Summer 2012 is a Record Breaker for the Keys

Sept. 3, 2012 - PRLog -- The increase in Keys visitors is due to several factors:

For example, Per Travel and Leisure Magazine, the Florida Keys ranked fourth among island destinations in the continental U.S. and Canada. Respondents to the magazine's annual readers' survey rated the natural attractions, activities/sites, restaurants/food, people and vacation value of destination islands, said Elizabeth Marsh, the magazine's communications director.

The ranking shows that the Keys are a world-class destination capable of impressing discerning travel consumers, said Harold Wheeler, director of the Monroe County Tourist Development Council.

Additionally people are looking to relieve the stress of today's economy and the Keys are the perfect place to go. The results of all this is strong.

For example, per local Keys business owners,  Joe Angelo, manager of Ocean Divers in Key Largo said "It's been excellent. We're really happy".

"We've been real busy," echoed Rhonda Hulet, manager of the Ragged Edge Resort Marina on Plantation Key

Though many official statistics aren't in yet, preliminary numbers are showing that this summer brought more visitors to Keys lodges than last summer

That's no small matter, since 2011 was hailed as an excellent year by local tourism officials. And lodging figures have plenty of correlation with how businesses of most sorts do from Key West to Key Largo.

"Talking to the merchants, especially the restaurateurs, a lot of them have been very pleased with the summer," Greater Marathon Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Daniel Samess said.

September 4th 2012, Per Key West, Top Producing Real Estate agent, Fred Mullins, “ It's great to see the Keys expanding in todays economy and even outpacing last years good results.

When asked how this would affect Real Estate sales, Fred remarked, “ Since our local economy is strong and growing and more income is flowing into the businesses here, we will be seeing more jobs which translates to more demand for housing. This also means an increase in property value for both home owners and business owners.

In addition, more tourists historically results in more people looking to own a primary or second vacation home here. Statistics show that almost 50% of our residents visited here and fell in love with it.

Bottom line is that, with todays great mortgage rates and pricing, there's never been a better time to buy in the Keys!

About Fred Mullins.
Fred has more than 15 years of cross functional experience in real estate, international asset management and construction management. He has been a part of the management team for several Fortune 100 companies, including AT&T, Visa, FPL and C. B. Richard Ellis. 

His responsibilities have included real estate / property management portfolios of more than 9 million square ft. and international responsibilities in more than 10 countries.