Housing woes knock at Nocatee

[thelakelander]

I guess Nocatee is not immune after all.  Unfortunately, I good friend of mine who works for Centex could either be out of a job or forced to relocate.

Centex offers deposit refunds as it plans to pull out of the region

By DAVID HUNT, The Times-Union

It was supposed to be the "forever home," as Kelly Estes called it.

The 3,600-square-foot, five-bedroom, three-bathroom, two-story model in St. Johns County would be the nest for the stay-at-home mother of two and her husband, an investment portfolio manager, to grow the family.

But now the dream is an empty lot. A returned check. And yet another snapshot of the nation's slumping housing market.

The home was to be among 350 single-family units and 100 townhomes in the Willowcove village, a neighborhood in Ponte Vedra Beach's massive Nocatee development. Centex Homes, which was building the village, confirmed rumors Friday that the company is pulling out of Northeast Florida.

Division sales manager Brian Martin said all current customers would be cared for, whether they'd like to have their homes finished or get their deposits back.

Along with Nocatee, Centex is working on eight projects in Northeast Florida, such as Carrington Place in Orange Park and Crossings at Cypress Trace in Jacksonville.

Martin said he was unsure how many to-be-built units are affected.

"We, as an organization, looked at Northeast Florida and determined it's not a community we need to invest in," he said. "It's a market thing."

full article: http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/020208/bus_242912406.shtml

[fhrathore]

I guess this was just a matter of time...