The Next Miami Beach~Flagler County, Florida

Implications: The Next Big Thing in Florida land development is quietly taking place along the pristine shores of Florida's Northeastern coastline.  Now is the time to buy into what has all the promise of becoming  Florida's new Miami Beach !

Analysis:

The locale is Flagler County named after early Florida pioneer and visionary, Henry Flagler. The largest and youngest city (7 years old) is Palm Coast. Amazingly, and with little fanfare, Flagler county has eclipsed Florida’s remaining 66 counties by maintaining its first place finish two years running (2005-2006 Source:U.S. Census Bureau) as the fastest growing county in the United States! The benchmarks for claiming this distinction were housing growth and population. This growth continues despite statewide concerns over affordable housing and mortgage foreclosures.

Flagler County is within reasonable commuting distance of both Daytona Beach and St. Augustine. Orlando and Jacksonville would be stretching the drive for many, but it is being done. Why? The lifestyle, defined as newer schools, less traffic (this will change), one of Florida’s lowest property tax millage rates (10th lowest), and nearly as many golf courses (8) as there are public schools. But, perhaps, the clearest description of Flagler’s allure is found in its geography; a geography that serves as harbinger of the explosive upscale development to come. The county’s riches include twenty-six miles of Atlantic beachfront, twenty-four community parks, access to the Intracoastal Waterway, Interstate Exit 284 where I-95 runs closer to the Atlantic Ocean than any other exit from Maine to Miami!

While most of the remainder of the state languishes in a soft real estate quagmire, Flagler is hot with no simmering in sight. Only six years ago, a vacant lot within the city limits of Palm Coast could be purchased for $5,000. Today, that same parcel brings up to $100,000. An oceanfront lot on A1A went for under $100,000 in the year 2000. Today’s sticker is $400,000! Absurd? Maybe, especially when you consider a median income of $40,000 for the community.

If not the local residents, then who is driving this growth explosion that increased Flagler County’s population in excess of 50% between years 2000 and 2005?

In two words – Hiccup People. You read correctly. Hiccup People is the moniker given to Northerners who moved to South Florida (Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Miami Beach, Key West) and then “hiccupped” by moving Northward again and landing in Flagler County.

In short, these intrastate transplants left the congested traffic, cookie cutter developments and escalating home prices of South Florida to find the Florida of yesteryear, the Florida which motivated their original move from places like Michigan, Ohio, and New York. Ironically, these same people will, over time, contribute to the same problems of congestion faced by so many South Florida communities. It is this consultant’s opinion that Flagler County represents the biggest and best opportunity available for the luxury home real estate developer and resort hotel construction industry in the past fifty years of Florida history. Already in place is Hammock Beach, an enormous development of Mediterranean architecture homes in the one million dollar plus price range. The lucrative potential of Flagler County rests with the fact that 70% of its land mass remains undeveloped!

Henry Flagler would be amazed.