Homes located on golf courses have traditionally been sought after, however buyers no longer flock to these homes as they once did.
Due to this lower demand, homes in some golf communities have been reportedly selling far below the peak prices from earlier in the 2000s, and they have yet to experience the same type of rebound as other areas of the market, Fiscal Times reports. The slower demand has even prompted several of these golf communities to file for bankruptcy; others are in financial distress.
Some developers have found that building communities with green space, hiking trails, lakes and swimming pools attracts buyers, and it’s much less expensive for them to build as well. For example, it can take $1.2 million to operate a golf course annually, versus $300,000 to maintain a lake, per research done by a former CEO of the National Golf Foundation.
However, buyers who do purchase a home on a golf course may not even be attracted to golf. Only a quarter of those who purchase homes in golf communities become members of their community clubs. The National Golf Foundation is reporting that the number of Americans who play golf has dropped 17 percent from 2000 to 2010.
For the buyers who do love golf, however, they can find plenty of bargains. Some communities nationwide are even offering incentives such as big discounts on the price of their golf membership.
Golf property is still viewed as prestigious too, particularly depending on the quality and the property’s location, says Paul Bishop, vice president of research for the National Association of Realtors®.
Source: "Golf-course homes no longer up to par?" FloridaRealtors (10/03/2013)
