Property markets stable for savvy nudist investor
There has been a recent flurry of articles coming out of the US over the last few weeks talking about how the property market is stable for the nudist investor, while the usual property market flounders and struggles. One of the most interesting articles talking about this phenomenon can be found here -> Click here
The article is interesting because it is quite objective in its commentary – nudists are investors, and the real-estate market is one of the first to pick up on this!!
“It is a very big industry,” says Carolyn Hawkins, spokesperson for the American Association for Nude Recreation. “We’ve gone from a $400m to a $450m industry in the past five years, mostly based on real estate. There are now 268 naturist clubs and resort-communities throughout the US [up from 212 in 1998], with about 30 in Florida alone.”
Resort-style properties appear the most popular – more common in the US and Europe, the concept of owning a villa in what effectively amounts to a “Gated Community” (where the public are not permitted access, residents only allowed!) permits like-minded nudists to partake of the lifestyle without worrying about what the neighbours might think!
Nudists in general are an estate agent’s dream. “They tend to be older people, probably a little more settled, who generally don’t require mortgages and are prepared to pay a premium just to live here,” says Marc Seligman, who lives at The Oasis, a small naturist community in Pasco County, Florida.
Shared back yards are apparently common in these communities. Picture a standard Australian block of houses, and you’ll find these communities look the same out the front – but out the back, there are often no back fences (or pool-type fencing instead) with large shared areas including swimming pools and recreation areas!
This concept of community living never really took off in Australia to any great extent like it has in Europe (Cape D’Agde) or the US (quite a few places throughout Florida). Part of it is due to climate, where this kind of arrangement seems popular in places that are hotter and more humid for longer during the year than we see here in Australia. Still, we’ve not heard of any nudist Gated Communities even in Queensland, the best state for nudist lifestyles and still the only state without legalised CO beaches!! Go figure…
Australia has such a small nudist population in comparison to the other countries, it is no surprise that the opportunities for nudists and nudist living is more diverse and different to our own opportunities. Perhaps one day Australia will reach the point where the nudist property market is large enough to be recognised and marketed to!
