Port Charlotte, North Port, Cape Haze, South Gulf Cove, Venice & NoKomis
With the arrival of Fay, we are now officially in hurricane season. This is the best time of the year to be a buyer because almost nobody else is a buyer. The 2008 credit crisis continues to create spectacular opportunities to buy well located land & investment property at prices up to 85% lower than 2005 prices. Rarely do buyers have the chance to buy at absolute market bottoms. Land and investment property will be the best way to participate when the the Florida real estate market has it's eventual price recovery. The first eight of months of 2008 have shown an increase in buying activity compared to 2007, especially for lower priced lots and foreclosed houses. After the real estate boom that topped out in mid-2005 we are exploring the bottom of a price collapse that has reduced land prices 60 to 85 percent and house prices 30 to 60%. Based on Florida's long term high growth rate from immigration, retiring baby-boomers, and others attracted to Florida's climate, beaches, and employment growth, this chance to buy property at these dramatically low prices will be the best we will see in our lifetimes. The need for well-located land is growing, Florida's population has grown by more than 2,000,000 since the year 2000.
Price cycles are more extreme in land than other real estate. We are passing the low point of this cycle, which is down 60 to 85% from the summer, 2005 high point of the last cycle. Buyers at this point in the cycle can possibly make 200% or more when prices get back to the levels of the summer of 2005. Since prices at each cycle high usually exceed the previous highs, potential gains are excellent compared to most other investments. Recovery to the 2005 highs will probably take 7 to 12 years.
North Port and Port Charlotte 10,000 sq ft building lots can be bought for $8,000 to $11,000 ( down from $40,000 to $50,000 in 2005 ) and beautiful freshwater canal lots for $12,000 to $25,000. Port Charlotte Gulf of Mexico access canal lots start from $50,000 and sailboat lots start at $100,000. In prestigious South Gulf Cove, standard lots with central water and sewer are selling at $10,000 to $18,000 and Gulf Access lots are selling for $65,000 up to $200,000. Punta Gorda Isles Gulf Access lots start at $199,000. Current lot prices are less than 25 percent of the replacement costs of developing new lots. In the case of Gulf of Mexico Access lots, there is no replacement cost because developers can't build any more such lots in Florida ( or anywhere in the USA).
Building lot values will increase over long periods of time because the population of Florida usually grows by 200,000 to 400,000 people/year and the amount of available, well located, buildable land is shrinking. Land in South Florida and within a 30 minute drive of the beaches is the most likely to increase in value because that's where most of the people want to live.
Land doesn't give you management and maintenance headaches like rental properties and you can negotiate great deals in this buyers market.
In this website you can find what you need to buy or sell a land parcel or waterfront home, as well as learn about the market value of property in the area. You can also sign up for my monthly list of the Top Ten "Hot" deals in North Port, South Gulf Cove, and Port Charlotte. If you are more interested in the Rotonda area on the Cape Haze Peninsula, go to www.RotondaLots.com . If you want more information about waterfront lots with Gulf of Mexico access, go to www.GulfAccessFlorida.com . If you are interested in foreclosed houses in Sarasota County go to www.DistressRESarasota.com . Call me at 941-661-2577 to get started or e-mail me at abroslat@ureach.com . Learn About Me.
