On some day in December of 2011, a month that sounds like it’s a month from a long time ago but is, in fact, just a month from 13 ago, I mailed Abbey Springs $175 as payment for my dining membership. Abbey Springs sells these memberships to people like me and like you, and to anyone who might want to eat at one of their two restaurants. It’s nice of them to do this. And so when I mailed in my $175 I did so with the intention of, you know, actually eating at the restaurants a few times, but mostly so that I’d have beverage access should I find myself both on showings and thirsty within those gated boundaries.
But last spring came and it went, and then last summer came and it went, and finally last fall, it also came and then went. While all of this coming and going was happening, I didn’t find myself in Abbey Springs with any regularity. In truth, if I cast my memory back to last year I can’t think of more than two or three occasions where I was driving through Abbey Springs with clients in tow. During 2012, my client base all but ignored Abbey Springs. Thankfully, in this case, Abbey Springs isn’t reliant solely on my production.
I tried to call Abbey Springs down and out a few times last year. I did this out of jealousy, much in the way that people make fun of Tom Brady for wearing Uggs, when we all know if given the chance we’d both wear Tom Brady’s Uggs and stare at our shoes while we tell him we think he’s really a great quarterback. Abbey Springs didn’t deserve my angst, but it earned it, and it did this because it’s always so darn steady. Always so respectable. Always on track for some level of sales normalcy.
With that, it shouldn’t surprise you when I say this: There were 17 sales in Abbey Springs (condo and single family) during 2012. There were 14 sales during 2011. And there were 17 sales in 2010. That’s such remarkable consistency I feel like someone has to work to prove that Abbey Springs is just like us, with error. But such a task isn’t so easy, and the sales history proves that Abbey Springs has both its foundation set and its future planned, consistency there will rule the day today and it will likely rule the day tomorrow. Remember if you must ask me about how the 2012 volume compares to that volume of 2009, I must remind you first that we don’t talk about 2009 any more. We’re free from that.
So how can I tell you now that I expect anything different from Abbey Springs for 2013? Foreclosures here last year were few and far between, though they did exist then and they will exist this year as well. They have to, because if Abbey Springs has one defined flaw it’s a flaw that it shares with many other condominiums- the dues are quite expensive. When an owner is in trouble financially, a condominium with high dues is always going to be a bit more of a strain to own than say, perhaps a single family home that lacks any fixed dues. There’s probably reason to believe there will be two or three foreclosures this coming year, as no level of consistent volume can mask the fact that prices are down and that some owners will be over-levered.
The low interest rate environment can do nothing but help Abbey Springs, and with these rate levels expected to hang around for the better part of this year there’s no reason that rate increases will rain on Abbey Springs 2013 parade. Besides, Abbey Springs always puts a tent over their parade so that even if it does rain they won’t get wet. For now, I’m off, preparing to send in my $175 for the dining membership in case I get thirsty when hopefully showing a bit in Abbey Springs this year.