ALL REAL ESTATE IS LOCAL

In this unprecedented real estate market it’s helpful to keep a couple of old sayings in mind—all real estate is local and location-location-location is everything.

Most everyone has heard these two phrases often but in the current confusing U.S. real estate environment it’s good to keep them in mind. Not all real estate markets are the same and not all neighborhoods are created equal.

Grand Haven continues to buck the national, Florida and local trends posting steady sales activity and price appreciation in the first half of 2011. This good news comes on the heels of the recovering market at the master planned community in 2010. While the numbers are not at the record of the boom years 2004 – 2005, they do clearly indicated Grand Haven bottomed out some time in late 2009 or early 2010 and has since been on a path to recovery.

The first six months of 2011 have shown that there is an active real estate market in Grand Haven with sales figures that are maintaining the pace from 2010.  The highlight of the data is the average price of existing homes sold in 2011 increased when compared to the same period last year. The number of properties, including single-family homes, condominiums, and vacant lots, sold through June 2011 was stable at 49.

“We continue to see strong traffic on the website and good prospect activity at our on-site Information Center,” Grand Haven Realty Broker Sterling Colee said. “Our sales stabilized the middle of last year and we have maintained positive momentum with average home prices on the rise.”

The strength of Grand Haven in the market is not a surprise according to Grand Haven Realty President Jim Cullis, a 30-year veteran of developing master planned communities and manager of Grand Haven since 1997.

“It’s typically the amenitized master-planned communities that remain the most stable as they offer buyers the best value in terms of lifestyle and amenities, while also providing the safer haven for property appreciation,” Cullis said.

He believes Grand Haven will continue to be a leader in Palm Coast as the local and state market emerges out of the real estate decline.  “Our builders are bringing forward new model homes to meet the demand we are seeing from buyers who are purchasing lots again,” Cullis said. “These lot buyers are locking in now while the prices are still very affordable and making plans to build their Florida home in the near future.”

According to Colee, there are about 300 unimproved lots in Grand Haven which he believes makes the community a unique opportunity for new homebuyers in the local market.

“Grand Haven offers one of the best locations and values locally and in the state,” Colee said. “This is the only Palm Coast master planned golf community on the Intracoastal Waterway with neighborhoods where you can buy a new homesite, tour decorator model homes and select from hundreds of preapproved new home plans by some of the area’s best builders.”