sell 39 planned super-luxury condominiums to non-Bermudians has brought accusations of unfairness from a local real estate agent.

Mr. Buddy Rego, who is the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce Real Estate Division, said there is a moratorium on selling condominiums to non-Bermudians, which has been in effect since 1989.

He said there are currently a number of condominium developments with "many'' units vacant because developers have been unable to sell them to Bermudians.

Such developments include Shelly Hall on Radnor Road, Somers Gardens on North Shore Road, Harbour House and Strawberry Hill in Paget and Smithsfield Manor at Riddells Bay.

If the moratorium is lifted, he said there would be a number of non-Bermudians interested in buying them, which would benefit both Government and banks.

Banks would be able to recoup building loans they extended to the builders, he said, and Government would get a 20 percent licensing fee.

"Our (real estate agents') concern is that permission to sell to non-Bermudians was given to the Elbow Beach Hotel but no one else -- are they special?,'' he asked.

But Labour and Immigration Minister the Hon. J. Irving Pearman said yesterday there had been other cases where permission had been given to condominium developers to sell to non-Bermudians because of special circumstances.

He cited the just-built Langton Hill condominiums on the site where the Hamiltonian Hotel stood as an example. But even then, the developers were not given permission to offer all of the units to non-Bermudians.

He said the new owners of the Elbow Beach Hotel were given Government permission to sell the planned $1.5-2.5 million units to non-Bermudians because they are part of the hotel's multi-million dollar upgrading and expansion project which is "to Bermuda's benefit''.

Mr. Pearman said he was concerned anyone would think it unfair to allow the hotel to sell to non-Bermudians and was willing to hear their arguments.

"If anyone has concerns all they have to do is make an appointment to see me,'' he said.

The moratorium is aimed at preserving home ownership in Bermuda for Bermudians and to prevent people from developing property solely to sell at high prices to non-Bermudians, he explained.

Mr. Rego said in order for condominiums or homes to be sold to non-Bermudians they had to have an annual rental value of $15,300, which generally means a price tag of about $450,000.

The hotel plans to build the 3-4 bedroom condominiums on the adjoining Fritholme estate which it recently bought. But building them hinges on getting approval from the Development Applications Board.