[LoriAnn]

None of this is new. I've purchased a home when The Villages was in a downturn and sold in an up-market twice. There was a time that nearly all new builds were discounted. One thing is for sure, the developer never suffered even in a down market. They watch for the smallest sign of sales decreasing and they take action to boost sales. They have discounted prices, added incentives and focused on building less expensive homes to meet the market in the past. They used to include all appliances including washer and dryer and had furniture packages. They took things away one at a time to lower prices to meet the market demand. The last 2 market downturns developed the same way. New homes sales decreased, and The Villages started lowering prices to keep their quota up. Eventually, you could buy a new home for the same price or just a little more than a new home. Resales started to suffer because people bought new homes instead and the market became flooded with resales. Then the prices of resales stated to plummet. It started with people who had to sell and investors who couldn't cover their expenses. The entire resale market was eventually affected. I've seen it happen two times and it will happen again. It recovered both times and it will cycle again. I'm always amused when people think The Villages is immune to market downturns. It's clear they haven't been around very long.