Real Estate in 2007

"In most parts of the country, the New Year will dawn on a housing market that's shockingly different from just a year ago. Overzealous speculation, too-lenient lending and aggressive overbuilding have combined to create the type of home-inventory levels and price stagnations that haven't been felt in the U.S. since the early to mid-1990's. . ." (more)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a merry Christmas. For those of you that may be offended by the Christian conotation in this greeting, I'd like to wish you a happy holidays.

I will not be sending out the regular newsletter today but will resume next week.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Pier Park, Ecotourism, East Bay, and 2007 Housing forecast

Pier Park has signed 6 major retailers with one open and another under construction. In addition, Panera Bread and Margaritaville are a few of the restaurants that are coming very soon. The Grand 16-plex movie theatre will be open by May with Longhorn Steakhouse under construction.

- Pier Park Flyer

I came across some information on the Bay County Ecotourism efforts. Included will be a public preserve on the west end of Panama City Beach with hiking trails and off-road bike paths and a paved trail system that will extend from the west end to St. Andrews State Park.

- Ecotourism Brochure

One of our readers sent information on the East Bay Sector. This is a growing area with many opportunities. Featured in the area is not only beautiful waterfront property but the only airpark in our area. Planned subdivisions are huge in my opinion and something Bay County, sadly, lacks. As we grow we will see more of these types of communities built.

- East Bay Sector Information This document has several links to informative sites. fyi, I noticed a few did not work. Also an article from CNNMoney was referenced, but one of the links did not work. It can be read here.

"Americans are increasingly nervous about the real estate market in 2007. They have good reason to be. But the news isn't all bad: Interest rates will remain at historically low levels. . ." (more)

Winning Bidder for Airport to be Chosen

"Talks with potential buyers of the current 715-acre airport site will continue, with a recommendation expected on a preferred developer in January, the Airport Authority executive board decided Friday. In October, the board selected Vice Chairman Bill Cramer as its liaison for a “fact-finding mission” with the bidders after an unexpected $13 million increase in the overall cost of the relocation project put further emphasis on the sale price. . ." (more)

Is Panama City Beach Imposing New Tax on Residents?

A new stormwater fee imposed on Panama City Beach residents is causing some concern. Panama City Beach's charter prevents it from collecting any new taxes or assessments without public approval. Many residents are concerned that this will open the door to other charges and fees that may not have uniform public consent.

Along with this fee came a provision that would allow PCB to collect other special assessments such as roadway and transportation improvements. This is what the CRA is for.

Click here for the entire article.

Bay County Statistics and General Information

I was doing some digging at the Bay County Economic Development Alliance website and found some statistics and other general information. It appears as though much of the information was collected at the beginning of the year, so some of the stats are out of date, but much of the information is still good.

Industrial Parks Directory - Details locations, park owners, current tenants, and contact information.

2006 Community Profile - This document is large, you may have to hit "refresh" after clicking on the link. Click "save a copy" to save it to your computer, this way it will view quicker. Once again, much of the statistics are from 2005. They apparently only publish this report once a year, so we should probably look forward to this again early 07.

St. Joe/Airport Story, Southwest Airlines, More on Insurance and Roads

Many do not realize that St. Joe and the Airport have a long history. They've been working together for more than 10 years. Many people also do not realize that it was the Airport Authority that approached St. Joe, not the other way around. Click here for an article on the whole story.

I got this article from the Bay County Economic Development Alliance. A friend of mine sent me the link, although I could only get one of the recent article links to work.

Recently it was confirmed that Southwest Airlines was in some discussion with area airports. It would appear as though Ft. Walton and the new Bay County International Airport are in competition to host Southwest, however Southwest stated that they are not planning on expanding their service area anytime in the next year. The whole article can be found here.

Insurance rates are still on the rise, and our state legislature is very aware of the citizens concern. More can be read here.

With the area's growth, new roads are needed. With new roads, comes much planning. Two articles can be found on local road development here and here.

Increase in Florida Homeowner's Insurance

This week I received my insurance bill. The premium is 33% higher than it was last year. I immediately called my insurance agent and was told I should feel lucky. I don't, I feel poorer.

He told me others are experiencing 50 - 70% increases in their yearly premium. I'm starting to wish I was a renter again. With the squeeze this will cause my family, there is no doubt this is pushing others out of the "home-owner" catagory.

Realistically, is there anything that can be done? This is how the world revolves. A business needs to profit, and when the costs go up, the price of the product needs to go up or the business can't operate. Some discussions suggest the state foots the bill, but this still trickles down to our wallet. What's the answer?

There were several articles released today about Citizens' rate hike, and click here for some suggestions from our legislators.

Also, more can be found by clicking here.

The Panama City Port and Bay County Airport, plus Something from You.

On Friday I attended a luncheon in Sandestin hosted by the Walton County Chamber. The guest speakers were Randy Curtis, the Executive Director of the Panama City Airport, and Wayne Stubbs, the executive Director of the Panama City Port Authority.

I was able to record it, albeit not a good recording, and it can be accessed by clicking here.

The presentation by Randy Curtis was really just a reiteration of the same news, not a lot of new information. Some explanation was provided as to why the West Bay area was selected. Due to air-flight restrictions from Tyndall and Eglin Airforce Base, and of course land availability, West Bay was the only feasible area for the new airport. In addition, Randy explained that they were on target for a ground breaking in March/April 2007. There was a large audience present and when the ground breaking date was mentioned the audience broke into applause. There was a question/answer section at the end of the presentation, and the feedback I heard was all positive.

The Panama City Port has been growing the last couple of years as the eastern-most port without going to Tampa. Our port has been identified as the most logical port for distribution in the southeast US and received 500,000 tons of copper last year. This totals in excess of $3.5 billion worth of product. They recently dredged the port from 32' to 36'. This may not seem much, but compare this to the Panama Canal at 38'. Our port receives 5 ships a week from the Yucatan, some of that being products from the Ikea plant in Mexico. In addition, a Swedish company has just agreed to use our port to export a minimum of 300,000 tons of compressed wood pellets every year for the next ten years. The post on this article can be found here.

"Is the National Resources Defense Council with their recently filed lawsuit really fighting for the best interests of NW Florida residents? Curiously, press releases and statements from the NRDC regarding the proposed new airport site fail to mention the mitigation property of 10,000 acres in West Bay donated by the St Joe Company. " (. . .more)

If anyone has more information or would like to share a comment, shoot me an email or post a comment.

La Borgata in Panama City Beach

Alan Jackson attended the ground breaking of a new development on west Panama City Beach, across from Wild Heron yesterday. The community, La Borgata touts a "Mayberry" style of living. The community will feature luxury 3 bedroom 3 bath condominiums with two salt water, heated resort style pools. LaBorgata.com

This sounds great, and I love to see nice developments coming to this area, but I'm unsure how well a "luxury" development will do right now. Speaking frankly, what this area needs is housing that the locals can afford to purchase.

Still yet, when La Borgata is completed, it will be a great addition to our growing community.

Click here for the News Herald article.

I wish all the luck to Ronnie Gilley.