The quiet of a golf broadcast is attractive to me. I enjoy the stillness of it all. When the sun is ample, the grass so green, and quiet surrounds both, this is a pleasant thing. Golf courses are like that. They’re quiet, and they’re green, and when it’s sunny out and the wind lies still they are fantastic. My golf game effectively died on that June afternoon four years ago at the Princeton Club in Milwaukee. When my back decided it would fail me, it took my tennis and golf games and the feeling in my left foot with it. This was unfortunate, and while I can tolerate it I cannot fight the pull of the golf course that I feel during those soft telecasts on Sunday afternoons in March.
The misconception of golf communities is that many feel as though they must be a golfer to enjoy such a greenside existence. This could not be further from the truth. Would someone have to enjoy swimming to choose a perch by the water? Would a mountain top view only appeal to those who would ski down it if given the chance? These are leading questions, not because they are trick but because they are obvious. Golfers might love to live by golf courses, but the rest of us, whether we shun golf out of choice or out of physical limitations, can enjoy a fairway sunset just as much as the duffer can. Possibly more.
Geneva National isn’t the only golf course resort in this market. The Grand Geneva is magnificent, and Abbey Springs is likely the most beautiful course you’ve never played. No, Geneva National isn’t alone here, but it is the stand out. From a golfing perspective is is all that I want. The real estate there has suffered, but this isn’t another one of those posts where I write and then hide from the tempest that forces its way into my email. This is a post where we celebrate what appears to be happening in Geneva National. Geneva National, the most troubled of our individual segments, has found life.
Today, there are no fewer than seven properties pending sale in Geneva National (per MLS). While there are 90 or so on the market, and these seven do not represent a particularly significant portion of the available inventory, this is still a massive increase in activity for this forlorn association. Consider that during 2010 just 27 built properties changed hands during the entire calendar year. And then in 2011, a recovery of sorts. 41 properties sold (all statistics here via MLS). So far in 2012, just two properties have closed, including one REO home that I sold to a lovely young family from Chicago who found their own piece of weekend solitude on the Trevino 10th.
While the recovery in GN is a bit more difficult than in other individual markets- the sheer size of the place makes any recovery bound to engage in fits and starts- the recovery does appear to be well underway. While GN will certainly not experience some sort of miraculous instant recovery, the sales trends do look positive. If we can close 2012 with 50 transactions in GN, that will represent three consecutive years of volume growth. Pricing is off considerably, with many properties trading at valuations that might approach 50% off previous market highs. But mostly pricing is off 20%-40%, and in that reasonable range there is stability. Remember, I’m far less concerned with prices than I am volume. Pricing recovery cannot begin until the volume recovery has grown old, and a removal of property from weak, wavering ownership and into strong, purposed ownership is the first and most important step in any recovery.
Thankfully, Geneva National is on its way. There will be difficulties this year, and foreclosures will undeniably continue. But the worst is over, and individual properties can represent tremendous value right now. The stillness of Geneva National is a unique thing. It is quiet there. The gates might be an unnecessary inclusion when it comes to fighting mostly nonexistent crime, but they do serve to cut down on general traffic. If peace and quiet a kin to what you hear and see on Sunday afternoon PGA broadcasts is appealing to you, Geneva National will gladly give you just what you seek.