DEVELOPER’S CORNER
2017 CORDILLERA RANCH
REAL ESTATE RECAP
Buoyed by improving consumer confidence, recovering oil prices and the hope of more business-friendly federal policies, the national housing market gained steam in 2017 and the Cordillera Ranch real estate market followed that same pattern. In the 2nd half of 2016, we saw a surge in home and lot sales in Cordillera Ranch, which continued into 2017. The rallying stock market injected new confidence that helped lead to a third straight year of over $100MM in real estate activity in Cordillera Ranch. With 140 total lot sales, home sales and new home starts totaling $106MM, it was another busy year here on the ranch. Combined lot and home sales totaled 102 in 2017, up slightly from 101 in 2016. Home sales were down slightly from 50 homes sold in 2016 to 42 in 2017, partly driven by the 52% drop in available inventory in the past couple years. In terms of dollar volume of home sales, with $42MM in home sales, 2017 was the 2nd highest in Cordillera Ranch history behind 2016’s record year of $56MM. HOME SALES TRENDS Average home sales price in 2017 was $992k, which was the 2nd highest average price in Cordillera history behind 2016 (average home sales price only includes resale/spec homes, not new custom starts). As the chart below shows, average home price was above 2014 and 2015 figures.
The primary reason for the slight drop in 2017 was the fact that a larger percentage of the sales occurred in the Ranch Community area of Cordillera (which generally covers all of Cordillera outside of Clubs Village, and excludes water front properties). Ranch Community homes have averaged approximately 33% less in sales price over the past three years than other areas in Cordillera, so an increase in the proportion of sales in that area had a slight drag effect on overall home prices. The following chart shows the number of sales and average price by area over the past three years. The overall average home sales price in areas excluding the Ranch Community was $1.5MM during the past three years, while the average sales price in the Ranch Community was $931k.
68 | MARCH/APRIL 2018
By Charlie Hill
Average home price per square foot of resale homes in the Ranch Community was approximately $213/sf compared to $297/sf in Clubs Village during 2017. These average per square foot resale prices were up slightly from $202/sf and $290/sf, respectively, in the prior year. However, relying on average per square foot resale prices can be very misleading, especially when comparing to new construction, because with an average age of 11 years old for the resales in 2017, many of the homes purchased also had additional remodel/update costs on top of the purchase price. 16 of the 42 home sales – for which we had pricing info – were built after 2006 and their average sales price was 45% higher than homes built “pre-Club” time period. It’s not just because the “post-Club” homes average slightly larger in size, the price per square foot was also 33% higher ($264/sf vs. $198/sf) than homes built before the Clubs opened. Another trend that continued in 2017 was that homes built by Preferred Builders lead the market in best resale value, with their homes averaging 30% higher resale value per square foot than non-Preferred Builders. CR Realty continues to be the leader in real estate sales in Cordillera Ranch, with over $30MM in real estate transactions during 2017. CR Realty has consistently helped homeowners list and sell homes in Cordillera Ranch and get the best price for their home sales. Because of CR Realty’s unmatched market knowledge, access to the largest list of prospective Cordillera Ranch buyers, and the most sophisticated real estate professionals located in the community, CR Realty listings have sold for an average of 20% higher price per square foot than listings by other real estate agents over the past five years. Contact CR Realty today (830.336.3570) if you want the best listing representation for your property, whether it is a home or lot. LOT SALES (including developer and resale lots) Lot sales in the community continued to increase in 2017 with a total of 60 lots sold in the community (up from 51 lot sales in 2016) at an average price of $240k per lot. Again, the