By INDERIA SAUNDERS, Guardian Business Desk, Inderia@nasguard.com

The decline in this nation's housing market hasn't necessarily transferred to the Turks and Caicos, with a leading Bahamian realty now moving to capitalize on the island's growing marketability.

"People are already asking about real estate there," said HG Christie's John Christie. "The people that are interested in The Bahamas could be interested in Turks and Caicos and vice versa."

The firm has joined up with Lucayan Realty in Turks to ensure its transition to that market is a smooth one.

A new Christie licensee, Lucayan specializes in higher-end properties, just like the ones Christie's is known to go after in The Bahamas.

John Christie figures this is the perfect time for his company to capitalize on the international attraction the island continues to build upon, evident by the slew of Hollywood celebrities lining up vacations on its sandy beaches.

It is a surprising shift of interests considering that on average, real estate properties on the southern island usually bid at much higher prices than the average listing in New Providence, with the exception of gated communities like Lyford Cay. However, Christie chops it down to the "strong and vibrant market that is geographically part of The Bahamas."

"They have got a few busy developments that are doing quite well and we hope to get in there," he said.

Still, Turks is still a competitor, its success likely being viewed, at least in part, as coming at our expense.

That's especially the case as realtors here report many high end properties are stuck on the market longer than even two years ago.

"The demand is great, but house prices are so high that the average Bahamian is being priced out of the local market," Kristine Moree of Jack Isaacs Realty told Guardian Business in an earlier interview.

This has never been more true than in the western area of New Providence, where the average cost for a townhouse or even a condominium starts at a minimum of $450k and the average cost of a single family house can start anywhere from $550,000.

According to Christie, Turks officials do a lot of marketing of their properties.

"We wouldn't need to do anything apart from letting people know to go on the Web site and see what we are doing in Turks and Caicos," Christie said. "Lucayan Realty will have the right to use our name there, but we have the right to bring people to their properties and likewise."

The exclusive partnership is further sweetened by a 25-percent commission agreement between the two parties.