A Place in the Sun

I’m just back from a 10-day East Coast tour with my kids to Florida. I had hoped to blog while there or even en route, but the beaches and mini-golf proved just too enticing.

I was intrigued to find that after years of stagnation, real estate prices are really booming in my mother’s area on the Gulf Coast.

South and Central Florida are finally running out of good new building sites, so the lovely places on or close to the water that have not risen in price for years (while there was hefty demand, there had been even more new supply) are now starting to see strong appreciation. If you were ever thinking of buying a place in the sun, now may be the time.

(Note: this advice may not apply to condos. Developers have been eagerly evicting apartment tenants and converting the buildings to condominiums – and the result has been a lot of condos sitting empty or being sold at a loss. But if you're interested in land, with a few exceptions, Florida ain’t making any more.)