Highlands Arts and Crafts at Homestead Preserve in Hot Springs, Virginia
Buyers With “Quiet Green” Are Still Buying and Building at Luxury Second-Home Developments in the Mountains
Hot Springs, Virginia – June 30, 2008. . . Despite lagging real estate sales and residential development across the nation, the wealthiest Americans remain undeterred by the economic downturn, and many consider now the time to invest in real estate. Don Killoren, Co-General Manger of Homestead Preserve, a high profile resort residential community adjacent to The Homestead resort in Hot Springs Virginia, says the community’s vacation home construction remains strong this summer.
“We have a lot of owners I like to refer to as having quiet money with a focus on green building,’” Killoren says. “They have money to spend, though they’re not flamboyant about it. They’re not requiring financing to build their second and third homes; and they’re not concerned about the current market. For them, real estate is still an excellent investment because they know property values are going to climb again in the long-term.”
Homestead Preserve’s Director of Sales and Marketing Ian McIlvaine agrees: “People who can afford to buy now are buying now. It’s a buyer’s market, particularly for high-end properties.” Nowhere is this more true than in the southern mountains, where many second homeowners have sought refuge from the market uncertainties, rising insurance costs, and concerns about severe weather associated with southern coastal areas.
According to the Annual Survey of Affluence and Wealth in America, released this spring by American Express Publishing Corporation and the Harrison Group, wealthy Americans consider now the best time to be investing in real estate when prices are down. In fact, 40% of those earning $500,000 or more a year in discretionary income indicated they were in the market to buy real property this year. That means many second home developers serving wealthy clientele, particularly those in more secure and price-steady markets like the southern mountains, aren’t taking the hit that many primary residence real estate agents and developers are.
Homestead Preserve developers and Celebration Associates partners Charles Adams and Don Killoren were instrumental in the design and development of Celebration, Florida, near Orlando, which was hailed as the “Most Advanced Community in the Country from 1996-1998” by The Guinness Book of World Records. Celebration Associates has for the past ten years been a partner in developing the community of Baxter Village in South Carolina, and is also a partner leading the residential development projects at Bundoran Farm in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the Mt. Washington Hotel at Bretton Woods in New Hampshire. Crosland, Inc. of Charlotte, NC is a financial partner in Homestead Preserve, Bundoran Farm and Mount Washington Resort. Crosland’s President and CEO Todd Mansfield was also directly involved in the development and success of Celebration, Florida. Crosland, Inc. is one of the Southeast’s leading and most diversified real estate companies.
For more information on Homestead Preserve sales, call 877-224-9477. To schedule media interviews, call Deborah Huso at (540) 474-5147, or e-mail drhuso@writewellmedia.com.
