I’ve written on Abbey Springs a few times this year, largely because I’m impressed with the significant renovations that the development has recently completed. It seems that buyers are also taking notice, and I’ve got the statistics to prove it. At the beginning of the year, I predicted that Abbey Springs would undergo a volume recovery this year, but that price recovery would have to wait until at least the summer of 2010. The year started off so slow I was anticipating a sobering year end meal where I’d sit down and eat my own words, but then something magical happened in May. Cautious confidence returned, activity swelled, and pending contracts increased, making my 2009 predictions for Abbey Springs a reality (and we’re only half way through the year).
In 2008, we were already in our second full year of a slowing real estate market, but Abbey Springs was slowing at a much faster rate than our overall vacation home market. From January 1st, 2008 through June 8th, 2008, we had a grand total of 3 sales in Abbey Springs. 2009? Not much better. January 1st 2009 through June 8th, 2009, a total of 4 sales. Not exactly proving my point, I know. Currently in Abbey Springs we have 33 homes for sale priced from around $190,000 to nearly $1.2MM, making Abbey Springs truly a vacation option for just about any buyer.
Of those 33 homes for sale, 7 of those are active with offer, or pending a future sale. For the sake of this post, let’s assume those 7 deals are going to close before July 31. I personally have two of those contracts pending for my clients, and both of those will be closing in early July. I know, you’re wondering where on earth I’m going with this, so here’s the telling statistic. In 2008, from June 8 through July 31 Abbey Springs had a grand total of 0 sales. None. Zip. 1 less than 1. In other words, we’ll probably have at least 11 properties in Abbey Springs closed by 7/31/09, where we had only 3 properties closed in 2008 through July 31. That my friends, is a volume recovery.
If you’re a buyer and haven’t yet considered Abbey Springs, now might be a good time to do so. Despite increased volume, prices are still off roughly 15% from 1Q 2008 values, so there are some good deals to be had. With a new grill room, new swimming pool, and everything else on property pretty thoroughly renovated, Abbey Springs gives a vacation home buyer tremendous bang for their buck. Just remember, even though there are deals to be had, there are plenty of bad deals to be had as well. Best align yourself with someone who knows the market. Maybe someone who even knows it well enough to correctly predict the 2009 market behavior…