WHEN REAL-ESTATE MARKETS sour, owners of luxury homes and condos sometimes cling to a comforting theory, at least in the slump's early stages: Their properties are pretty much immune to a downturn, just as their own lives are immune to the daily economic tribulations of those sad and pitiful Janes and Joes forced to reside in those tacky $600,000 hovels out by the Interstate.Alas, reality and theory don't always coincide.
Consider Sarasota, Fla., a small city in which property values are king and which was one of the hottest of the hot spots in the U.S. real-estate bubble.
Hugging Southwest Florida's Gulf Coast, with a sparkling downtown facing a gorgeous bay, 35 miles of white-sand beaches, a wealth of museums, opera, ballet and theater, plus a well-heeled population of sophisticated retirees and second- and third-home owners, Sarasota thought the ride would never end. Home prices jumped 150% from 2000 through 2005, according to the National Association of Realtors. Condos rose about 130% in the same span. And those figures, which also cover neighboring Bradenton and Venice, may understate the gains in Sarasota proper and its barrier islands, which boast a disproportionate share of the area's to-die-for properties.
But now prices are in something approaching a free-fall. The current readings say they're down 19% since the end of 2005 and 10% in the past year. Lots of residents who had considered selling their homes during the craziest of the craziness, but didn't, are wringing their hands.
Perhaps the market's hottest sector during the boom was luxury properties. "We were always under priced, compared to Naples and Palm Beach," says Michael Saunders, a woman considered one of the doyennes of Southwest Florida real-estate brokers. "Then, in '04 and '05, we outdid ourselves catching up."