A Short History of Prices in Destin

Just twenty years ago, Destin was just a small fishing town. But in 1993, a new bridge providing tourists easy access to the island. Fast forward and in 12 years, Destin was a major tourist attraction.

Read this July 2005 piece from Chris Anderson, a resident and author of real estate books:



Destin Florida Triples In 3 Years


"Do you want to see something that is absolutely amazing? Let me show you what has happened in Destin, Florida over the last 3 years. Back in August of 2002, the median price of a home selling in Destin was $229,000. One year later, August 2003, the median price in Destin increased to $305,000, or a 33% price increase.

"Roll the clock forward in July 2005, and we see that the average price is now $658,000 as you can see in the price charts below. Do you think there was a little money made in Destin over the last few years? Since I live in the area, I can attest to the HUGE role real estate has played in our local economy and large amount of wealth that has been produced.

"For the Monday morning arm chair quarterbacks of the world, you can just hear them at a dinner party saying?. "Boy, I knew that real estate was going up around there and I came close to buying a piece of property back in ??.". "If I WOULD OF have purchased that property, I COULD HAVE made a killing?. I guess I SHOULD HAVE bought it before prices went so high. This is what investors call the Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda syndrome.

"The WORST thing an investor could do right now is to realize that they missed some gain potential in Destin and then assume that prices will just keep going to the moon. Rather than kicking themselves for actions taken in the past, what this investor should be doing is trying to understand what has happened in the past and then apply that knowledge to FUTURE investments. Let' rewind the clock and see what happened to see if it sheds any clues as to what we should be looking for in the future."

Read the whole thing.