Florida Transplants Fuel Alabama R. E. Boom

Priced out of many Florida real estate markets and tired of the violent storms, many of the state’s residents are looking elsewhere in the Southeast to get more bang for their buck.

With appreciation rising faster than new buyers’ salaries can keep up with, real estate markets in some unexpected and long-overlooked places are starting to boom as a result. In Eufaula, Alabama, a picturesque lakeside town with a rich history and a slower pace of life, the housing market is suddenly red hot.

“Eufaula is centrally located in the state, we have such warm weather year round, and 680 miles of shoreline,” says Dianne McLaney, a Eufaula realtor.

Shoreline real estate along nearby Lake Eufaula, on the Georgia line, is being developed at an astounding rate, with local business skyrocketing in the last two years.

“About two years ago our market really picked up. It initially kicked off with a lot of waterfront interest,” Bob Powers, of the Eufaula Agency, said.

In a case of price appreciation that would make even Palm Beach County real estate investors impressed, some Eufaula homes have increased five-fold in value over the past year alone. Property in one subdivision is going for as much as $400,000, and even that’s not enough to stop buyers from clamoring for their parcel.

So exactly who’s doing the buying? Local real estate agents say it’s a healthy mix of retirees, families, and migrants. Some are looking for a permanent place to grow their roots, others for a vacation property. Many are hurricane-weary Florida residents looking to put their money to work and enjoy a more affordable, less volatile way of life.

For now, realtors in the area are not worried about the population boost. They say the influx of transplants shouldn’t have too much impact on the way of life in Eufaula, which lies only about 75 miles from the Florida state line. It seems many Floridians tired of waiting for mortgage rates to lower housing prices in the Sunshine State are considering less expensive alteratives such as Alabama and South Carolina real estate.