'Golf course' retirees drive Citrus boom
The county's builders are catering to Florida newcomers seeking homes with more features.
By JUSTIN GEORGE
Published February 26, 2005
INVERNESS - In the booming 1960s and early 1970s, they were blue-collar retirees from up North, drawn to Citrus County by a developer building squatty, inexpensive block homes in Beverly Hills.
In the booming 2000s, they're still retirees, just younger ones, who are downsizing in their later years. But instead of small and simple, they want small and special: wood cabinets, tray ceilings and custom designs, said Jenice Reichenbach, a sales associate of Wheeler Construction.
These "golf course" retirees are fueling growth that hasn't waned in the past few years, and county projections of the number of homes built will keep increasing even though lot prices are climbing.
Today, the Citrus Parade of Homes begins showcasing what county builders have to offer, capped off by its showcase home: the Pebble Beach by Sweetwater Homes of Citrus.
It features a lot of the features that people in their late 50s and early 60s are seeking in Citrus: 3,558 square feet. Three bedrooms. Two baths. Master bedroom with two walk-in closets, dual sinks and glass block-enclosed wraparound shower with a huge seat. A pool looking out to the seventh hole of the Southern Woods Golf Course. Fireplace. Cabana with a summer kitchen. The home's price is $448,445 unfurnished but including the lot.
"With the mortgage and interest rates lower now," Reichenbach said, "people can afford a little more in a house."
And a lot of people are. Wheeler Construction built 64 homes last year, up from the 40 it built in 2003. The same holds true countywide. Last year, the county issued 2,457 building permits for new homes, a 43 percent increase, compared with 2003, when 1,714 homes received permits. That's double the state's growth rate.
County officials and builders said people flocking to Florida are the primary cause of the run on new homes, as is the anticipation that the Suncoast Parkway could someday extend through Citrus, where it now stops just south of the border.
But mainly, officials said, growth is naturally inching north after buyers find Pinellas and Hillsborough are built out and land in Citrus is less expensive. Or at least it was.
While lots in Citrus Springs, which has about 30,000 unbuilt lots, could be bought for about $2,000 two years ago, they're now selling for as much as $20,000. Lots in nearby Pine Ridge, which has larger undeveloped parcels, are going for as much as $60,000, said Clark Stillwell, an Inverness land-use attorney.
But those prices aren't driving builders away. A few national and regional builders, such as Maronda Homes of Pittsburgh, are predicting the number of homes built to be in the 400s this year. So far, however, it's local builders are keeping busy.
The top Citrus home builders of 2004, according to county records, were Citrus Hills Construction, 307 homes; Sweetwater Homes of Citrus, 127; Mitch Underwood Construction, 126; Mercedes Homes, 86; and Rusaw Homes, 80.
As of the 2000 Census, Citrus already had nearly 40,000 homes.
The average price of a new Citrus home is $186,000, Stillwell said. Most people shopping in Citrus are seeking homes in the $150,000 price range, according to real estate agents.
WHAT: Parade of Homes, showcase of new construction sponsored by the Citrus County Builders Association.
WHEN: Today through March 13. Models are open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
WHERE: At 26 homesites around the county.
INFORMATION AND MAP: Visit www.citrusparadeofhomes.com/home.htm or call the Citrus County Builders Association at 352 746-9028.