IN the Turks and Caicos, the sales pitch starts as soon as you step off the plane. "
We are building your dream," says one condo ad hanging in Providenciales International Airport's immigration control room.Or go for a swim along Grace Bay, a 12-mile stretch of soft-sand beach. Floating in the perfectly clear waters, you can count off the building projects, in stages from pile of dirt to nearly complete, from east to west: the Tuscany, Grace Bay Club Villas, Pinnacle, Seven Stars, Regent Grand, Mandalay, Somerset, Alexandra, Veranda. And that's just one beach. Luxury condos are sprouting up everywhere in this British overseas territory, from the main tourist island of Providenciales to the currently uninhabited island of West Caicos. Even at six-figure prices, buildings are selling out, mostly to American buyers, before they're even finished. (The American dollar is the islands' official currency.)

"The civilized world seemed to have forgotten us for a long time," said David Hartshorn, a longtime resident and builder. Not anymore. It's an ambitious undertaking for a place with only 26,000 residents. Forty islands - 32 of them uninhabited - make up the territory, which is southeast of the Bahamas and a 95-minute flight from Miami. Most of the current developments are on Grace Bay Beach, on Providenciales (Provo, for short).

In 2004, 915 condo units were sold on Grace Bay, a 72 percent increase from 2002, according to Connolly Zahm Properties, a local real estate company. Over the same period, the average price rose 27 percent, to $897,350 from $704,021.

Prices at the newest developments start around $800,000. A new high-end home is likely to have resort amenities: a whirlpool spa, a poolside grill and an infinity pool. In condos, ocean views, high ceilings and upscale appliances are standard. Seven Stars, an 81-unit condominium complex being built on Grace Bay Beach, promises underground parking, an owners' clubhouse and travertine floor tiles for $1.25 million to $3.6 million a unit. Nearly 70 percent have been sold, although they won't be ready for at least two years. Still, the natural amenities are often the biggest selling point. Cliff and Phyllis Kalista, both institutional stockbrokers in Wayne, Pa., especially like the calm waters, snorkeling and bonefishing. Although they have traveled farther south to a dozen Caribbean islands, "this was the only island where we thought we seriously would want to own a place," Ms. Kalista said. Two years ago, they bought a villa at the just-opened Estates at Grace Bay Club. The low-key atmosphere was another draw. "One thing we liked was that there are no cruise ships in Provo," Mr. Kalista said. "That makes it a little
less hectic. You don't get all of the Rolex stores." They say they have no plans to sell anytime soon, but other owners have already cashed in. At the Palms, a 72-suite condo resort that opened in February, one owner bought at $750,000 four years ago and recently resold for $1.1 million. The island's prospects sounded good enough to Faye Ellingson-Lewis, whoworked as a developer on the Cayman Islands (nearly 500 miles southwest, on the other side of Cuba) for nine years, during the construction boom there in the 1980's. Now she's building the Tuscany, a 30-unit complex scheduled to be completed in the summer at the eastern end of Grace Bay. "The same
condo that sells here for a million would go for $1.8 million there," she said. "Cayman is still considerably higher, but we're catching up fast."

On first impression, crescent-shaped Provo might not seem like the ideal candidate for a luxury boom. Next to the airport, downtown isn't much more than a bank, a supermarket and some municipal offices. The land is flat and sandy, covered in low shrubs - not exactly lush or even especially pretty. Much of the western end of the island is undeveloped, protected as nature
reserves. Along the northern edge lies Grace Bay. The beach is a 10-minute drive from the airport, past some shops and crafts galleries. Soon enough, restaurants and real estate agencies alternate with barren patches along one side of the road, while resorts (or, at least, signs announcing a resort) line the other.

The first condo on Grace Bay didn't go up until 1992, and Provo's main road wasn't fully paved until last year. The airport has only a single door to the runway, but a $30 million renovation is under way. "We had a virtually undeveloped island almost 10 years ago," said Stan Hartling, chief executive of the Palms. Now, celebrities have discovered the islands as well. Donna Karan and Bruce Willis each have houses on Parrot Cay, a private island.

Yet part of the attraction is the fact that the Turks and Caicos are relatively undeveloped. Buildings on Provo can't be higher than seven stories, and even that law is new. (The limit was three stories 10 years ago, and it has crept up since then.) Local government has so far banned
that marker of Western culture, the fast-food restaurant. "You really feel like you're in the Caribbean," said Walter Gardiner, president of the Turks and Caicos Real Estate Association.

Off Provo, perhaps the biggest project is on West Caicos, an 11-square-mile island that's a 20-minute ferry ride away and has been uninhabited for almost a century. (Former residents tried to grow sisal and cotton and then produced salt for the American market, until companies began mining salt closer to home.)

Dozens of pink flamingos still congregate in the island's natural lake, and a fish-filled coral reef is a few kicks into the sea. In October, the only signs of civilization were a brand-new dirt airstrip and the beginnings of a marina that will be able to accommodate 200-foot yachts. There's much more to bring in, starting with basic infrastructure: a reverse-osmosis plant, which will turn seawater into drinking water, and diesel generators to power the entire island.

By late 2007, if things go according to plan, West Caicos will be the site of the Ritz-Carlton Molasses Reef, a sprawling resort with a 125-room hotel along with 75 two- and three-bedroom condos priced from $2.6 million to $5 million. So far, none have been built and 13 have been sold. There will also be 150 town houses and detached houses built in an 18th-century Caribbean
style. The developers have said that they will leave more than 90 percent of the island untouched. "It's five-star Robinson Crusoe," said David Hartshorn, a partner in the project. (Crusoe worried about cannibals; Mr. Hartshorn wants to install wireless Internet access on the beach.) "I think there are baby boomers like me who are still hippies at heart," he added. "They've made their money now, and they're looking for the next Shangri-La." The isolation of West Caicos appealed to Robert Kronenberger, the president of a luxury pen maker in Chicago, who bought a three-bedroom villa plus some land there. He initially bought a preconstruction condo on Grace Bay three years ago, but then worried that the beach might be becoming too crowded. He sold that place and instead bought a place to be built on West Caicos. The biggest attraction for him? "The water here is ridiculous," he said. "I could sit there looking at the water for an hour straight."

The islands' government is doing its best to aid buyers. There are no annual property taxes, no personal or corporate income taxes and no capital gains taxes, though there is a one-time "stamp duty" of 9.75 percent of the purchase price on Provo. Legal costs add about 1 percent to the price - and don't forget the couch. Most developments offer a furniture package, an extra cost of $140,000 to $180,000.

About 70 percent of the buyers are American, especially from the East Coast. Ryan Jones, the West Caicos sales director, said that half the inquiries come from New York-area residents. "They have a house in the city and a house nearby on the shore," he said. "We hear from a lot of people that say they were looking in Florida, but there was nothing on the water or
everything was overpriced."

TURKS AND CAICOS is only part of a high-end building boom going on from the Bahamas' outer islands, site of the newly opened Abaco Club, a golf resort from the British developer Peter de Savary where "cottages" start at $1.75 million, to Anguilla, where 92 residences are planned for the St. Regis Temenos Villas in 2008, priced at up to $11.5 million. While developers once might have put up a hotel, the majority of projectsare condo-hotel hybrids, where owners can put their units into a rental pool - a trend that's been growing within the United States as well as in
the Caribbean. "You see it largely in sun and sand destinations," said Scott Berman, a partner in the Hospitality & Leisure Advisory Group at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Miami.

Builders increasingly need condo sales to help pay for construction. "It's virtually impossible post-9/11 to get financing for a hotel," said Mark Durliat, managing partner of the Grace Bay Club, a 13-year-old luxury hotel that is adding two condo developments, the Villas and the Estates. "We can't get that kind of money anymore." Construction on the first complex of 38
suites, priced from $950,000 for a two-bedroom, will be complete by the end of January. The villas sold out nine months ago, almost all to previous guests.

At least owners have a chance to make some money back. Management often takes about half of the rental income; one calculation from the Somerset figured that an owner could make as much as $149,400 a year on a $2 million condo, after paying for management, maintenance and utilities. Of course, some people worry that the Turks and Caicos are growing too much. They
complain that the islands could lose their getting-away-from-it-all charm and say that the new seven-story buildings will cast shadows on the beach. "Are there people who think Provo isn't what it used to be?" said Mr. Hartling of the Palms. "Absolutely. That's because it isn't." Only at the far eastern end of Grace Bay Beach do visitors get a feel for the original landscape. Beyond the construction work at the Tuscany, the beach is completely deserted and the sand hardens into a scrubby landscape. It won't stay untouched for long. The sign isn't up yet, but an extension for the Tuscany is planned for this spot. As Ms. Ellingson-Lewis, the developer, said, "You can't stop progress."