A Rebound for Florida Second Home Sales? Experts Uncertain as NAR Visits Naples for 2009 Resort Symposium

VERO BEACH, FL, Mar 24 (MARKET WIRE) --
Florida's gated and private communities have been a driver in the state's
economic growth for decades, with developers investing millions in
resort-style master-planned communities across the state. The strategy
was to ride the retirement wave of 77 million baby boomers over the next
20 years, but the economic downturn now has experts uncertain when to
expect a comeback.

Although it is not officially on the agenda, the future of Florida's
second home market is likely to be debated between sessions at the 2009
National Association of Realtors Resort Symposium. The symposium is
slated for March 28-31 at the Naples Grande Beach Resort in Naples, Fla.

Billed as the "Sunshine Connection," the symposium offers educational
sessions, property tours and the chance for real estate professionals to
swap best practices in marketing resort and second home properties around
the world.

Brad Hunter, chief economist for Houston, Texas-based Metrostudy,
acknowledged that Florida's migration trends were "terrible" in 2007, but
said 2008 data from the U.S. Census Bureau pointed to some improvement.

"Population flows are still negative in the main South Florida counties
such as Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach," said Hunter, who also serves
as the firm's national director of consulting. "But the outflow was much
more moderate during 2008, and is probably headed back to positive growth
now."

Hunter also said population growth is still positive for the state as a
whole, citing recent research by the University of Florida. "It is not as
fast as it was a few years ago, but it is still positive."

In addition to watching migration patterns, those watching Florida second
home trends are trying to understand where to find the positive
indicators. While increased tourism and the stabilization of home values
might eventually be two signs, taking a look at second home shopping
habits can offer a glimpse at where potential buyers might be looking for
gated communities, where the bulk of the shopping these days is taking
place on the Internet.

According to 2008 data from PrivateCommunities.com
(www.PrivateCommunities.com), a niche Web site where affluent consumers
have been finding second homes since its launch in 1996, Floridians
themselves are expressing the strongest interest in Florida's gated
communities.

PrivateCommunities.com tracked information requests made by Florida
residents who visited the site last year. Florida developers netted the
largest share of requests (30.7%) followed closely by North Carolina
developers (30.4%). Information requests were also made to developers in
South Carolina (9.5%), Tennessee (8.8%) and Georgia (8.6%).

PrivateCommunities.com reported that even when national information
requests to Florida developers were compared from all 50 states, people in
Florida (17%) were requesting the largest share of the information in
2008, followed by consumers in New York (12.3%), New Jersey (7.2%),
Pennsylvania (5.1%) and Massachusetts (4.1%).

"While this data itself does not signal when demand might return for
second homes it does show us that Florida was popular for affluent
consumers inside and outside the state," said Elisabeth Miller-Fox,
co-founder of PrivateCommunities.com. "For now it is a waiting game to
see what will motivate them, and Florida might be in a good position when
they've decided to make these decisions."

Year-end data has been collected and analyzed since 1996 by
PrivateCommunities.com, a Web research portal that tracks second home
shopping habits and serves as a resource for affluent consumers to find
second homes in resort destinations.

Established in 1996, PrivateCommunities.com (www.PrivateCommunities.com)
is a comprehensive research and information site for affluent consumers
seeking primary, retirement or second homes in Destination Amenity
Communities. The listings include profiles of private, semi-private and
resort golf clubs in more than 30 states and international destinations in
Mexico, Costa Rica and the Caribbean. Communities listed offer a variety
of amenities like golf, boating, tennis and equestrian with properties
from $100,000 to $10 million.

Contact:
Kyle F. Reinson
Editor
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