2025 Year in Review

2025 was another stand-out year in Real Estate and Vacation Rentals on St John. We know many of you look for this blog each year, but as we pulled the statistics and went to write this year’s story, the story hadn’t changed much from our year end summary blogs from the last couple years.  As we have always told our customers and clients, the market here is simply not subject to big swings up or down, and this years stats told that same story again.  This is a great thing.

 The market has had a stable and steady realistic climb.  Since 2002, when online Real Estate records began, our appreciation rate has seen values climb a healthy 5.49% on average year over year.  Still, as we have explained to many of you, we prefer to run our pro formas conservatively and are still using 3% to project any future values. 

Unique Island Assets is celebrating 2025 Real Estate sales with Broker/Owner, Jared Warren, taking home the honor of selling the highest volume of real estate, outpacing  70+ realtors on island and taking a 15.6% share of the market. 

Window to the Sea Pool Patio

What was notable in 2025 was the vacation rental market.  Overall, on St John, the last 1/3 of the year was pretty down for vacation rentals.  For Unique Island Assets properties, we pushed it through though and our properties finished about on par with the busy 2024 year at a 7% increase in sales in 2025 (not including our new properties.)  2026 is forecasting to outpace this. We welcomed nearly 2500 guests and our villas averaged 233 nights of rental or 33.4 weeks of occupancy.  All of this with our owners enjoying their homes with their families alongside that income.  

Buyers should take this info into account, as those stats (among a host of other amazing reasons) really make a great case for why investing in Real Estate on St John is a good bet.  

Sea Dream Infinity Pool Villa

 2026 has some exciting things in store for Unique Island Assets. For one thing, we completed some amazing and substantial upgrades to many of our properties in 2025 for our clients and ultimately for our 2026 guests too. We have on-boarded some stunning new homes, WINDOW TO THE SEA, VILLA INSATIABLE, and SEA DREAM.  We are also super excited to launch a new beachfront villa in Peter Bay around the middle of the year.  Be sure to follow us on social media for that announcement! 

Villa Insatiable Primary King Suite

We have some super cool listings for sale right now – check out our featured for sale listings HERE.  

Just a few winter weeks are still available if you haven’t booked 2026 travel yet.  We would like to remind our guests that 2026/2027 holidays are already booking fast and we encourage you to plan ahead to get the rental property of your choice.  Winter of 2027 is starting to book as well, BOOK TODAY! 

Do You Know Why Renting a Villa is Better Than Renting a Hotel?

When you're traveling with your family, a group of friends, or even you and a loved one, having a place to stay that gives you privacy and independence is essential.  Choosing the right accommodations can be daunting with hotels and hundreds of vacation rentals to sort through.  We have taken all of the guess work out of booking our vacation rentals on St John to make that decision even easier.

Staying at a villa in St. John allows you to enjoy the best aspects of being on vacation while staying in the comfort of your own private, luxurious home. Whereas staying in a hotel in St. John doesn’t allow you the same amenities and experiences.

Privacy

One of the biggest benefits of renting a villa is that you get to enjoy the privacy and space of your own villa, pool and patio. Unlike hotels in St. John or any of the Virgin Islands, which have communal pools and close neighbors, villa guests can enjoy time with their family in peace without having to worry about other guests and all of the variables that come with them.

In addition to privacy from strangers, our homes also offer privacy from your own group with most houses offering private bedrooms with en-suite baths. 

Price

If you have family or friends, especially kids with you, the amount of space needed increases even more. Depending on each person and how much room they need could significantly increase your need for a villa rental.

Some of our villas can accommodate up to 12 people in one house! Even a quick glance at mid-rate hotels in the Virgin Islands will show you that 5 or 6 hotel rooms will substantially exceed the nightly rate of some of our most luxurious villas. 

Views and Location

Location can play another key part in choosing a villa over a hotel or resort in St. Thomas or St. John.  Our properties offer some of the most amazing views in the Virgin Islands and many are closer to the true attractions on St John, the white sand beaches of the Virgin Islands National Park.  A hotel may get you into a resort setting, but few if any hotels here have views anything like those from our villas. 

Whenever you need something day or night, a villa management company like our company, Unique Island Assets, will make sure someone is available for your request, and you will always talk to someone directly.

Easy Booking and Premium Service

Did you know you can, check availability and rates and book your stay with us right here on the website?  We have incorporated online booking to make booking as easy as booking any hotel.  Beyond that, when booking with us, you are not dealing with a multi-national corporation, but can call and ask questions directly to the people who provide the guest and home services on site.  This personal service extends to our concierge as well who’s services are included in every stay with us. 

Overall, villas have more variety and uniqueness offering a far richer and more memorable travel experience. The vacation rental business has been going on for over 40 years here, much longer than VRBO or AIRBNB have considered existing.  We take those decades of experience to give you the high end luxury feel of travel, no matter which property you book.   You’re able to customize your trip to your exact wants and needs without compromise. Villas can lead to more fun and unique memories than St. John resorts and hotels can. So, when discussing what the best decision is to book for your next vacation, reach out and let us help you plan the vacation of a lifetime.