The most expensive dirt in the country outside New Providence, and the reason most people have heard of Eleuthera at all.
Harbour Island sits off the northeast tip of Eleuthera, reached by water taxi from the North Eleuthera dock. It is about three miles long, everyone moves by golf cart, and the pink sand beach on the Atlantic side is the one in the photographs. Dunmore Town is the settlement: colonial cottages on a grid, packed tight, most of them restored.
Two quite different markets on one small island. Inside Dunmore Town you are buying a historic lot with a footprint you cannot easily extend, and the price is about the walk to the beach and the town. Along the bay and toward the north end you are buying water frontage and dockage. Almost nothing is on more than two acres, so most purchases here run the registration route — unless you intend to let it, which puts you back on the permit.
Almost nothing on Harbour Island sits on two or more adjoining acres, so most purchases here run the registration route rather than a permit — you buy, then your attorney registers the acquisition with the Bahamas Investments Board. The exception is intent: if you are buying to let the house commercially, that is a permit purchase before closing no matter how small the lot. On an island where a large share of the housing stock earns as a rental, that catches more buyers here than anywhere else on Eleuthera.
Fly into North Eleuthera (ELH), then a water taxi across to the government dock at Dunmore Town — about ten minutes. There is no bridge and there are no cars to speak of; a golf cart is the vehicle. Nassau is a short hop by air, which is why the island fills and empties faster than the rest of Eleuthera.
Ferry dependency is a real cost, not a charm. Everything you build with arrives by boat. Get a builder to price that before you fall in love with a renovation.
Yes, freehold and in your own name, with no local partner and no nominee structure. Under two adjoining acres and owner-occupied, you register the purchase after closing; two acres or more, or any intention to let it commercially, needs a permit before closing.
Conveyance VAT is a flat 10% for a non-Bahamian at every value, customarily split with the seller, plus roughly 2.5% to your attorney with VAT on that fee. Buyer-side closing costs commonly land between 7% and 12% of the price all in.
It is the most expensive dirt in the country outside New Providence. We publish no price guidance here, on this island or any other, because we hold no verified comparable sales and will not imply otherwise — ask the brokerage for comparables and ask to see them.
Everything you build with arrives by boat. Ferry dependency is a real line in a renovation budget, not a charm, and it is the single item most commonly left out of one.
Everything else about the place — the beaches, what is open, the week — is on the Harbour Island page. This one is only the property.
The tax, the two 180-day clocks, exchange control, title in an unregistered land country, and a calculator that does your closing costs — all on the buying guide, sourced and dated. Own something on Harbour Island already? Selling and free listings have their own page.
Not for the introduction, not for the guide, not for anything on this site. If a purchase or a sale completes, the receiving Bahamian brokerage may pay a referral fee out of its own commission. That does not change the price of the property and it does not come out of your pocket.
Under the bilateral agreement between the National Association of Realtors and the Bahamas Real Estate Association, a foreign agent may refer business to a BREA-licensed broker or salesman and receive a referral fee of up to 25%. That is the ceiling and we do not go near arrangements outside it.
The fee is paid by the Bahamian brokerage to eXp Realty, not agent to agent, and reaches the agent through their commission agreement. It is documented by an executed referral agreement before anything moves.
We are not a licensed Bahamian brokerage and we do not practise real estate in The Bahamas — doing so without a BREA licence is an offence under the Real Estate (Brokers and Salesmen) Act 1995. We introduce you to someone who is licensed, by name. Your own Bahamian attorney handles the conveyance and the opinion on title.
Nothing on this site is legal, tax or investment advice. Figures are checked against government, regulator and Bahamian law-firm sources and dated; rates move at budget, so have them confirmed in writing before you rely on them. If you would rather no referral fee were involved at all, say so in your message and the introduction is made anyway.