hiveredtech

Actually I am on Pensacola Beach...which is on Santa Rosa Island along with Navarre Beach, Ft. Walton Beach. However, I am very familiar with Rosemary and Seaside...which is about 1.5 hours east of me. I am just schocked at the low prices of gulf-front there....this is exactly where Pensacola Beach was 5-7 years ago....and it is not people from Pensacola driving the market.

why do beachfront homes on Bermuda Beach Rd. have such a low price tag?

It has been interesting lurking on this board and reading the opinions on real estate...trying to get a good idea of what the future holds for Galveston. I live on Santa Rosa Island at Pensacola Beach...which of course was just slammed by Hurricane Ivan. There is massive destruction because a majority of the homes and condos were built many years ago...however property values have INCREASED since Ivan. Since I bought my home in Dec. of 2000 it has increased in value over 100%..since Ivan another 25%. I cannot explain it....but in 2000 our property values were where Galveston appears to be now...although I have never been there. However, all homes and condos just keep going up and even hurricanes are not detering people. Of course, we are a small island with about 3,000 FT residents, 12 hotels/motels, and a couple thousand condo units. Plus..the island is only 7 miles long of develpment...and about 4-6 blocks wide depending on where you are. On other side of the 7 miles is nationally protected seashore that will never be developed. We had a condo development that sounds similar to Palisade Palms called Portofino that has be hugely successful...and a friend of mine is trying to talk me into buying a unit in Palisade Palms. Like Palisade, Portofino took years to approve and was built on the last piece of land able for development and is on the far east side. Not knowing Galveston, it sounds like a much bigger island with a significant town center. I just cannot believe that I see homes listed as beachfront there for under $400K....at Pensacola Beach beachfront lots are worth $1.5 million....and the per capita income for Pensacola is only $24K/yr. We are getting tons of people moving from Atlanta, Birmingham, Montgomery, Jackson, New Orleans, etc. What do you guys think about Galveston? Can it do what Pensacola Beach has done? Are people from Houston and other parts of Texas starting to speculate in Galveston and get excited about vacationing there again?