CALABRIA
… on the Westside, and continuing to develop …
Roccella Court & Murano Mews Court
In the now and again, “Just For Fun” segment, here’s this year’s second challenge.
First current vacation home owners within 15 minutes of WDW to identify the location win the prize. (Hint: These folks will be featured on the USA Travel Channel in June, 2008.)
ANS: 5.16.2008 - This little booth is located at the downtown Kissimmee Farmers Market held every Thursday between 8:00 AM and 1:00 PM. This specific vendor has been doing this for over 25 years.
WINNER: Would have thought someone would have recognized this, as it is an extremely popular destination for locals and visitors alike. No where else in the resort area can fresher vegetables be found. Yet again, we did not have a winner.
* 30 Day Contest - (Expired)
PRESTON SQUARE
… just north of WDW about 6 minutes …
This community is geared more toward permanent residents and long term rental with an excellent school just 2 minutes away. Homes continue to be sold and development is occurring at a steady pace.
The objective in pricing a home is to get the home sold.
In today’s market a home has to be priced so that a potential buyer will consider it to be in the top two or three available within the price range and location of interest. And, actually at this time, it should be the best value, not just in the top three.
Also, the price point has to be revisited every 14 days or so under the current fluid market conditions. If this is not done, the market may simply move under the price level and the home will continue to sit with no opportunity of even being considered.
Price it correctly, and the home will sell.
Interesting to note…
In a study out just recently, Osceola County’s nearly 7,800 short-term rental homes attracted nearly 1.2 million visitors over the course of 2007, staying rented almost 58% of the time.
The economic impact… $1.1 billion dollars into Osceola’s economy!
- UCF Rosen School of Hospitality Management, 2008 -
In very recent weeks two large purchases have been made, readying the table for two very large mixed use commercial developments to come out of the ground.
The first, on the corner of U.S. #17-92 & Poinciana Boulevard, is some 37 acres in size and will will hold about 150,000 square feet of office space and nearly 300,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space. Value of this project to be in the $100 million dollar range.
The second, on Poinciana Boulevard just north of the CSX Railroad tracks on the west side is approximately 36 acres in size and will feature between 500,000 to 600,000 square feet of retail, office and office warehouse space. In essence it will be a commercial park with site development slated to begin late this year. Value of this project to be in the $50 to $60 million dollar range.
The developer is solid and has been building projects of this nature in Central Florida since the late 1970’s.
Renovation Complete
… look back on it on May 24, 2007 …
West U.S. #192 & Scott Boulevard
Through prices were off nationwide about 1.5% for the last quarter of 2007, the good news is that closings for each month were down fairly uniformly from the same months in 2006. Prices were down in much the same way for the same period.*
So, while down, the decline did not seem to be as much for the last quarter of 2007.
Mortgage rates have dipped as well. Lower mortgage rates, combined with softer prices for homes simply means a potential rise in affordability. Everything thing else being equal, this may open the door for buyers to come back into the market.
We may be nearing a bottom, though there may only be a modest recovery through the rest of 2008. Real question is however, will it be a false bottom?
* Real Trends - 2008