By INDERIA SAUNDERS, Guardian Business Desk

The wheels are in motion to peddle Bahamian real estate around the world, with local Realtors bracing for an even greater slowdown in the market stemming from the current credit crisis, Guardian Business has learned.

"I think everyone involved in this kind of business has to do it, instead of waiting for [buyers] to come to us, we have to go to them," said William Wong, president of the Bahamas Real Estate Association (BREA). "The market right now is going to be a bit challenging with all Wall Street business.

"We're going to go through a downturn in our own business."

Indeed, the credit crisis sweeping across the U.S. could, at minimum, dry up business for any local second home sales. That is a sub-sector that is now shaded gray as investment bankers, once at the top of the chain, now pull back from any major investments until the market settles.

Already, Wong says the market for houses that sell anywhere between $1 million and $2 million has softened drastically in the capital. That's to say nothing for second home sales in the Family Islands, where agents report that vacation home sales have dramatically slowed — almost to a standstill. It is a fact that Wong believes is further driven by external influences.

"Nassau is floating on, but in the Family Islands, like in Abaco and Exuma, sales there are very, very low," he said. "Especially with all the problems Emerald Bay is having, it's affecting sales in Exuma. . . people are taking a second and third look at buying there.

"[Buyers] have a wait and see attitude."

It is this very wary attitude by buyers that has inspired the BREA head and his associates to be more creative in marketing Bahamian properties.

Wong recently returned from a conference in Orlando and one in Panama, promoting the destination as the ideal second home spot. A trade mission to the U.K. is also planned for the upcoming months.

"We're trying to tell people business in The Bahamas is great [and] that is what most professionals have to do," he said. "We have to go out and bring business in and let [buyers] know business is as usual here."

This strategy was never more important, he said, than in the upcoming months as Nassau - one of the crown real estate cities - is expected to note a further slowdown in the market.

The analysis seems to be in line with an expected downgrade in the economic review for this country, proffered by the State Minister for Finance, Zhivargo Laing.

He is now projecting the nation's gross domestic product will not grow by a modest 2.8 percent. The rating seems to be reflecting the impact of the slowed U.S. economy. It has begun to take its toll on more than tourism, with a number of resort development projects caught short in terms of funding.

Still, Wong says sales will come.

"You'll always have some big buyers not affected by chaos on Wall Street [and] for us that is good news."