Offhand I would say the prices are too high. People don't want to buy the house, they want to rent it.

An observation
 

Both myself and my wife were down for the Lifestyle visit (1 week before hurricane Ian). We began to look at several Veranda's in DeLuna. As we drove around the neighborhood, we noticed most of the smaller homes on the side street had new people moving in. However, there was little activity in the larger homes ($400K+). We drove up the street to look at other Veranda's. There stuck into the front lawn was a sign on a brand new Veranda, "For Rent". Having just looked at Rentals, I did noticed other brand new homes for rent as well, evident by the sparse furnishing shown in the pictures. My best guess was that some were purchasing new homes then flipping them as rentals. Strangely, even with rates at 7%, soon to move up, it will be interesting how the housing market does, as Realtors have been marking up many homes as much as 200%.

A conservative estimate of present rates. For three months rental.Dec-March

House at $4000 per month = $12,000 ( many over that price now.)
Car rental $1500 per month =$4,500 (very conservative estimate.)
Air fair from UK. $1200.
Total $17,700.
That is without food, gas, and general living whilst in TV.

Last visit 2019/20 total trip with all extras for same house, car and air fair $13,000. give or take a $$ or two!

Put the exchange rate in for many foreign visitors, and the value has gone.

Current increase is crazy
 

I have been looking at home resales and particularly the prices. I assumed that there would be a nominal increase every year but most are nearly 100% and I have seen some at 200%. I don't think I have ever seen it this bad.

Richmond homes have been selling in minutes. They are 100k less than resales. The resales need to wake up

I saw an article on the internet that housing prices in some large cities may fall 30% because of interest rates.

The article was not about The Villages.

But if it does happen here and prices in TV do fall 30%, (which would only go back to about 2018 prices), what impact would that have on TV?

Would it be good, bad, or not have any significant impact?

One could write a book on the answer.

Do not think it would affect those of us already here but future growth might be reduced for a time.

are you saying that home prices have increased 100% to 200%?

Since when?

You think falling home prices will reduce growth? I think rising prices will reduce growth.

Falling prices reflect a reduction in growth. They are the result, not the cause.

[QUOTE=Two Bills;2143723]
Just curious, where did you have your US account? We have been unable to find any bank or other financial institution that will open an account for someone living outside the US. Thanks for any information you can provide.

Look at the Zillow home price history. Used homes asking 25 percent increase and more in 2 years. Not realistic

I use Wise banking.
You can open accounts in any currency, and transfer in any currency.
Their rates are among the best around.
I had a US $ account for many years, still retain a £ and Euro account.
Never had a problem anywhere using their card, or money transfer services.
Highly recommend them.
They are in US as well

Just a moment...

Free money for housing loans created the monster inflation by quite a bit. How soon people forget the mortgage interest rates for the past few years is not normal and a huge factor in the current inflation. It will take time to return to normal but if the current policies hold, we’ll get there.

Except, they were selling at those prices, so very realistic...

Based upon the blogs I read, there are plenty of new "landlords" that have never owned rental property before that rushed in to buy villas and designers to rent without a thought to how they would make money. After all, everyone was doing it and the house and rental prices were escalating like crazy. How could you possibly lose ? They had (have) no idea what a protective lease was (is), dont know what to do when they get that call at midnight, or what to do when their unscreened tenant tenant leaves their place a wreck etc etc .. Reminds me of a time in the heyday of DELL in Austin when all the young Dellionaires were buying mega mansions and smugly asking .. was there ever a year when the stock market went down ?? I suspect that some stabilization and rationalization of rental rates will occur over the next couple of silly seasons .

I've been tracking the annual rentals. Specifically the smaller patio villas.

I believe the rental rates are too high.

Your opinion like mine has no relevance

The market makes the rules as ridiculous as it may seem.

[QUOTE=Two Bills;2143562]Cost is a factor for many of us coming from abroad.
Since Covid restrictions were lifted, high season house rental has doubled, car rental has quadrupled, air fairs double or more, and that is before you add food, entertainment, and all the other extras.
On the plus side, wife and I after 20+ years have called it a day on wintering in TV, so there are an extra two daily Tee times available! :wave:[/QUOTEt]

I’ve been going to the UK Every year for a while with a break the past few years for Covid. We went this year and airfare was the same as it was in 2019.
I rented a car in California in August and the price was about the same as when I rent a car in Boston in 2021.
Yes, food prices are up a bit rentals are certainly higher but isn’t that normal? As far as entertainment, there is so much free entertainment in The Villages that it would offset any other place in the world.
Not sure where y live but I can’t imagine any place with mild winter climate that’s a better deal than The Villages.

what people are posting and what there getting are 2 different things and you wouldn’t know that price. There are also many people like me who rent our homes in winter without posting anywhere but word of mouth so what people think they know may not actually be what they know

Thanks! Will check them out.

[QUOTE=Dr Winston O Boogie jr;2144621]I refer you too my post #43. Conservative, and recent quotes from all sources.

With the strength of the $, the UK is as cheap as chips to visit at present.
There is however a shortage of candles, as the latest panic is winter power cuts.
Toilet paper is not a problem.
Also the weather is a little cooler than TV!

[QUOTE=Two Bills;2144718]I enjoy your dry sense of humor.:coolsmiley:

[QUOTE=Two Bills;2144718]More important, how are the beer supplies holding up?

To be honest, the Fort Myers snowbirds are not really going to have TV near the top of their list as an alternative. Not being near a beach and the average winter temps in TV being significantly less warm would make it a dealbreaker for most people that are used to those things in Southwest FL.