Belize Real Estate  Links  
Real Estate Information

Destin Florida Triples In 3 Years


Do you want to see something that is absolutely amazing? Let me show you what has happened in Destin, Florida over the last 3 years. Back in August of 2002, the median price of a home selling in Destin was $229,000. One year later, August 2003, the median price in Destin increased to $305,000, or a 33% price increase.

Roll the clock forward in July 2005, and we see that the average price is now $658,000 as you can see in the price charts below. Do you think there was a little money made in Destin over the last few years? Since I live in the area, I can attest to the HUGE role real estate has played in our local economy and large amount of wealth that has been produced.

For the Monday morning arm chair quarterbacks of the world, you can just hear them at a dinner party saying?. "Boy, I knew that real estate was going up around there and I came close to buying a piece of property back in ??.". "If I WOULD OF have purchased that property, I COULD HAVE made a killing?. I guess I SHOULD HAVE bought it before prices went so high. This is what investors call the Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda syndrome.

The WORST thing an investor could do right now is to realize that they missed some gain potential in Destin and then assume that prices will just keep going to the moon. Rather than kicking themselves for actions taken in the past, what this investor should be doing is trying to understand what has happened in the past and then apply that knowledge to FUTURE investments. Let' rewind the clock and see what happened to see if it sheds any clues as to what we should be looking for in the future.

Twenty years ago, Destin was a sleepy little fishing village that calls itself the "Worlds Luckiest Fishing Village". In addition to sugar white beaches, the area has great fishing and emerald colored waters that actually rival some spots in the Caribbean for water clarity. But twenty years ago, very few people wanted to live in Destin and only a small number of tourists wanted to visit the area. Boy has that changed.

In 1993, there was a major event that, in many people's opinion, changed the course of Destin forever. This was the opening of a major bridge into Destin that now provided easy access to tourists. Today, only 12 years after that event, Destin is a huge international tourist destination with multi-million dollar beach condos, Lear jets depositing visitors for the weekend, and a wide array of dining and shopping that rivals many upscale areas. Not too bad for a bunch of people that were affectionately called "fishheads".

So looking back, how could the individual investor have made smart moves in Destin?. Suppose you put on your investor hat and you came down to visit in 1993 right after the mid-bay bridge was constructed. You would have seen:

* A great beach and fishing location;

* An expanding offering of hotels and condos;

* Have realized that it was very unlikely for this area to drop in price due to the ever increasing demand for waterfront and nice vacation spots.

At that stage, somebody with a little bit of foresight could have made a longer term investment and planned on holding for 10 years. This longer term approach might not be your style, however.

Fortunately, you really did not have to really be that smart. Supposed you decided that Destin was likely to be an EMERGING area but you just didn't know when. You would have seen both price and volume of sales start to shoot up in the middle of 2002. When this BUY signal occurred, you would have found that you could have purchased many types of properties that would easily rent out and cover your expenses; i.e., there was a safety net for you. At that point in time, it was absolutely obvious to EVERYONE here that Destin was a major tourist destination that was not going to go away anytime soon.

As time went on, you would have seen the price and volume of sales continue. Looking at the figure below, you would have seen the year-to-year % change in price and the year-to-year % change in volume continue skyward until around December, 2004. After this time, the prices kept going up but not as aggressively. Also, you can see that the rate of change of volume has been dropping over the last 6 months which is a sign that things are definitely cooling off in this local market.

To me, that chart speaks volumes. It says there was a great opportunity to get in and there has been plenty of time to get out. However, it also tells me that I probably don't want to invest in Destin right now even though in the longer term, I think Destin will do just fine. For my taste, I would rather find the next EMERGING market rather than one that has already EMERGED.

Dr. Chris Anderson is a co-founder of http://www.GetPreconstructionDeals.com and is referenced in many venues including the New York Times and USA Today. Download his free, 30+ page preconstruction investing ebook today at Get Preconstruction e-Book.


MORE RESOURCES:

Houston-Based Real Estate Developer Closes More Than $75 Million in Healthcare ...
MarketWatch (press release)
Medistar Corporation is a full-service real estate development company that specializes in the design, development, financing and construction of healthcare real estate. The company focuses on medical office buildings, integrated medical plazas and ...

and more »


Tossed® Hires Real Estate Veteran A. Michael Toroyan as Chief Development Officer
MarketWatch (press release)
Toroyan, a 20-year veteran of the restaurant real estate, and franchising, will bring even greater momentum to Tossed's strong and growing franchise development efforts across the US Toroyan comes to Tossed Franchise Corporation from a previous post as ...

and more »


Property Magazine

Web Winners: Navigating real estate industry
News & Observer
By REID KANALEY - The Philadelphia Inquirer Real estate is no easy game, as "underwater" homeowners have found in recent years. You need your wits about you, and these sites help you do that with plain language and suggestions. -The home-buying page at ...
REALTOR(R) University Granted Approval to Offer Master of Real Estate Degree ...MarketWatch (press release)
The Real Estate Book Includes Free Agent Mobile Websites in Advertising PackagesPR Web (press release)
Residential Real Estate Market Endures Dismal 2011Property Magazine
Destin Log
all 14 news articles »


SmartTouch Interactive Launches New Lead Adapter to Integrate with Third Party ...
MarketWatch (press release)
AUSTIN, Texas, Feb 08, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- SmartTouch(R) Interactive, an interactive real estate marketing agency and real estate marketing automation and CRM software development company, today announced that it has made available the new Smart ...

and more »


Seacoast real estate sales off to a robust 2012 start
Seacoastonline.com
“Without a doubt, the favorable weather conditions are helping the Seacoast real estate market, especially compared to a year ago at this time,” said Lauren Kane, president of the Seacoast Board of Realtors. “The residential sales decline for January ...

and more »


CBS Local

Real estate developer says he plans to make cash bid for Philadelphia's 2 ...
Washington Post
PHILADELPHIA — A wealthy real estate developer said Tuesday he and four partners plan to make an offer to buy the city's two largest newspapers, whose downtown offices he already owns. Bart Blatstein said he plans to pursue an acquisition of some or ...
Developer Blatstein seeking to buy Inquirer, Daily News companyBizjournals.com (blog)

all 167 news articles »


Cole Real Estate Investments Executes Nearly 640000 Square Feet in Retail ...
San Francisco Chronicle (press release)
Cole Real Estate Investments (Cole), one of the nation's leading investors in high-quality, income-producing retail, office and industrial real estate assets, announced it signed leases totaling nearly 640000 square feet at Cole-related retail ...

and more »


Sam Zell "Comes Clean" for Penton's National Real Estate Investor (nreionline.com)
Sacramento Bee
7, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ -- In an interview in the February 2012 issue of National Real Estate Investor, Sam Zell, chairman of Equity Group Investments, stated that the commercial real estate industry needs to "come clean" with expectations.
Brian Collins Joins Equity Office Properties as Regional Director of OperationsBoston/SF

all 2 news articles »


Big deals highlight 2011 real estate in Snowmass
Snowmass Sun Online News
SNOWMASS VILLAGE, Colorado — 2011 won't go down in Snowmass Village as the most lucrative year for real estate sales, but it could be remembered as a pivotal one. Glenwood Springs-based Land Title Guarantee Co. recently issued its year-end report for ...

and more »


Many Homeowners and Real Estate Agents Plead Guilty in $20 Million Mortgage ...
LoanSafe
by Alex Ferreras on February 8, 2012 in Scams OAKLAND (Source: Kristin J. Bender The Oakland Tribune, Calif.) – Four people last week pleaded guilty in federal court to charges relating to a far-reaching mortgage loan fraud scheme involving at least 20 ...

and more »

Google News

home | site map | Colorado Log Homes | Homes for Sale in Denver Metro
© 2006