An Inside Perspective

In addition to our usual feature stories, roundups and directories, we're presenting a special section that is jam-packed with numbers, statistics and lists. It's crucial information if you're relocating, so be sure to check it out.

Also, by the time you receive this issue, the Northeast Florida Builders Association will have just wrapped up a "Great Time to Buy" campaign. The multimedia effort was designed to persuade would-be homebuyers to get off the proverbial fence.

Let's face it. For the last several years, Jacksonville has been a seller's market. At times, buyers had to take a number for the privilege of making an offer. Incentives? Forget about it.

Nobody-even builders-expected or wanted that situation to continue. Now, the market is back to something approaching normal. There are plenty of homes from which to choose. Prices aren't going up every week. Sellers are more flexible. And mortgage interest rates remain at 1968 levels.

But some buyers are wary. They're waiting to see what's going to happen, hopeful that home prices may fall. In some so-called "bubble" markets, where prices soared to unrealistic levels and where growth is less robust, that could happen. Jacksonville, however, is not one of those markets.

"Jacksonville has typically never mirrored the cycle observed in the other parts of the country," says builder Bryan Lendry, a NEFBA past president. "Our economic situation is better than most. We're seeing approximately 2,000 people moving to Jacksonville every month, so we can expect property values to remain stable."

Jerry Linder, immediate past President of NEFBA, agrees. "We're in a market where buyers have the upper hand and the overall economic risks look reasonable, which wasn't the case just two or three years ago," he says. But, he adds, the situation is temporary. "Prices and terms this year won't last long, and potential buyers may be sorry they missed the opportunity a few years down the road."

Finally, if you're a builder, please note the Good Neighbor Award application elsewhere in this issue. The Good Neighbor Awards, a joint project between Jacksonville Homebuyer and NEFBA, recognizes builders and developers who give back to the community in an incredible-and heart-warming-variety of ways.

More details will be forthcoming, but for now-get your application in. The Good Neighbor Awards luncheon has become one of the most high-profile industry events of the year-and you'll want to be a part of it.