The vast majority of homes in The Villages are under 2,000 square feet, so we are filling a need for small homes. Indeed, I think the great majority are 1,250 square feet or less. However, they are not cheap! I think people pay a 30% to 50% premium to live in The Villages compared to living a mile or less away just outside The Villages. Why are we willing to pay more? We want the activities, the camaraderie, the safety, the high standards for landscaping and parking (believe it or lot). We like living where nearly everyone is in our income bracket and owns a nice home with a garage and plays golf on the same courses and swims at the same pools and dines at the same restaurants and joins the same clubs. We would rather have those than have a house twice the size of ours a mile away for the same price. It’s a formula that works. We paid the price because we were willing to and because we worked hard for decades so we could afford it. There are plenty of options available for those with a different sense of values (for example, preferring square feet to amenities). There are even older parts of The Villages where homes are much cheaper. The Villages shouldn’t go out of its way to build “affordable housing”. That would backfire.
Will housing prices drop? Only for people who insist on selling right now. After all, the number of people who want to buy when they can’t even easily come to look is limited. A year from now, prices will be back where they were a few months ago. Prices may drop a lot more in other places, but I expect that Real Estate in The Villages is not going to be a bargain for long, if it is now. I didn’t come here for a bargain—I bought here for the lifestyle—which I assume will return someday.
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