While Labor Day, 2010 was no “July 4th,” occupancy-wise, it certainly was good to see traffic lined up on Highway 59 once again, an indicator of visitors returning to our beaches. Activity was also up in our offices, but after most of the check-outs on Monday, my wife Betsy and I managed to sneak away and take in the Ft. Morgan beaches ourselves – which, by the way, were glorious. I even got a little boogey-boarding in myself! Now to business.
We had a nice little “bounce” in sales of gulf-front/beachside condos in August, up from July’s low of 26. There were 40 sales in August and there are currently 56 properties either under contract or pending sale, which could make for a VERY good September if all or most were to close during that month. That could actually exceed September, 2009′s 50 sales.
Looking at past years’ trends, we may see a bump in sales in October, too, arising from September shoppers. In the past, these shoppers vacationed here in the summer and “sniffed around”, then came back in the fall to do some serious shopping, with the premise that a better deal might be had if the seller was looking at 5 to 6 months of low occupancy. However, this year, there weren’t many people here to sniff around this summer, so we will have to see what the fall brings. Stay tuned.