Ormond Owners Report 4th qtr 2005

Here is the text for the newsletter we send to out of town Condo owners. ORMOND OWNERS REPORT FOURTH QUARTER 2005 HELLO FROM ORMOND-BY-THE-SEA Business Briefs: Cappuccino’s is open at 1760 Ocean shore. They have quick breakfast and coffee. Coldwater Creek Women’s Apparel will open a 5,500-sq. ft. store at the Trails shopping center this spring. Local Notes: United Airlines Express begins flights between Daytona Beach and Washington Dulles Airport Feb.8 ,2006 The News-Journal Center for Performing Arts will open Jan. 27, 2006 A 2.5 mile nature trail is now open at North Peninsula State Park. There is a map of the trail at its beginning. Florida Hospital Ormond Memorial will be building a new facility, scheduled to open in 2009. Progress had been delayed due to a suit by Halifax Medical Center. Sections of A1A in Flagler Beach continue to have washouts. Workers continue to pack sand and rocks until a permanent solution can be found. The Historic Volusia County Courthouse has reopened after a 10-year restoration project. The downtown Deland courthouse originally opened in 1929. Construction has begun on the former Builders Square site, which will convert it into a retail center with shops and restaurants. The site, at the corner of International Speedway Blvd. and Williamson Blvd. will open this summer and be named Volusia Marketplace. A Smokey Bones BBQ Restaurant is planned for a former car dealership at 2280 International Speedway Blvd. Real Estate Market Watch The number of properties for sale has been growing and the availability of ready, willing and able buyers has shrunk. On July 1, 2004 there were only 4 condos for sale in Ormond by the Sea. As of Dec. 27, 2005 there are 66! In 2004, the condo market was booming! Prices were increasing and available units were selling in days, sometimes with multiple offers. The hurricanes slowed things for a few months but everything seemed to pick right back up and continue the hot market. The 4th quarter of 2005 began a slowdown in the market. Some say it is due to major hurricanes (Katrina & Rita) that caused people to think twice about buying near the ocean. Others say it is due to the increased interest rates. Still others believe much of the problem is the high taxes that continue to increase for out of town owners as the property values escalate. The next several months will tell us if this is a market "correction" or if we are coming into a period of "Buyers Market"conditions. Some believe that activity will pick up again and prices will ultimately continue to rise, although at a much slower rate than the past few years. Not just Ormond by the Sea and not just condos are seeing these changes. There were 3,336 homes for sale in the Daytona Beach Area Multiple Listing Service in mid December compared to about 800 last year. Would you feel better if we were number one? Daytona Beach is No. 1 among residential real estate markets with a disproportionate increase during the past two years of purchases by investors, instead of by people intending to live in the units, a recent analysis by the Credit Suisse First Boston investment banking firm said. As recently as 1998, 1999 and 2000 investors represented 14 or 15 percent of all single-family unit purchases in the Daytona Beach market. But in 2004, investors accounted for 32 percent of all purchases. On overall risk , the Daytona Beach house and condo market tied for fourth place among 50 major U.S. markets, the CSFB analysis said. Credit Suisse First Boston created a formula rating each market with a "risk index". The index includes five factors the analysts pinpointed as crucial to increased demand for housing. In addition to the change in investor presence in the market, the factors are: the pace of recent price increases, the percentage of "exotic" mortgage financing, the market’s job growth and constraints on housing supply. The Daytona Beach area got whacked on price appreciation, too, ranked nine on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the worst. Web Log Ocean View has begun work on a web log (blog). We will try to post information about Ormond Beach & Ormond by the Sea to keep you informed. You will be able to add comments if you like. The address is: http://ormondbytheseaproperties.blog.com/. For additional information about Ocean View go to www.ovrealty.com