A reader from Georgia wrote us today that his search for a vacation home in a southern golf community is on hold indefinitely “unless I see prices on a rapid escalation.”

       "Rapid escalation," of course, is a relative term, and we are on safe ground testifying that prices for golf community properties will not rise as fast as they fell in most markets.  In Naples, Fl, for example, where prices dropped as much as 50% and more in two years, they have now climbed back only about halfway in the last couple of years.

Champion Hills in Hendersonville, NC, is member-owned and debt-free, and having its best real estate sales year since 2006.  Prices are up 8.5% compared with last year.

 

        But prices will rise in the coming few years, barring any unexpected hit to the U.S. economy. Indeed, the real estate professionals in the southern U.S. we regularly contact are already seeing much more traffic to their offices over recent months. The only thing to keep prices from rising in the face of increased demand is if inventory rises to meet it, and we are not seeing that. Those folks who were forced to sell by virtue of their financial situations or health have, for the most part, already put their homes on the market.

        The experience of the real estate office at The Landings, just outside Savannah, GA, is indicative. The office is having its best year since 2006.

        “Pricing remains a mixed bag,” says Bill Houghton, president of The Landings Company, “but the ratio of sold price versus original listed price is at a three-year high.” Home sales at The Landings through mid-November were already double those of the full year of 2009; Houghton says his office’s 108 homebuyers exceeded the total for the full year of 2007.

        According to real estate web site Trulia.com, prices in the popular Asheville, NC, market increased 12.4% year over year during the September to November time period, with the

median sales price reaching $195,000. At Champion Hills, a half hour away in Hendersonville and home to a celebrated Tom Fazio golf course, the average selling price this year is up 8.5%, from an average of $570,000 in 2011 to $619,000 through November. The on-site real estate agency expects to close a total of 26 sales in 2012, compared with just 11 last year and 22 in 2007, when the average selling price was an historic high of $990,000.

        “People have a perception that prices have now hit bottom,” says Prudential Realtor Joe Pelletiere, “and they understand that Champion Hills is member-owned and debt free. You don’t see much of that combination in western North Carolina of safety, [comparatively] low prices and a great golf course.” (For a sample of some of the current 35 golf homes for sale in Champion Hills, click here.)

        Of course, all real estate is local, and not all markets move in tandem with each other. Myrtle Beach, arguably the golf capital of the east coast, continues to suffer from selling prices for single-family homes that are significantly lower than those of 2010 and 2011. For example, the average sales price in 2010 was just under $232,000 through September; the 2012 year to date comparison is just over $215,000. The median price for a Myrtle Beach area condo so far this year is just $104,000, compared with $120,000 in 2010. However, despite the thousands of homes for sale in Myrtle Beach, the culprit behind the soft prices, the total number of homes on the market is still lower than last year, and closed sales of condos in Myrtle Beach are up 8.6% over 2011.

The condos that line the right side of the 15th hole at Pawleys Plantation start in the mid $200s.  Other villas in the popular community are listed as low as $129,000.

 

        If demand continues and the inventory becomes further absorbed, look for real estate prices in Myrtle Beach to rise as well, possibly by the end of next year. Price levels now make even second home ownership look quite attractive.  In the popular Pawleys Plantation, in the quieter south end of the Grand Strand of Myrtle Beach, 21 single-family homes are currently on the market, with prices ranging from $250,000 for a two-bedroom "patio" home to $775,000 for the spacious home on the 14th fairway that was built originally for Jack Nicklaus to use when he built the golf course in the late 1980s.  The 26 condos currently on the market in Pawleys Plantation range from $110,000 for a two-bedroom that would be perfect for visiting golfers to $370,000 for a newer unit on the 15th hole.  For a selection of current properties and golf homes for sale in Pawleys Island, click here.

       We don't think it is ever smart to try to "time the market," but there is a growing sense among baby boomers who have been waiting to relocate to warmer weather that prices have just about reached their bottom.  Those who pull the trigger and head south soon to a life of warmer weather, a lower cost of living and year-round golf could eventually encounter a nice extra bonus of price appreciation.  Please contact us if you would like to discuss your own situation or would like to be put in touch with one of the many real estate professionals we work with in the southern U.S.  

        Small and inconspicuous, Delaware does not get all the respect it deserves from Northeast or Middle Atlantic residents looking for a vacation or retirement home on a golf course and near a beach. Most New Yorkers, for example, don’t realize that a jaunt down the New Jersey Turnpike to the Delaware coast is less than 3 ½ hours. Take the Garden State Parkway and relax on the ferry from Cape May to Lewes, DE and you will add about an hour. Either way, you can leave the Big Apple at 8 a.m. and be on the first tee of your own golf course around noon. Cut that trip by a couple of hours if you live in the Philadelphia or Washington, D.C. areas.

The Peninsula club golf course is a typical Jack Nicklaus "beach" layout, with plenty of large bunkers (and challenges).

 

        Delaware, which spans less than 120 miles from the Memorial Bridge at its northern end to Ocean City, MD, at the southern end, has managed to squeeze in an impressive range of golf communities close enough to major metro areas to make it a practical place for long weekend getaways or permanent homes for retirees who want to be within a few hours of children, grandchildren and friends, yet well away from the traffic and stress of urban life.

        During a late summer visit to the area from Lewes to southern Delaware, I had the opportunity to visit some of the area’s top golf communities and was impressed by the diversity of real estate options and imaginatively designed golf courses.  Here are some of my observations.

Bayside Resort

        The “resort” in Bayside is something of a double entendre in that the community is clearly a lure to weekenders and those looking for a summer vacation spot of their own and, yet, is organized to appeal equally to retirees looking for a lifestyle packed with activities. Bayside is home to Jack Nicklaus’ first golf course in the state, and one of its best, with long range views from its fairways across the marsh to Ocean City, MD, where the boardwalk scene and dozens of top quality seafood restaurants beckon. Condominiums by the Freeman Companies, a respected local developer, begin in the $200s, which makes the community popular with budget-minded weekenders. Those searching for a year-round situation will consider single-family homes that range from the $300s on smaller lots to $500s and up for “estate style” homes.

The Bayside Resort, par 3 #13 from tee.

Bear Trap Dunes

        The 27 holes of golf designed by Rick Jacobson, a former member of the Jack Nicklaus design team, thread their way through wetlands and sand dunes, making it feel as if you are close to the ocean. Actually, you are only three miles away from Bethany Beach, but with a full roster of activities on the property –- including a couple of pools, multiple tennis courts, fitness center and much more -– you may want to stay put. But if the ocean calls you, the Bear Trap Dunes community provides free shuttle service. Villas and condominiums begin around $250,000, and single-family homes that range all the way up to 3,700 square feet start in the low $400s.

Heritage Shores

        The title “Best Active Adult Community in the Country” says something about Heritage Shores; in fact, it says a few things. First, the 800-acre community is restricted to those aged 55 and older (although there are plenty of grandchildren around during summers). Second, Heritage Shores’ infrastructure and activities are first-rate, and include a fully outfitted 28,000 square foot clubhouse, a beautifully conditioned and challenging Arthur Hills golf course, and homes that are not only attractive and well-designed, but also sharply priced, starting in the $200s. No community we visited had more homes under construction than did Heritage Shores, a sign that baby boomers may be on the march again.

The approach to #18 at Heritage Shores, with the 28,000 square foot clubhouse beckoning.

Kings Creek

        Kings Creek is a fully formed golf community, which is to say it will feel like “home” for those who have been actively involved in the country club life elsewhere. At only 350 acres, and with a spirited and welcoming group of club members, it is hard not to feel at home at Kings Creek from your first weeks there. Less a resort and more a year-round community than other Delaware coastal developments –- there are no condos or villas in Kings Creek -- the golf club is private and single-family home prices range from the $400s and up.

Kings Creek golf club from the 9th tee.

Rehoboth Beach Yacht & Country Club

        Small, intimate and classy is a good tight description of Rehoboth Beach Yacht & Country Club, which opened in 1927 beside the Atlantic Ocean and quickly established itself as the most exclusive club in the area. It still is, although the golf course is more than approachable, playing to barely over 6,000 yards and making up in challenge what it lacks in length. The greens are the same bent grass familiar to New England and middle Atlantic golfers, and if you plan to join the 277 families already in residence at RBY&CC, expect prices starting in the $400s and ranging above $1 million.

The Peninsula

        Bayside Resort claims the first Jack Nicklaus golf course in the state, but The Peninsula says it has the first “private” Nicklaus design, a burly layout that encourages length off the tee and deft approaches to heavily guarded greens with enough greenside marshland to force you to check the ocean breezes a few times before selecting your club. With golf homes for sale from the $200s into the millions, Peninsula has been successful at attracting both weekenders and year-rounders to take full advantage of its many on-site activities.

 

         For a sample of homes currently for sale in all these coastal Delaware communities, please visit GolfHomesListed.

Peninsula Club's par 3 9th.