IT'S A BUYER'S MARKET

WPMI-TV
June 09, 2006
Looking for beach front property along the gulf? If you are, local realtors say the market is ripe for the pickings. Prices on condos and gulf-front homes in areas like Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and Fort Morgan are dropping, and some of the savings can add up to more than $100-thousand. NBC 15's Baldwin County Reporter Leon Petite has details in this report.

Remember what the real estate market was like just before and just after Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina? Beach front homes were selling like hot cakes. You heard a lot of terms like "condo flipping" being talked about up and down the beach. Property owners were selling condos before they were even built. In some cases, they were selling for more than what they were actually worth, but a lot has changed at the beach. Real Estate officials say prices are coming back down to earth.

Orange Beach condo owner Rick Myers:
"Ours isn't for sale, of course, but you watch it all the time and what I've seen is about $100-thousand off of their peak. We have a three bedroom, two bath unit and they were running about $700-thousand and the last one's that have sold were around $600-grand."

Real Estate officials attribute several reasons for the market change; Insurance rates, storms, and of course a flood of inventory with all the development taking place along the gulf. Although prices have come down a bit, realtors say things are beginning to level off to a more realistic climate which in the long run is good for everyone.

Bob Malone is with ERA Class.com:

"For someone who wants to come down and buy a condominium, this is a perfect time. It is a buyers market. We're getting back into a more normal condition and we feel good."

While real estate prices at the beach have come down a bit, appraisers say the residential market in other areas of Baldwin County, like Foley, Robertsdale and Daphne is continuing to steadily grow.

Real estate officials say beach condos are going for about $350 a square foot. A year ago, many of those same properties sold for more than $400 a square foot.