Miramar Beach is one of the over a dozen communities making up South Walton. As one of the beaches closer to Destin, Miramar, aside from being primarily an oceanfront community, is known for its shopping destination, the Silver Sands Outlet Mall, one of the high-end shopping options the Emerald Coast has to offer. The communities of South Walton are often considered a more laid-back alternative to the business of the city of Destin but, even so, many of these communities like Miramar Beach are still vacation destinations and are a short drive away from Destin on route 30A.

As a beach town, Miramar Beach has both extensive rental and property ownership options. For the former, Miramar beach has both rental houses and condos. Beach communities are considered a hot commodity along the Emerald Coast and, as Miramar sits right on the Gulf, most rental properties here are going to be right by the beach. In terms of price, this means that rentals will be higher in other communities but the beach itself is closer no matter where you decide to stay in Miramar. Miramar Beach rental properties are listed in the descriptions on Five Star Gulf Rentals, and this includes both large houses for ten people – or two to three vacationing families – and condos.

If staying in South Walton is more than just a vacation, owning a home by the beach may be the ideal location for you. The current economic climate and real estate downturn has resulted in more than average amounts of foreclosed and short sale properties. Although foreclosures and short sales are less than the original amount of the home, this doesn’t mean that the price will be cheap. For single homes and condos in Miramar, this means prices from $1.5 million and downward. Townhomes, however, offer a more affordable options, and, in the Miramar Beach property listings on JoshMcLeanHomes.com, this includes properties up to $600,000.

The last time this blog posted and analyzed statistics for homes sold results were displayed for May of 2009. The latest results can be read on the blog for Josh McLean Homes, which has the statistics for the homes sold in July 2009.

In looking at these graphs, the average price for a home sold on the Emerald Coast (the 30A area and surrounding Emerald Coast towns in this case), has stayed relatively the same from January until July. Although, according to the graphs, the average home price has dipped slightly, the gap between home prices is significantly smaller than a few years ago, with results from 2005 through 2007 showing a large disparity in the prices offered on homes on the Emerald Coast.

But what about the amount of homes sold? Recent statistics overall for the Emerald Coast area actually indicate that homes sold have gone up 51 units since the start of 2009. Although properties like foreclosures and short sales are factored into this (and this is also why the overall prices are lower than from three years ago), recent months show an increase in the amount of properties being sold through Josh McLean homes. In fact, by looking at the lowest graph, 2009 has experienced the largest amount of homes sold in comparison to the past two years when the foreclosure crisis became evident.

In the same direction as the previous post, is the real estate market in Destin preparing for an upswing? With the amount of properties sold and the prices, a steady increase through the rest of the year should be inevitable. In addition, another recent article published about Destin real estate indicates that many are moving to the area as Destin and other Emerald Coast towns are desirable and the prices are now more affordable for a single-family home.

Any listing on a website or through a county clerk office can tell you what kinds of homes are up for foreclosure in an area. But what about short sales? As mentioned in a previous post, a short sale is basically when a home owner settles on a lower price on a home to sell instead of going all the way with foreclosure. For the former home owner, both a short sale and a foreclosure can become blemishes on a credit report but, for a person looking for a home, a foreclosed home can be acquired at a lower price. In the Emerald Coast area, including towns like Destin, Santa Rosa, and South Walton, many homes are up for foreclosure and short sale at reasonable prices. If you’re thinking of purchasing a home or land around the Emerald Coast, a short sale property is one option for a lower price to pay on a high-quality piece of real estate.

The most common types of short sale properties on the Emerald Coast are, of course, homes. Through a website like JoshMcLeanHomes.com, this includes single homes, townhouses, and condos in locations like Destin, Miramar Beach, and Santa Rosa. As the towns along the Emerald Coast are essentially beach towns, proximity to the beach is important and, often, the properties closer to the beach are sold at higher prices than those not within walking distance of the ocean. For all types of properties, the prices range from $400,000 to over $1 million.

Another type of short sale property is land. Particularly if you’re a developer looking for land to build homes or condos, purchasing land at short sale prices is at a value. Most of the land available is residential in units of one or more acres. For certain properties, the types of land available include gulf front or beach properties and bayou land. Both of these can include inland beach lakes.