The crabapple area is, in my opinion, is one of the best areas to purchase and have a great upside potential. There is no doubt that new construction was hammered when the market took a dive. We still aren’t sure when construction will start up again, but prices came down considerably. On top of that, the businesses in the area continue to do very well – they remain a big draw for locals – making Crabapple a destination location.
More and more often there are people moving out of the city and they look for a live-work-play area in the burbs. Young families with a child who are looking for great public schools and more house for the money, but are concerned they will miss the convenient lifestyle of walking to shops and restaurants. The Crabapple area comes as close as any to giving them that type of lifestyle.
Sip Wine and Tapas is a great example of one of those restaurants, with a big wine selection and fantastic food. But don’t take my word for it, visit them and you’ll see. If you’re on twitter, check out their tweets for some deals: @SipWineandTapas they have something going on most days of the week. Olde Blind Dog continues to pack people in, but who can resist a pint of Guinness! @ElementCoffeeCo has a great following, as does Vintage Pizza. As more businesses move into the area, the draw will grow and property values will continue to rise. And I understand an ice cream shop, Scoops, is going in soon (long overdue!). I think Scoops is the first tenant since the Crabapple Mercantile Exchange sold for $4M last month.
I know, right now in this market it’s hard to think about values rising. But everything is cyclical and down the road homeowners who bought in this area will be glad they did. Just in the two communities directly bordering the shops, Crabapple Crossing and Crabapple Crossroads, there are 10 active listings but 9 others have sold since the first of the year. The brownstones that sold behind Olde Blind Dog went for less than $300k which are phenomenal deals.
St. Michelle and Brierfield are right around the corner. In fact, you can get into Brierfield for the low $300′s. That is a great community for that price. Other nice communities just down the road like Enclave at Crabapple and Crabapple Woods have good opportunities as well. Throw in great schools on top of everything else and there’s no telling how much demand will be created here.
Greetings,
We live in a neighborhood off Mayfield, and wanted to know if you have any insight into when/if they will be extending sidewalks from Crabapple center down Mayfield like they are doing now on Broadwell? Will help us get to Old Blind Dog a little easier for sure.
Thanks
How has the market been over the past month or so? In April, Orlando home sales were up 32% over April 09. However the median price was 11% below the median in 2009. Bank Owned and Short Sales still make up 2/3 of the transactions with bank owned properties being almost 50% of the total. Inventory is now at a 6.55 month supply with new bank owned properties metereing into the inventory in at a managable rate.
We live in Crabapple crossroads and love it! We have so many good restaurants within walking distance…not only Sip and The Olde Blind Dog, but also Cans and Miltons. We have two great grocery stores, Theo Bros bakery and so much more less than a mile away. We received a gift card from a restaurant in Buckhead almost a year ago and haven’t used it because we have so much near us. What’s even better, we have become friends with the business owners and services at all of these places. We also have a great group of neighbors.
Crabapple is an outstanding place to live. We recently bought in SAINT MICHELLE community and LOVE IT! Very quaint, well built homes, and great access to Crabapple and outstanding schools.