Kitson & Partners announced that Florida Lifestyle Homes’ furnished Taylor model is expected to be completed and open for viewing by April 22 in the Lake Timber neighborhood at Babcock Ranch. A second furnished model featuring Florida Lifestyle’s Lauren floor plan is on schedule for completion in 60 days and construction of a third model, the Sydney, will begin shortly thereafter.

Babcock Ranch is a new 18,000-acre eco-centric, solar powered town being developed by Kitson, east of Fort Myers off State Road 31, north of the Lee Civic Center. Lake Timber is the first neighborhood to be built at Babcock Ranch. Each home at Babcock Ranch is being built to Florida Green Building Coalition Certification standards.

Florida Lifestyle’s residences will join Babcock Ranch’s diverse array of residential product choices that includes twin villas by Lennar base priced around $180,000; single-family homes by Lennar base priced at $220,000; single-family residences by Homes by Towne and Fox Premier Builders base priced in the $300s; single-family homes by Stock Development base priced in the low-$400s; and single-family residences by Castle Harbour Homes base priced in the $500s. Completed furnished models by Homes by Towne and Stock Development are open for viewing.

Base priced in the low $500s and situated on 80-by-130-foot home sites, Florida Lifestyle’s floor plans were designed specifically for construction at Babcock Ranch. Each plan includes covered front and rear porches that allow the home to live from front to back. The Taylor and Lauren models will feature interiors by Norris Furniture and Interiors’ Sydney Warren and Luanza Maitland. All paint choices are VOC free.

To learn more about purchasing land or a new construction home in Babcock Ranch contact a member of the 9 Core Realty team!

RealtyTrac recently released its Top Single-Family Housing Markets Report for Spring 2017, which ranks the nation’s 50 largest housing markets according to current and forecasted housing fundamentals. Among the 50 largest US markets, the top five (in order) were Tampa, Fla., Dallas, Columbus, Ohio, Las Vegas and Jacksonville, Fla., each demonstrating a vigorous combination of consistently strong demand, home price appreciation, and economic and demographic growth. ­

While previous reports have heavily featured Florida markets, this quarter’s list is more diverse. Tampa and Dallas each advanced three spots to take the top two rankings this quarter, respectively. Columbus jumped from tenth to third this quarter, while Las Vegas rejoined the top five metros list after a brief hiatus, rising from ninth to fourth. Jacksonville rounds out the top five, climbing a few spots from last quarter.

Tampa, Jacksonville and Las Vegas have all emerged in the aftermath of a devastating housing bust. While they are still on the road to recovery, they have all made impressive strides benefiting from accelerating population growth and prosperous local economies. This has contributed to both an increase in the local jobs market and increased demand in the housing market. Columbus stands out among otherwise struggling metros in the Midwest as stronger economic and demographic trends in this market have supported healthier housing demand. Columbus has also benefitted from historically lower volatility than most of the Midwest, as has Dallas, which offers a more diversified local economy – a factor that has helped strengthen its housing market despite the uncertainty surrounding oil prices.

Tampa    

The Tampa housing market continues to flourish in its impressive recovery. Metro employment is up 3.1 percent year-over-year and has been consistently growing in the 2 to 4 percent range for five years. Jobs in the two biggest sectors, professional/business services and education/healthcare services, continue to reach new heights and drive nearly one third of the local economy. Median existing home prices continues to rise, topping all major metros this quarter with 13.1 percent year-over-year growth. The metro’s accelerating population growth and positive economic outlook should bolster demand and serve as solid underpinnings for Tampa’s housing market.

Dallas

The Dallas housing market continues its exceptional performance despite low oil prices that are proving detrimental to other Texas metros as employment growth measures in the low 4 percent range. Home sales remain elevated as they gradually close the gap with their pre-recession peak, most recently rising 2.9 percent from a year ago. Seasonally adjusted prices are at an all-time high after their recent 10.6 year-over-year gain and have risen for 20 straight quarters following a modest downturn. Although prices are more than 56 percent beyond their pre-bust peak, single-family homes remain very inexpensive relative to local income levels. In addition, single family homes are more affordable than local apartment rentals, which should keep demand focused on home buying. Thanks to its diversification, Dallas benefits from superior population growth and a solid economic forecast, both of which should continue fueling the metro’s housing market.

Columbus

The Columbus housing market is making impressive progress. Year-over-year employment growth is at 2 percent and on par with the growth seen through much of this cycle. Payrolls are now at an all-time high, some 11.2 percent beyond their previous peak. The metro’s professional and business services sector has been more erratic, but continues to rise with 2.1 percent annual growth. Home sales are up 6.6 percent from a year ago and are now at a cyclical high within 10 percent of their pre-recession peak. Home prices are 9.6% higher than a year ago as annual price growth has accelerated to its strongest pace this cycle. Columbus’ population growth and solid economic forecast should continue to bolster local housing demand, suggesting an optimistic outlook for the housing market.

Las Vegas

The Las Vegas housing market continues to thrive in the aftermath of its severe recessionary downturn. The education and healthcare services sector is seeing solid employment growth in the 5 percent range. The small but oversized construction/mining sector is also seeing notable gains, with payrolls now up 7.3 percent from a year ago. Home prices continue to see phenomenal growth, recently rising 9.7 percent from a year ago. Prices have now risen nearly 90 percent since they bottomed out five years ago, yet they remain very affordable at roughly 30 percent below their bubble peak allowing for additional gains. Strong demographics in the metro indicate continued economic expansion, as population growth accelerates and a superior economic forecast portends a bright outlook for this market.

Jacksonville

Jacksonville’s housing market is excelling as sales and prices continue to improve in the wake of its severe bust. Though Jacksonville’s expansion has slowed modestly after posting job losses in two of the last four months, the metro’s economy continues to impress with job growth just under 3 percent year-over-year. The sizeable education and healthcare services sector recently saw nearly 5 percent job growth, while the oversized financial services sector is reaching new heights. Existing-home sales are up 7.3 year-over-year and are marching towards their pre-recession peak. Jacksonville also benefits from excellent population growth and has been outpacing the US for over two decades. Accelerated population growth combined with a robust economy should fuel Jacksonville’s local housing market going forward.

To learn more about the spring 2017 real estate market in your area, contact the 9 Core Realty team today.

Lennar is joining the roster of builders at Babcock Ranch, the nation’s first solar-powered town. Kitson & Partners announced an agreement for a mix of twin-villas and single-family homes at price points within reach for a broader range of homebuyers.

The neighborhood located southeast of Founders Square, adjacent to the permanent school site and community park, will include approximately 180 homes.  Twin-villas at Lennar’s Babcock Ranch neighborhood will start at around $180,000, with single-family homes starting in the $220s.

At Babcock Ranch, the dream features that come standard with every home include a full gigabyte of fiber-optic connectivity, and an environmentally friendly lifestyle powered the 75mw Florida Power & Light solar power plant located within the town. While Babcock residents will pay the same rates for electricity as any other FPL customer, the green-building standards for all homes will lower overall costs because their energy consumption will be significantly lower.

Lennar will be offering their popular Twin Villa Homes, with a new countrystyle design that will fit in well with the rustic motif of Babcock Ranch. These maintenance-free homes will offer 1,417 to 1,564 square feet of comfort and style with two-car garages, two to three bedrooms and a covered lanai. A spacious kitchen and open plan are perfect for entertaining, and the natural light shining through glass sliders will give these homes a breezy, Floridian feel. Each new Villa includes notable features such as granite counter tops, wood cabinets, upgraded tile flooring, and a full GE stainless steel appliance package.

To learn more about purchasing Babcock Ranch land for sale, contact a member of the 9 Core Realty team today!

Housing remains in high demand in most of the nation, but the housing recovery looks increasingly uneven, depending on location.

Whether buyers are shopping for their own homes or for investment properties that will throw off some cash, certain markets are becoming far more lucrative than anyone might have expected just a few years ago. Still, some of the hottest markets are falling from grace.

A few of the recession’s hardest-hit housing markets have suddenly some of the healthiest. Tampa, Florida, which lost thousands of homes to foreclosure in the past decade, now takes the title of the nation’s healthiest housing market, at least according to TenX, a real-estate auction and analytics company. It rated locations based on a number of key factors, including population and job growth, unemployment rate and wage growth, as well as industry-specific indicators like inventory and construction.

Florida is recovering very nicely from an economic standpoint. TenX has seen unemployment numbers drop pretty dramatically there. They have also seen job growth and wage growth stick for a few years now, and a very steady increase in both the sales of homes and home prices.

Jacksonville, Florida, also made it into the Top 5, based on the same criteria. Las Vegas made a surprise appearance at No. 4 on the list. That city served as ground zero for the housing crash, clocking the highest foreclosure rate in the nation. Prices there are still about 20 percent below their peak of the housing boom, but that is only adding to the area’s allure.

Not so surprising is No. 2 on the list, Dallas, which didn’t go through the boom to bust that much of the nation did during the recession. The area is seeing consistent employment growth, fueled by its very diverse set of industries of professional and business services, health care and leisure/hospitality. Its population nearly tripped the national rate in 2015.

On the other end of the spectrum, Northern and central New Jersey hit rock bottom of the list. Home prices there are high, while job and population growth are lackluster. Los Angeles and San Francisco are suffering from other ills, namely affordability. Prices are so high and inventory so weak that the potential for both sales and price growth are very low.

To learn more about purchasing real estate in Tampa, Florida, contact a member of the 9 Core Realty team.