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Push for Second Homes Transforms Once Remote Areas
Tom Meggers and Linda Hunt of Naples, Fla., are thinking of relocating permanently to Murphy, N.C., where they have vacationed for years. "We like the climate," Hunt says.
(By Chuck Burton -- Associated Press)
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To accommodate the growth in demand, developers are turning to places where luxurious second homes might seem out of place. Murphy, the Cherokee County seat, is so remote that anti-abortion bomber Eric Rudolph hid in the nearby mountains, successfully avoiding capture for five years.
"Newly wealthy, newly ready to plan for the next stage, baby boomers are seeking out amenity-filled retirement areas with access to nature, and smart developers are providing them," Susan M. Wachter, a professor of real estate at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, said in an e-mail interview.
Just outside Murphy's historic downtown are the mountains, with more than 93,000 acres protected inside the Nantahala National Forest. Lake Hiawassee, which pools behind a Tennessee Valley Authority-owned dam, has 6,280 surface acres of fishing and miles of shoreline closed to developers.
Cherokee County is remote from the rest of North Carolina, but just 2 1/2 hours from Atlanta. But the bulk of second homeowners here come from Florida. Many are "halfbacks" -- folks who moved to Florida from the Rust Belt 20 or 30 years ago but came "halfway back," disillusioned with their adopted home's weather, sprawl and cost of living.
Linda Hunt, 45, a sheriff's dispatcher from Naples, Fla., has vacationed in Murphy for several years with her boyfriend, semiretired electrician Tom Meggers, 59. They plan to relocate permanently in the years ahead.
"I like that it doesn't have the traffic" of Naples, Hunt said. "We like the climate."
"I came here because I didn't want to see any more dump trucks," Meggers joked.
And they're welcomed by the county's longtime residents. Bill Forsyth, director of the county's economic development commission, said the retirees and vacationers put little pressure on county services and generally pay their taxes.
Wachter, the Wharton professor, believes some areas, particularly those without strong infrastructures, will be vulnerable when the boom ends and prices level off or decline.
Forsyth is not worried by talk of a real estate bubble.
"I don't see speculative buying of houses here," he said. "There is a good deal of speculative buying of large tracts of land. But if we're overspeculating on land, that land will just go unbuilt."
Even those trying to get away from it all know others are inevitably behind them. Florida resident Roxie Clink, 61, has vacationed with her husband for years in nearby Robbinsville, and is considering moving there year-round.
Murphy "will probably grow to be a big town too, but I probably won't live to see it." Klink said. "You can't hide it forever. Word has gotten out."
Associated Press writers Jeff Barnard in Grants Pass, Ore., and Catherine Tsai in Denver contributed to this report.
