Donna said:
Just rec'd a letter from two local realtors saying that well known pundit Barbara Corcoran will soon announce the top five "up and coming" real estate areas in the U.S. and the Destin area is one of them. Also, an update on the PC Airport, where the State has notified airport officials that the hurdles have been cleared for construction and they expect the airport to be open in 2009 (this usually means it will open in 2015!).
These realtors further said that they've sold recent homes at a sales to list price ratio of 96 percent and that the market has picked up considerably over the last few weeks.
:clap_1: for some and
for others, I know.
Although I am still looking for the market to soften more before putting money into a property, I do hope that corcoran is correct for the sake of the real estate market (and the general economy) both locally and nationally.
I have been hearing many of our local realtors in SoWal talking about how a robust recovery is right around the corner or the market has picked up considerably lately for the last six months. The market statistics do not back this up. I am keeping up with the market and just noticed that there are now 100 houses on the market in Watercolor alone plus another 112 lots and many condos. This is over 30% of the available inventory in this subdivision alone. The stats are similar in Cypress Dunes, Watersound, Rosemary, etc.
There have been only an handful of sales since November in all of the major projects along 30A including WS, WC, Alys, CD, Retreat, the Preserve and others while inventory continues to escalate. Versus 2004/2005, sales in these major projects are down 50% or more. Property owners continue to lower prices drastically yet no one is buying. Several lots in Cypress Dunes, the Preserve, Watercolor, Watersound, Rosemary, etc are for sale at prices well below recent highs. A good example is a lot in Watercolor that is now priced at $399k. It's been almost 2 years since ANY lot in Watercolor sold for under $400k. Several lots adjacent to this lot sold for over $600k and this lot still has over a year before the build out deadline (plus you can buy another year of grace for $30k).
Contrary to what other posters have said about 1000's of people that would jump on a deal that was 30, 40, 50, 60% below recent market highs these "great deals" are not being snatched up. As build out dates rapidly approach on lots in many communities, it will be interesting to see how the developers react. For instance, with over 110 lots for sale in Watercolor and almost 90 for sale in Watersound, there is no way the market will absorb a majority of these lots before the building deadlines pass. No way St. Joe is going to repurchase 50, 100, or 150 lots even though they have the right to do so. What happens when these lot owners refuse to pay the fines of $2500 per month? No matter what happens, prices will definitely continue to fall. The SoWal market is not immune from the law of supply and demand, and there is just way too much inventory on the market, and it is growing every day, for prices not to continue a free fall.
It is going to get very, very interesting.
