True story. I played a round of golf recently at one of the southeast’s premier golf communities. My partner for the round was a resident and member of the club.  Alongside one fairway, he pointed to two houses next door to each other, one under construction and one fully occupied. He told me that the owner of the in-construction home had visited a few months earlier to inspect progress.  The people next door were away for the day of his visit and were disappointed they had not been around to greet their soon-to-be new neighbor.  Through the golf club directory, they tracked down the neighbor’s home phone number up north and called to welcome him to the community.  His wife answered the phone and said, emphatically, “We aren’t building a house there.”  It was clear the husband had some “splainin” to do, as Desi often insisted of Lucy, and the splainin turned out to be that the husband was one of those hyper-organized charlatans who was going to make sure he had a new home in place for him and his mistress before he informed his wife.

        I tell that story as an illustration that lots in golf communities are so cheap in the current market that even someone staring at a large divorce settlement can afford one.  In our next Home On The Course newsletter,

Golf home lots are so cheap that even someone faced with a large divorce settlement can afford one.

which will email to nearly 1,000 subscribers later today, our feature story makes the case that this may be the best time to buy a lot and build a home in a golf community.  The selection of lots for sale with stunning views of marsh, rivers, lakes, mountains and even a few ocean views is wide ranging, and the prices are at their lowest in years. In some cases, lot owners are literally giving away their properties to get out from under the obligations of paying club dues and homeowners association fees on a piece of land they once thought was a great investment but now is a financial sinkhole.  Their losses spell gain for any baby boomers prepared to build and relocate to a golf community.

        The June edition of Home On The Course also shares a list of the U.S. beach towns with the most foreclosure properties currently on the market.  You might be surprised at a few of the entries.  Real estate professionals who list their golf homes for sale at our companion web site, GolfHomesListed, will be happy to share information on bank-owned properties for sale in some of the top golf communities in the southern U.S. We list a few in the June edition.

        You still have time to sign up to receive our free newsletter; just click the box at the top of this column, follow the easy instructions, and you will receive a copy later today.  Not to worry if you miss the cutoff; once you subscribe, Editor Larry Gavrich will personally send you a copy of the June Home On The Course.

        I subscribe to the Wall Street Journal, but if it were my sole source of info, I would have an especially dim view of the economy’s prospects. Thankfully, I have an email inbox that attracts more balanced insights about the economy and the housing market, without any apparent political agenda.

        As economist Ingo Winzer writes today in his “National Economic Outlook,” the Journal’s headline and article a few days ago, Grim Job Report Sinks Markets, “suggests an economy in retreat…but the May job numbers look like more of the same moderate growth we’ve been getting in recent months.” Winzer, who is president of Local Market Monitor, which

Big-ticket items and small luxuries indicate consumer optimism.

forecasts price trends in more than 300 markets, points to job growth of 1.4% year over year, consistent with growth rates of previous months, as well as a 2% increase in overall manufacturing jobs, with an 8% increase in auto industry employment. With jobs growing fastest in businesses such as furniture stores, restaurants and bars, Winzer concludes that “consumers are buying big-ticket items and are treating themselves to small luxuries, important signs of optimism.”

        Winzer also forecasts that the housing market will continue to grow because “consumers are again willing to borrow money” and that, although home prices are down fractionally over the last 12 months, they rose in one-third of the 315 markets that Local Market Monitor covers. The economist predicts that consumers “will accelerate their buying during the next year and finally produce a real estate recovery.”

        Winzer is not alone in his optimistic outlook.  A report by The Demand Institute, which was recently formed by The Conference Board and A.G. Nielsen, the respected research firm, indicates that, “Home valuations will start to climb again while adjacent consumer industries will capture significant new growth opportunities in 2012 and beyond as the U.S. housing market finally turns the corner.” Further, The Demand Institute predicted that, “average home prices will increase by up to 1 percent in the second half of 2012. By 2014, home prices will increase by as much as 2.5 percent. From 2015 to 2017, the study projects annual increases between 3 and 4 percent…and the strongest markets could capture average gains of 5 percent or more in the coming years.” 

        On this latter point, we will add our own prediction that the most popular markets favored by baby boomers looking for high quality golf communties –- coastal towns like Charleston and Savannah, college towns like Chapel Hill and Charlottesville, mountain areas like Asheville and upstate areas of South Carolina –- will be among the strongest housing markets and may see increases of greater than 5%. For a sampling of current properties and homes for sale in these and other popular markets in the southern U.S., please check out GolfHomesListed.com.

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