Real estate prices for cabins on the blue ridge (Staunton: for sale, condominium)

[sean&diane]

Starting to toy with the idea of buying a cabin close or bordering national forest within 50 miles or so of Staunton. Really having trouble finding data on what prices have done for those types of properties since the peak. What little I did find makes me think they could have a ways to go to stabilize. Can't believe there is much of a market for 2nd homes in this economy.

Just looking for opinions from anyone familiar with the market?

Thanks

[TN Lily]

I hope you get some replies from real estate licensees who deal with this market.

From what you have gathered, do you believe that prices of these properties are continuing to decline?

[sean&diane]

What I based my comments on was that the tax records for some property I was looking at showed a lot of properties were still listed at substantially more than they were selling for in 2003 and 2004. I would expect that the market for vacation homes is worse than primary homes. I would have expected them to be selling for 2000 prices or earlier. I could just not find any comprehensive data sources to tell me how volume/inventory and price levels relative compare to historic norms. It could be that a lot of these are paid for and the owners are slower to bring down prices than in the primary home market where people have to sell.

[gregir]

Not sure about your idea of a cabin but prices in Nelson County near the Blue Ridge are about the same as they have been. Assessments have dropped a little but the volume of sales was low before the nosedive and is even slower now. I am speaking of cabins, as I understand them and not condominium cabin second homes in a place like wintergreen.
There was a place near Montebello that was listed for sale but other than that I think you would have to buy land and build. I think the county has put in greater restrictions on cabins, such as running water must have a septic system and other things like that.

[johnnybc]

I've been keeping an eye on that area for over a year now and it seems the properties just sit, prices don't get reduced much, but the properties don't sell either, the seller just keeps hoping to get lucky, the buyers are waiting for the prices to go down. I've watched houses for over a year that the price hasn't dropped. I do believe we are not near the bottom yet, however, hate to say it...

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by sean&diane

What I based my comments on was that the tax records for some property I was looking at showed a lot of properties were still listed at substantially more than they were selling for in 2003 and 2004. I would expect that the market for vacation homes is worse than primary homes. I would have expected them to be selling for 2000 prices or earlier. I could just not find any comprehensive data sources to tell me how volume/inventory and price levels relative compare to historic norms. It could be that a lot of these are paid for and the owners are slower to bring down prices than in the primary home market where people have to sell.

Actually the "market for vacation homes" is not worse than primary homes along the Parkway itself, especially for homes with very desirable features (views, etc), at least not the section from Fancy Gap to Asheville

I think you are right that many of these homes are already paid for so owners don't have to sell below what they expect to get. But also, the people who seem to own many of these homes have deeper pockets and haven't seemed to be as effected by the recession as people who live closer to the edge.

[mountainlandva]

Hi--saw your post and thought if you were still in the market for a cabin in Fancy Gap VA off the Blue Ridge Parkway, you might be interested in my client's properties. He has three cabins for sale now (he is the builder) in a fabulous development with unbelievable views. I have been around taking photos and touring the properties. They are just superb! The prices are very affordable--starting at 149,500. These are brand new log cabin homes with very unique features. You can see more about them at [url=http://mountainlandva.com]MountainLandVA.com[/url], [url=http://blueridgeparkwayproperties.com]Blue Ridge Parkway Properties[/url], [url=http://fancygaplandforsale.com]Fancy Gap Land For Sale[/url] and [url=http://fancygapcabinsforsale.com]Fancy Gap Cabins For Sale[/url]. The builder is Steve Cook. The websites have some awesome pics for you to peruse!
Best of luck in your search!

Mitone Cooke