THE INVESTMENT

Buying Waterfront Property has been a great investment for a very long time. Many think the long range return has been nearly 12% annually. However during the last three years the level of appreciation in many locations has skyrocketed and for the first time in many years some locations are showing the first signs of softening. A recent article in Time Magazine shows that Floridians are being over run by High Insurance and High Taxes, their new state of Choice North Carolina. This is great news for North Carolina but the core dynamics that will drive North Carolinas real estate values are to be driven by the Baby Boomers.

In June of 2005 Dell Webb the Nations foremost developer of retirement housing did a survey which sheds a lot of light on what the Baby Boomers want (Dell Webb Insert). Of the age group which is now 41 to 50 years old 59% plan on buying a retirement home and the age group while 50% of the age group which is now 50 to 60 years old plan on doing the same. Given that there are between 77 and according to Met Life Research 81,000,000 Americans within these age groups and they have over Two Trillion Dollars to spend retirement home purchasing over the next two decades is expected to be considerable.

So where is all of this buying power headed?

• State of choice for the 41 to 50 year old crowd is North Carolina.
• State of Choice for the 50 to 60 year old crowd is Florida followed closely (by two percentage points) by North Carolina.

So where do you expect North Carolina to see the highest levels of appreciation?

Wrightsville Beach, Atlantic Beach/Emerald Isle, and Topsail Beach are all seeing an increase in properties for sale. The general consensus is that their run up in price and the variable mortgage bust has priced them out of the market for the masses. But the new emerging market is what is now being called the Inner Banks. This maybe the last new spot on the whole Eastern Seaboard.

In conclusion we think it's better to be ahead of the curve than behind. We did our homework before we chose this location and you should too. But dont just take our word for it. Read what the Wall Street Journal had to say about the area. After all, great minds think alike.