More positive news from agents
Tuesday July 31, 2007
"Our numbers are up as well, I am currently working with 9 buyers who are looking to either make Bay County home or make a move inside Bay County. There is so much negative press on the “Down” Real Estate Market in the news, but it is not true, they need to hear what is happening in the “REAL” Real Estate market. If you continue to get your name out there, continue to prospect, there are plenty of people looking to buy or sell a home!"
Jennifer Bowman
Prudential Shimmering Sands Realty
The Wood Pellet Plant that is going up in Jackson County is moving along quickly. Total construction time is scheduled to be around 8 months with production to begin end of this year. The last plant they built in Sweden took 40 months to build with the capacity being at around 100,000 tons annually, so the schedule on this facility is quite aggressive. With around 100 acres of pine purchased each day, they will produce around 500,000 tons of pellets annually, shipping out of Port Panama City for Europe.
A message from a positive agent
Thursday July 26, 2007
"I’d like to report that this little mom operation has already reached its dollar volume from last year and we still have 5 months to make money. Yeah!!! And everyone in my office seems to be busy with something. We are not at the 2005 level, but we’re on the rebound!! We are located in southern Washington County and about 7 miles north of the Bay County line. So we are in both directions. We do have a large inventory and it is a great time to buy!!! The BCAR campaign “Gotta Buy Panama City” is being recognized, I recently was doing a little research in Chipley at the Property Appraiser’s office and overheard a conversation talking about the campaign. I’m glad our monies spent are being recognized."
Sheran Whitaker, GRI
Broker/Owner
New Town Realty, LLC
If anyone else has a positive story to tell, let me know by sending me an email.
Bay County Sales Numbers from MLS
Thursday July 26, 2007
I was sent some interesting information pulled from the Bay County MLS.
In 2002 we sold 1969 DSF units for $280,363,070. $142,388 average
In 2003 we sold 2440 DSF units for $409,871,660. $167,980 average
In 2004 we sold 2820 DSF units for $614,815,914. $218,019 average
In 2005 we sold 2613 DSF units for $716,037,100. $274,028 average
In 2006 we sold 1952 DSF units for $514,812,715. $263,736 average
First six months...
of 2007 we sold 946 DSF units for $234.687.538. $248,084 average
"These numbers look pretty good to me. The average price compared to 2002 has gone up over $106,000 and that is a 75% increase in price. We sold 1969 total units in 2002 and right now we are on track to sell 1892 (946 first 6 months times 2). That would give us $469,306,819 in total sales. Those numbers are down a little from 2006, as the market has continued to adjust. They are so much higher than 2002 that we should be toasting with Champagne, not crying in our beer."
Cheers. I couldn't agree more. Also, there is more detailed data here.
It may seem strange to some to post on my blog about someone else's blog, but Dr. Wright's WestBay Florida blog is always worth it. He always provides a different outlook on the current events regarding West Bay. The post topics are:
The Tampa Tribune: How Many Errors in One Editorial?
The Tribune's attack on our airport contains a near record number of misstatements - the question is: Why? Is Tampa after Bay County's transportation dollars?
A Model for Bay County An airport built ten years ago might be the perfect model for what our airport could be. Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport is a tremendous success - and we can be too.
The 404 Permit We're all waiting for the final permit from the Corps of Engineers in order to begin construction. When will it come? And why is the Corps trying to make sure it is bullet-proof?
The Facts About FAA Funding
Earlier this month, a News Herald article left the impression that FAA funding for our airport might be delayed. In fact, FAA funding is solid and this is not a concern.
Dr. Wright brings up an interesting point in the post about the 404 Permit, a point I have often reiterated to agents and others involved in this area that are getting down on the time it is taking to get the airport going.
These things take time, a lot of time. Being in the preconstruction sales and marketing industry, I see this all the time. It takes years to pull together all the planning involved to build a high rise condo, a whole community, or much less, an airport. Don't get discouraged.
The other day I posted on the FAA's NextGen reform. The reform addresses many aspects of the aviation industry, including the new airport, however something else it addresses is the rapidly becoming overwhelmed radar network. Technologically, the aviation industry has never seen much improvement with regards to aircraft location tracking with the GPS or ADS-B, as it is called having been in the works for the last 10 years.
Anyway, Popular Mechanics just wrote an article speaking into the technology of ADS-B giving a little background and an explanation of how it works. And yes, I said how it works, as in present tense. They have been testing the system, with great success I might ad, on Alaska Air. UPS has already began utilizing this technology and Southwest Airlines expects to install the system on its entire fleet of 737's by next year. (more)
Wall Street ahead of the Fed
Saturday July 21, 2007
Reading an article on Business 2.0, it was saying how Wall Street is ahead of the Fed with regards to market changes.
David Wyss, the chief economist for Standard and Poor's said that Wall Street stopped buying loans early spring, long before the Fed releases the new guidelines. He's goes on to say how, if anything, the Fed overreacted. (more)
More on housing slump, and something positive
Saturday July 21, 2007
Everything I'm reading about the national real estate market is talking about how the real estate slump is getting longer and longer, about foreclosure rates and how they are expecting to get worse. Yet, when I talk to many of the agents I know personally, I'm hearing that they are showing property, a lot, and that most of them are staying pretty busy.
Bay County REALTORS, how is it going for you? Are you noticing a pick up at all? Talking with a friend the other day, she was saying that we still have got to get through the closing on all the condos that are under construction. She mentioned that we may have a problem with people being able to close, and a complete turn around is quite unlikely until after we work through that. What is your opinion?
I mean, lets face it. The terms "buyer's market" and "seller's market" were created and defined because they are real, and they occur, cyclically. A couple of years ago, listings were the thing to have because everyone was buying and you knew if it wasn't ridiculously priced, someone would eventually come along and buy it.
Before that, buyers were the ones to work with because you knew they were going to buy something eventually. If you had a listing, it may or may not be something that someone was looking for so there was more security in working with someone that you knew was going to make a purchase.
The reality is, two and three years ago, we had to work for listings so we could feed our families. Now we have to work for buyers. It is all work, just a little different.
I will be frank, however. Courting buyers and working with people is more difficult that holding listings. I, personally, didn't like working with buyers when I was in general real estate because I was lazy. Well, the market is not giving money away any more, and we can't afford to be lazy any more either. We've got to work hard.
I work for a sales and marketing firm, and we train our agents to spend half of their time keeping in contact with their database and prospecting. We talk about a phone call at least once a month to those that are still interested in the project and every other week to those that seem serious. We strategically layer information so as to build value and hold onto the rest of the information so as to insure we have a reason to call them back in a few weeks.
The bottom line is, the smart people are buying right now. The people that have been successful in the past and the ones that will be successful in the future know this to be true. A good friend of mine said when he was in MBA school, one of his instructors always said that if you wait until everyone else does something, you're already too late.
Good job BCAR with your new Gotta Buy Panama City marketing campaign. If I can support you guys in any way, please don't hesitate to let me know.
I'm excited to be a part of this area and proud to be able to contribute.
I had the great pleasure of attending a tenant meeting yesterday for Pier Park and was excited to get new information. Forgive the bullet point style if you are a reader, but sometimes I just like to give the information the way it is:
Target has reported that their store at Pier Park is in the top 10% of their nationwide sales portfolio.
Ron Jon Surf Shop expects to take possession in the next couple of weeks, this will be their sixth location nationwide.
Borders Books and Music will be the 1st in the Panhandle.
200,000 sq ft to be turned over to tenant coordination within 30 to 45 days
I think they said that Dillards and JCPenny's will be open March 1, 2008 (Simon, please correct me if I'm wrong)
Half of all Pier Park to be opened before year's end
ULTA will be the first in the Panhandle, with the closest being in Orlando or Atlanta
Personally, I'm super stoked. Up at the front across from the dedicated beach will be Ron Jon's and Margaritaville along with Reggae J's and Back Porch Seafood House and another restaurant that has yet to be announced. I was told that some of these restaurants will have second floor outside seating that will overlook the Gulf.
Along the boardwalk will be expansive, open areas in front of the stores to provide room for playing and gathering. It was described as a park-like setting. In the meeting, Paul Ajdaharian, of Simon kept talking about "feel good first, buy later". Their emphasis towards the tenants is make the customers feel good and the sales will take care of themselves. This is awesome because it provides for a great place to, just be.
All along, Simon has talked about creating a great place for gathering. I can say they've already gotten off to a great start with the concerts in the park. My family and I went a couple of weeks ago and it was packed. There was barely enough room on the lawn for all the people, and the space is no small space. I can tell you right now: Pier Park WILL be a great place for gathering.
Ajdaharian said that he was unsure of the exact percentage, but if he said that if he had to guess he would say that Pier Park is over 80% leased. "They cannot believe their sales", Ajdaharian said of Panera Bread.
I'm very excited about Pier Park, as I know many of you are, and I'm very glad to see it moving along so quickly.
Market Still in a Slump? Foreclosure Rates Drop
Saturday July 14, 2007
Recent reports indicate that the economy is not headed for a recession, but its not necessarily coming back up either. REALTORS® latest projection put the housing recovery in the second quarter of 2008.
New home builders are expected to slow production well into 2008 which in turn should help lower existing inventory. We are currently in a buyers market.
"The group now sees second-quarter existing home sales falling below the 6 million annual sales pace to a 5.96 million rate. That is still only a forecast, as final sales and price figures from the just completed period are not yet available. If it is correct, it would be the first time in four years that quarterly sales were below the 6 million home annual sales pace" (more)
On a positive note, the foreclosure rate fell in June. In May, there was a 30 year peak. Foreclosures, unfortunately, are something I expect to see more of in the near future as more adjustable rate mortgages some up for adjustment and property owners begin feeling the squeeze of some of their property purchases.
"In states like Florida and Nevada, what you're seeing is the fallout from an awful lot of speculative buying. You have investors that have had high-risk purchases go south on them," - Rick Sharga, Realty Trac's Vice President of Marketing (more)
For those of you that are actually reading, here is a random video that I had to post. It has nothing to do with real estate or Panama City, but it was too cool not to post. Japanese Dancing Robots.
Saturday July 14, 2007
The New County Library is close to completion
I was driving by the new County Library on 11th street Thursday evening and its really beginning to take shape. Of course, the maps available on google are a little dated. Currently the building is completely erected with plans for completion in the spring of 08. The County took over control of the Library from the Northwest Regional Library System this past April and purchased the whole block where the new library will be at completion. Other official Bay County facilities are planned to move to the new location as well.
Tuesday July 10, 2007
The Old Airport Site is Sold
In the meeting that was held this morning, the old airport site was awarded to the Pittsburgh-based group, PCA Development. The final price was $99 million with $61 million at closing and $38 million over the next 30 years to come from land/property sale proceeds.
Part of the deal includes a letter of credit from PCA that the airport authority will be able to borrow against during construction of the new airport.
It would seem to me that the airport authority would be doing more to secure other carriers into the current airport until such time as the new airport is ready to open.
What with all the delays experienced in the quest for this new airport, why isn’t the airport authority doing more to expand air service now? Isn’t that one of their primary duties?
How about offering some advantages/incentives to air carriers at the new airport for servicing this area now before the new airport opens? We have the most expensive flights in the state with some of the poorest service and schedules. How about just a few reasonably priced flights to some hub cities? We need a carrier to provide reasonably priced flights to Jacksonville or Chicago or Miami or Charlotte to connect forward from there.
Sign me,
Tired of waiting
I have been following information concerning the the new international air for the last several years. Randy Curtis has expressed no real concern everytime issues come up about wehter or not the airport will be built and /or the time frame for the new Airport. I have met and spoke directly with Mr. Curtis at a few of the meetings in our community. I do not mean to belittle Mr. Curtis at all, but there is one thing I would like to mention. If evrytime Mr. Curtis had expressed "no real concern" for every time he had presented information concerning the new airport and/or the time frame for the ground breaking, we would have seen the concrete being poured for the runway a few years back.
I do understand that the process is very long with lots of Red Tape and unexpected issues that may delay the airport in coming. However, please give the community a break by the same line "Randy Curtis has expressed no real concern" things are on time, things are going according to plan, etc, etc., etc. Just get on with going on with the airport and continue to provide us with accurate updated information (which is what you do very well) till the airport comes or till it does not come.
Yes, we will all benefit much from the new airport, even those who are opsing it. I only say "if it comes" because we all must never forget the most important fact in life - There are NO real affirmitives in this world except for one, and that is, we will all die. And, whether we belive it or not, we all face judgement, however & whatever, that judgement is.
I recently had to fly out of Panama City because of an emergency. It was a HORRIBLE experience. WE NEED the new aiport. I was fortunate to meet some interesting people out where I went, and got some insight as to what all may take place (God willing) in our area in the next six to ten years. It's very interesting & exciting. Thank you for your informative clips.
Anonomous, business owner & community leader
Tuesday July 10, 2007
Bids on old Panama City Airport Site
In a meeting at 10 am today at the current airport, the Airport Authority is expected to award the old airport site to a purchasing bidder. The board has been reviewing the bids for several months.
The three bidders are:
PCA Development Group - $61 million up front and $14 million over the next 14 years totaling $75 million
Community Airport Redevelopment (from Utah) - $60 million with $10 million at contract
Tuesday July 10, 2007
Pier Park - Concerts in the Park
This is a little old, but I was thinking about it, so I thought I would "blog". A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I had the great pleasure of attending the Concerts in the Park at Pier Park, and let me say: it was packed.
We had no idea that so many people knew about it, much less showed up. I could be off, but I would say there was at least 1000 people there. This very much surprised me here in little 'ol Panama City Beach. I don't even remember the band, but it was awesome to be at a place with so many other people from our area.
For the last two years, my wife and I have been saying we were going to begin going every Thursday, and for the last two years, the summer ended before we got to go. We will definitely be making it a point to spend more time there.
For the schedule of bands, visit the Panama City Beach's Chamber web site.
Saturday July 7, 2007
Possible Delay on Airport Grant, NextGen Air Trans Reform
Douglas Murphy, head of the southern region of the FAA, was in town last week reviewing plans for the new airport. The current budget plan will expire at the end of September, and at that time, a new budget plan will go into effect possibly delaying the airport 6 to 12 months.
Technological improvements will include an upgrade from radar to sophisticated gps tracking systems installed in each aircraft that will constantly relay positioning not only to a central control, but also to other planes. Follow the link above for more info.
Back to the airport: Douglas Murphy, while here reconfirmed the FAA's commitment to the airport relocation and was quoted by the News Herald that it makes sense, and will attract new airlines and possibly low-cost carriers.
Wednesday July 3, 2007
Airport Awaits 404 Permit, Airport in the Orlando Sentinel
Apparently there has been some sort of "unauthorized activity" at the new airport site that the Army Corps of Engineers have to look into. The unauthorized activity could include heavy vehicle traffic, and the Corps need to see if there has been any alterations to the land.
Another issue is stemmed from a letter from the NRDC, a New York based environmental group that apparently knows what is best for our area and it's natural resources. Their concern is the area's native cypress trees.
There is no set time frame as to when the permit will be issued, although Airport Executive Director Randy Curtis has expressed no real concern and expects the permit to come through soon.
On June 25, 2007, an article was ran in the Orlando Sentinel written by Fred Werner, a pilot from Panama City and President of Friends of PFN. The article has been described by the Beach Chamber of Commerce as wildly inaccurate and touts several non-substantiated "facts".
Monday July 2, 2007
The Towne of Seahaven - Origin Video
A few weeks back, I had the great pleasure of touring Origin at The Towne of Seahaven. Things are moving along very nicely and are looking very impressive. I am looking forward to watching the vision grow.
There are other media types on the side, but the video can also be viewed here.
Disclaimer: The author of this blog has an active Florida real estate license. The author hereby does not guarantee the accuracy of any and all information contained within this site. Furthermore, the author’s opinions are just that, opinions and may have no factual basis. Any advertisers, publications, articles, or comments do not necessarily represent the views of the author or his affiliates.
