Methodology

Data rules

1. Public, attributable sources only. We record facts: price, size, bedrooms, area, date, source URL and listing reference. We never copy listing prose or photographs.
2. Every number carries a source URL and a capture date.
3. Nothing is estimated. A size that is not stated is recorded as null and the listing is excluded from the per-sq-ft median. Unverified values are marked. Gaps are reported as gaps.
4. Currency is recorded as listed (US$, EC$ or £) and normalised to US$ at EC$2.70 = US$1. Sterling is converted at the rate on the capture date and the rate is noted.
5. Areas (v1): Rodney Bay & Gros Islet (incl. Rodney Heights, Reduit, Bonne Terre, Monchy, Cas en Bas); Cap Estate; Vieux Fort (incl. Beane Field and the Laborie edge). Everything else is filed under "other" with its district.

Computing the index

For each area and property type (home, land, condo, commercial) we publish the count, the median asking price in US$, the minimum and maximum, and the month of the latest capture. Homes, condos and commercial are additionally expressed as the median of US$ per sq ft of built area. Land is expressed as the median of US$ per sq ft and US$ per acre of lot. Each per-unit median is computed only over listings that state the relevant size. Cells with fewer than three listings are published but flagged thin.

Medians, not means: a single trophy listing should not move the figure for a district.

Dedupe

The same property often appears with several agencies. Listings are matched on area, type, bedrooms, size (within 2 %) and price (within 2 %), and the earliest captured record is kept with the other source URLs noted. Price changes on the same listing replace the earlier price and keep the earlier first-seen date.

Update cadence

Listings are captured during the month and the index is rebuilt at month end. Intra-month rebuilds may happen when corrections arrive; the build date is shown on every page and in index.json.

What the index is not

It is an index of asking prices, not transactions. Saint Lucia does not publish a timely sold-price register; where one becomes available we will add it as a separate series rather than blend it in.

Submit or correct a listing

Agencies and owners can submit a listing or correct a captured fact by email. Send the source URL, the listing reference and the field to correct to data@saintluciahomes.com. Corrections are applied at the next build and the change is recorded in the listing's notes. We do not accept submissions without a public URL.

Deal signals

The deals page and card badges use these exact thresholds: a price cut is two differing captures of the same listing where the price fell by 1% or more (previous asking retained and shown); new this week means first seen in the index within 7 days of capture; listed 90+ days counts from the start of the month the listing first entered the index (month-granular until daily snapshots accumulate); below area median requires a stated size and a price per sq ft at least 10% under the area and type median, and only where that median rests on 10 or more sized listings. Signals are computed at build time from the public captures; they are indicators, not advice.

Agency or owner? Get a listing corrected or removed with the corrections form; requests ship in the next build.

Pipeline data

The development tracker records each project's category, status, location, reported value, units, price range, expected completion and the date and content of the latest public update, with one or more source links. Status definitions are on that page. Projects with a single source are marked unverified.

Independence

Saint Lucia Homes is an independent index and is not an agency. The cost-to-build model compares build systems on the same basis and the resilience rating applies the same ladder to every home. Builder brands are kept separate from the index.