Have you ever picked through the clearance rack and found nothing worth buying? We can agree that sometimes, items with big discounts were often overpriced to begin with.
The Same Is True For Real Estate
Discount Focused Buyers
Yet still, some buyers continue to focus on the mark-down, not the intrinsic value of the property. In fact, many who are unfamiliar with Sanibel were surprised to see our island less affected by the historical booms and busts that have occurred in the U.S. real estate market.
Why Is This?
While a number of factors influence the U.S. housing market, we know that the booms and busts were fueled by speculative development.
During these times, most U.S. communities saw a massive amount of new housing coupled with rapid price increases. However, many of these homes were bought and sold by speculators looking to make a quick buck, not residents or even income investors. This became a game of hot potato where you didn’t want to be the one holding on when the music stopped.
Protected Nature = Protected Home Values
With some mathematical simplification, this becomes:
Nature = Home Values
The Sanibel Plan created by our City’s founders protects our wilderness and strictly limits development, keeping our island an oasis of near-pristine beauty. No significant speculative development can occur on Sanibel. I believe this insulated our island from the worst of the booms and busts.
Nearby beach communities do not have protective charters and many have been heavily developed with high-rise condos and coast-to-coast development – coastal ecosystems replaced with concrete and asphalt. Additional development and re-development await these communities whenever the next building boom occurs.
In the satellite images above, Sanibel shows mostly conservation land whereas Marco is almost completely developed. We talk more about this in our article, Satellite Images Reveal Sanibel’s Difference.
The Reality of Real Estate
Some areas are more affected by the highs and lows of the over national real estate market. Sanibel, however, tends to see a slower and less dramatic effect, which I largely believe is due to our island’s conservation efforts.
I believe that Sanibel’s unique character protects not just nature, but also our real estate values today and will continue to create additional value into the future.
Remember, savvy buyers look for value, not the biggest discount.
