Realtors yesterday said there was little available in the Island?s commercial property market ? to rent or buy.

Rego Realtors told that there were only a handful of commercial properties up for sale, whether in Hamilton or in other parts of the Island.

Even those properties that are on the market come with a hefty price tag, with Rego?s professional services division saying commercial spaces were selling at $425 per square foot up to a whopping $780 a square foot.

Building a space, which would not take into account the cost of land or outfitting costs, was said by JW Bermuda Realty commercial realtor Graham Smith to also be pricing at premium levels.

Mr. Smith said construction costs for prime office space in the current market were being priced between $240 and $270 a square foot.

He said that if already developed commercial properties were available, they were going for between $300 and $650 a square foot.

Both real estate companies agreed that the market, for buyers and renters, was very tight. Mr. Smith said there were between eight and 12 commercial spaces up for sale, with landlords holding on to property because of good rental income potential.

Mr. Smith told in the commercial rental market, there was little movement of tenants and ?virtually no prime office space available?.

He said, however, that there was a small amount of secondary space ? mostly on the eastern side of Hamilton ? available.

The shortage was attributed to an influx of reinsurance companies after the September 11 terrorist attacks. A wave of companies set up in late 2001 and throughout 2002 in response to a void in re/insurance capacity and a hike in re/insurance rates across all lines of business.

Mr. Smith said that space had also been taken up by service providers to deal with the increase in the number of re/insurers doing business here.

?Companies servicing these new companies have also grown ? absorbing most of the secondary office space in Hamilton.?

He predicted that new companies coming into Bermuda in the next 18 months would find it very difficult to find office space, unless companies were to move off the Island.

Although there are a number of commercial developments near completion (including developments by PXRe, Ren Re and the Imperial Hotel Building), Mr. Smith said these spaces were, by and large, already spoken for.

?Almost all been leased and will not add to the inventory significantly as the new space is being used as expansion space.?

But he said that there were a number of new office developments planned for completion from 2005 to 2007. He said this ?should help ease the market when they come on line?.

He added: ?With (there being) demand in 2004 and 2005, (in tandem with) our re/insurance market continuing to grow at a reasonable rate, these new developments should be absorbed reasonably quickly and rents should remain buoyant with reasonably low vacancy rates throughout 2007.?