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The real estate business in Calhoun County is booming.
Property values in Calhoun County have increased from $2,996,248,167 in 2005 to $3,727,587,616 in 2006, which amounts to a $731,339,449 increase in value in just one year.
Russell Cain of the Russell Cain of Coldwell Banker real estate firm says the real estate industry over the past five years in Calhoun County has become the second largest industry. Countywide, Cain said he and his agents have been involved in property sales totaling $20 million and plus. Cain, who has lived in Calhoun County for half a century, says current land sales have set an all-time record.
Cain notes people are looking at sleepy beach areas like Alamo Beach from Florida, California and as far north as Kentucky. "Lots sell three and four times over," he said.
Bill Tigrett of Tigrett Real Estate has been the middleman in property sales in Port O'Connor and Seadrift for decades. He says the land sales on the south side of Calhoun County is really moving forward, primarily where there is water access and view. While the land sale business is booming, he projects there will not be major construction "until the price is at the highest. The land is selling and reselling." "We have definitely seen steady growth, especially property on the waterfront, said Tigrett.
"Actually we are in a marketing stage," Tigrett says. "There is a lot of land in Port O'Connor but it is not going to be developed until prices get higher. The marketing is good for the economy but it makes it more expensive to live here. The big developers are just interested in developing the waterfront. Everyone is buying for investment but who will build on this prime real estate? People are coming here in droves from the west and east coast and between. We had someone from Alaska here today (Aug. 25)."
Anywhere there is waterfront in Calhoun County, apparently land sale activity is on the rise.
Tigrett and Cain both agree that Calhoun County is attracting people wanting to live on the water because it is one of the last places where waterfront property is available at a price considered reasonable compared to other places in the U.S.
They say Calhoun County is unique in that on one side it is fronted by the Gulf of Mexico and it is also bounded by a number of bays.
Looking at the overall picture, Cain attributes the growth over the past five years to "being the last area to have available waterfront. More inter Texans are coming to South Texas every year. People love to look at water. Looking at water is so relaxing and your troubles just go by."
In the smaller communities, Seadrift property values increased by $7,704,658 and Point Comfort property values increased by about $1.1 million.
Looking at the overall picture attributes the growth over the past five years to "being the last area to have available water front. The proof of increase in land sale activity can be seen in the Calhoun County Appraisal District office.
The appraised values of Port Lavaca, Calhoun County seat, increased by $18,369,351 and $9,420,148 of that is new value, according to Drew Hahn, chief appraiser for the Calhoun County Appraisal District. Port Lavaca appraised values rose from $355,012,323 in 2005 to $373,390,674 in 2006. "Land value changed on the waterfront property in Port Lavaca up to the beach area and in the Six Mile Community," Hahn said. “Beach front property in that area is selling at $500 a foot." Hahn said land value in the old Port Lavaca town site on the waterfront or in water view has also increased."
Cain sees substantial Port Lavaca growth. The north side of town on Smith Road and LaSalle Landing, which are not on waterfront property, are close enough to be attractive in today's market, he says.
On Port Lavaca's waterfront, developers Robbie Gregory and Dwayne Roberson are creating the subdivision known as Lavaca Bay Place. Here a waterfront lot sells for $150,000, Cain said.
Huey McBride, is developing another Lavaca Bay subdivision, known as Clement Cove. Cain says homes in Clement Cove valued between $250,000 to $289,000 are being constructed. "These subdivisions have a panoramic view of Lavaca Bay," Cain said.
The sleepy waterfront community of Port Alto and Olivia is waking up, according to Cain. Shell Beach Ranch is being developed by Kees Vanhuel for $125,000 a lot. Waterfront lots at the Port Alto Sunnilanding Subdivision are starting at $67,000 along Tarpon Drive and Johnson Marshall Road.
The major land sales, however, are happening on the south side of Calhoun County.
Hahn said the appraised values within the Port O'Connor Municipal Utility District, the governmental body in Port O'Connor, has increased $40 million. The Port O'Connor MUD property values n increased from $183,698,485 in 2005 to $224,036,445 in 2006.
According to Hahn, the average lot on the intracoastal canal at Port O'Connor is selling for between $3,000 and $4,000 a linear foot. He said a 50- linear foot property typically sells for $150,000. A property in the townsite of Port O'Connor on the average is selling for between $20,000 sand $25,000 a lot, Hahn said. The properties in the outblocks, further back from the waterfront, are selling on the average for $11,200 a lot, Hahn said.
Tigrett says, "Values have increased 10 percent a year."
Carcoal, LaSalle Sanctuary and Costa J Grande are major Port O'Connor land developments. Due to high prices in Port O'Connor, another development, Falcon Point, is underway in Seadrift.
Prices on the waterfront range as low as $200,000 and go up to as much as $600,000 just for a lot, Tigrett says.
While the cost of a lot in Port O'Connor is more than the native residents ever dreamed it would be, Tigrett said it is much lower in price than at other areas on the coast like Florida or California.
Everyone wants to be part of the Port O'Connor land boom, Tigrett indicates.
"We have more realtors in Port O'Connor than ever before," he said. "Everyone is in the real estate business." On the down side, Tigrett said industry and the shrimp business in Port O'Connor have declined. The Texas Parks and Wildlife office shut down. "There are no good wages to draw permanent families," he said.
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