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Neighborhood News
Real Service... Real Results May, 2011 |
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 Laura Cole & Tana Gaskill
(561) (561)
776-4429 776-4444
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Greetings! How do you know when it is May in South Florida? The car trailers arrive! For the year rounders, there is great sadness to see our many friends depart for up North but also a bit of relief for the calm after a hectic season and busy social schedules.
Be sure to read about the Historial Society of Palm Beach and the museum housed in the restored 1916 Courthouse. It is an incredible story of restoration and determination to perserve our local history.
Lots of Real Estate news as well and we are happy to have an upbeat outlook to report.
Warm regards,
Laura & Tana
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| REAL ESTATE TRENDS
"Forget stocks. Don't bet on gold. After four years of plunging home prices, the most attractive asset class in America is housing." So began a reassessment of the real estate market by a major media outlet throughout last month's news cycle.
These words were not penned by someone with a vested interest in selling new or existing homes. Instead, this was the sub-headline for an article on today's recovering real estate market entitled "Real Estate: It's Time to Buy Again." Authored by Shawn Tully, senior editor-at-large at Fortune Magazine - CNNMoney Online, his only vested interest is giving the best advice to his audience of nine million affluent investors.
Confused? With all the conflicting news appearing daily about the real estate market, we'd be surprised if you weren't. Even in market's such as ours, with a troublesome backlog of distressed properties to sell before we can get back to basics, the winds of opportunity are blowing favorably.
We won't even discuss Tully's hugely upbeat assessment of what he terms the "non-distressed" markets-so named because they avoided the nastier side effects of the bubble-except to say that their shrunken inventories of homes have placed them on the cusp of a strong market. Markets like ours-which Tully labels as the "foreclosure markets"- got this way largely because of their inherent desirability. People want to live in warm, sunny locations; especially the 76 million trendsetting Baby Boomers who are poised to hang up their careers, head south and reinvent retirement. Meanwhile, thousands of would-be buyers-many of whom sat-out the real estate downturn as renters-are being advised to step-up and buy. In more than half of the 54 markets examined in a new study by Deutsche Bank, it is now cheaper-often by far-to pay the mortgage and other costs of owning a home than it is to rent the same house.
Once most foreclosures are sold and these markets experience fresh demand without the corresponding downward pressure on prices, home prices are expected to rise rather sharply. If all outstanding foreclosures enter their markets at a fairly even pace, William Wheaton-an economist with MIT-believes most will be absorbed between now and the end of 2013. Such a scenario nixes the notion that it will be many years before our market fully recovers. More to the point, well-priced homes and condominiums are suddenly flying off the shelf so quickly that buyers here are noticing a greatly diminished selection of good properties.
BALLENISLES SALES -APRIL
SALE ORIG. SALE MKT
ADDRESS BR BA PRICE PRICE DATE TIME |
335 SUNSET BAY LANE |
3 |
2.5 |
$210,000 |
$259,000 |
04/01/2011 |
31 | |
36 LAGUNA TERRACE |
3 |
3.0 |
$545,000 |
$575,000 |
04/01/2011 |
109 | |
1131 CRYSTAL DRIVE |
4 |
4.0 |
$492,500 |
$679,000 |
04/05/2011 |
362 | |
1123 CRYSTAL DRIVE |
4 |
4.0 |
$453,450 |
$795,000 |
04/14/2011 |
674 | |
111 COCONUT DRIVE |
4 |
4.5 |
$700,000 |
$829,000 |
04/15/2011 |
174 | |
126D PALM BAY TERRACE |
3 |
3.5 |
$285,000 |
$395,000 |
04/29/2011 |
251 |
*This representation is based in whole or in part on data supplied by the Realtors Association of the PalmBeaches or its Multiple Listing Services thru 05/05/2011.
To learn more about current Real Estate trends in BallenIsles, click on the links below.
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FEATURED PROPERTY
New Listing
133 Banyan Isle Drive
This exceptionally maintained and enhanced home on the East course has 3 bedrooms plus a library. Features include extended living room/sunroom, separate golf cart garage, his and hers Master baths, central vac, wood paneled library and granite counter-tops. Spacious and bright with sunny, western exposure, this is the perfect home from which to experience the amenities of BallenIsles Country Club.
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THINGS TO DO  Historical Society of PB County
The Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum opened to the public in March 2008 within the historic 1916 Courthouse in downtown West Palm Beach at 300 North Dixie Highway. After many individual and collective efforts to save the historic courthouse from demolition, led by community preservationists and Historical Society leaders, the Board of County Commissioners voted in April 2002 to preserve and share the building with the public, committing to restore the building to its original neoclassical grandeur. This opportunity paved the way for the Society to request space for the county's first history museum inside the restored courthouse. The restored building also serves as the headquarters of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County. The county-wide history museum enriches the lives of children and adults alike by making local history accessible, interesting and meaningful.
The Museum contains two permanent and rotating temporary exhibits - The People Gallery, The Place Gallery and a Rotating exhibits Gallery.
The People Gallery is a tribute to approximately 100 individuals and families who have contributed to the growth of Palm Beach County. Exhibits include a video display projecting images of people from all walks of Palm Beach County life. Kiosks and exhibits with artifacts to help tell the stories behind the colorful characters of the past, including Pre-Columbian inhabitants, Seminole Indians, early pioneers, the business and philanthropic community, educators, and influencial leaders in communications, lay, medicine and politics. The gallery also features an interactive exhibit where visitors can find out more about interesting people.
The Place Gallery contains models and photographs exploring Palm Beach county's natural environment and the animals and ecology that make it unique. Exhibits include a giant mosquito, banyan tree, snake, alligator - and a model of the man who had to brave those elements in pioneer days, the "Barefoot Mailman," who carried the mail from Palm Beach County to Miami. Touch-screen maps on a 50 inch screen that demonstrate the dramtic changes in the county's growth. Special exhibits on characters such as Addison Mizner, and memorabilia from local sports stars, including Jack Nicklaus and Chris Evert. An actual "Palm Beach coach," a wicker wheelchair/bike powered by a pedaling tour guide. A re-creation of a 'palmetto shack," the frond-topped dwellings the first pioneers built for themselves.
The Rotating Exhibit Gallery currently has Feather Wars: Surviving Fashion 1870-1920. This temporary exhibit examines the plume hunting era in Palm Beach County and is on display through June 30th.
Historical Society of Palm Beach County
300 North Dixie Highway
West Palm Beach
(561) 832-4164
Click here to read more about Things To Do |
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