- April 25, 2024
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Slow, but steady, market growth is happening in Ormond Beach and beyond, agents say, partly due to international investors banking on future increases.
BY MATT MENCARINI | STAFF WRITER
Commercial and residential real estate development are closely tied, and certain agents see reasons to be optimistic about the future of both in Ormond Beach.
Earlier this month, a 156-acre, undeveloped piece of land near the airport sold for $1.25 million. Plantation Oaks, a 377-lot residential community just across the northern county line, also sold for $26.4 million.
Additionally, the Ormond Beach City Commission approved an amended development plan Jan. 8, for the Marshside Village subdivision, which an Orlando-based company intends to develop at the intersection of Airport Road and Tymber Creek Road.
“There’s a complete relationship,” said Bill Navarra, an agent with Realty Pros. “History says that residential boosts commercial. When residential starts to do better, commercial knows it can (develop).”
As households increase, Navarra added, so does the incentive for a big-box store to open a location locally, as well.
And then there are larger-scale initiatives, like Ormond Crossing, a long-range city development to be located west of the city’s core. But for Navarra, at least, the development could also end up posing a problem for developers, since some businesses might be leary of moving too far from Granada Boulevard.
As far as the residential sector is concerned, Marge Allison, of Adams Cameron and Co. Realtors, said she's seen “a slow improvement,” which she attributes to the market finally hitting bottom.
“We’re seeing an uptick in prices, particularly on the beachside,” she said. “We’re seeing improvement in the market and in pricing.”
Waterside property traditionally has higher values, but for Allison, these lots show a sign of things to come. And Chris Butera, an investment associate at NAI Realvest, agrees.
“I would say we’re definitely trending upwards, all be it tepidly,” Butera said.
Ormond Beach, like much of Florida, he said, has become attractive, particularly, to international investors who view the entire country as being “on sale” and see the weak value of the dollar as an additional advantage.
“They can make money on the appreciation of the property and the dollar,” Butera said. “That’s what’s driving the investments from international buyers in the state of Florida.”
Domestic investors, Butera said, are looking for deals, as well. Pension and trust firms, for example, are snatching up "safe" properties with a high probability of returning 5% to 7% annually on investment.
Those "institutional quality deals," as Butera calls them, can be anything from a stand-alone commercial property, like something a grocery store would use, to multi-family developments, like Plantation Oaks.
