Ranch home sales on rise

Based on current new home sales, officials of Lakewood Ranch expect to sell more than 400 new homes this year — more than triple the number of homes sold in 2009.

In Lakewood Ranch, 165 homes currently are under construction. Only 113 resale properties are available — down from a peak of 850 in 2007.

LWR Communities President Milt Flynn said demands for some sections of Lakewood Ranch have increased so dramatically that a need to create a downward demand exists. For example, average lot prices in Country Club East were about $104,000 in 2009 but have increased for two years in a row, now costing about $130,000.

Lakewood Ranch offers a variety of housing options with prices ranging from $150,000 homes to multi-million dollar mansions.

“We only expect it to get better,” Rex Jensen, president and CEO of Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, the developer of Lakewood Ranch said of home sales. “We credit much of our success to our early strategy of job creation here on the ranch. There are two jobs for every home built.”

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].