added that they would also be developing 160 properties on the resort.

Minister of Tourism Noel Lynch, who officially opened the properties, said there were naysayers who did not recognise the full scope of this market.

"It is really unfortunate that some people would want to put down the concept of the development of the villa market and the condo market replacing traditional hotel rooms . . . fractional ownership is a concept that has already been established, and is done in many jurisdictions all across the globe," said Lynch.

He added that there would always be sceptics, but the overwhelming consideration and decision should be that many developments have contributed significantly to foreign exchange earnings and the overall economic development of Barbados.

(WB)