Editor Pasco Naturally ared the data with Pasco Naturally. I reported on the sales I was able to pull up from Mike Wells Tax Assessors website which reflected properties that had sold at Caliente, City Retreat, Florida Naturist Park, Paradise Lakes, Paradise Pines and The Oasis. The total revenue from January 1st 2007 – March 31st 2008 was an astounding $19,033,400. It appeared our naturist communities had not yet experienced the decline in sales as did other neighborhoods in the area.
Paradise Lakes had sales totaling $11,522,100, Caliente $5,312,800, The Oasis $995,000, Paradise Pines $706,000, Florida Naturist Park $296,500, and City Retreat $201,000.
Those sales reflected the ongoing trend that real estate in naturist communities brought a much higher premium than similar real estate in the textile world. People ventured to get away from the stresses of the real world by retreating to our naturist communities for relaxation and rejuvenation.  Our communities were named after pleasant blissful states of mind, think of the names given and what they mean “Paradise”, “The OASIS”, “Caliente”, “City Retreat”, “Florida Naturist Park”, “The Island Group”.
Nudists have always understood the value of shedding stress by disrobing and relaxing in the sun; however in these hard economic times stress has filtered into our local naturist communities and clubs. Nudists have felt the crunch caused by the economy. We witnessed accelerating gas prices,  the mortgage market meltdown, the crashing of the stock market, hurricane threats, rising insurance premiums, jobs lost, tourism down at our clubs, and the decline of property values in our subdivisions. Some of our friends through extreme hardship have even lost their homes to foreclosure.  
When times get tough some people are faced with making a hard decision to sell a secondary home or vacation home .  This can and did happen in our naturist communities causing  a surplus of property for sale at our resort destinations. Also devastating to our market was the drastic decline in property values in textile communities surrounding our naturist communities in 2009. This made an impact on real estate sales in our naturist communities. With rock bottom prices on bank owned properties and short sales within minutes of our clubs’ prospective buyers were seduced by these opportunities to purchase on the outside.
Another blow we faced was the changes in lending procedures and requirements from the Buyers to provide more money down.  With the real estate market being suppressed in much of the country many prospective buyers ready to move here were forced to stay put because their homes had not sold. Even worse with the decline in property values across the U.S. some sellers found that they might have little to no proceeds from the sale of their home to use as a down payment on a Florida home. Some sellers were forced to pull their homes off the market and stay put because their property values had declined so much the homes were actually worth less than what they owed. To top it off many banks have withdrawn from lending money on condo’s in the state of Florida and other lenders have blighted us by stating that they cannot lend in communities that are  “Uniquely Restricted Communities”.   
So will our naturist communities recover? You Betcha!

The Good News...
Despite the lower gross sales in Pasco County over 70 properties in 6 naturist communities closed in 2009. The prices of real estate has come down considerably so that has an impact on gross revenue but the tally below shows buyer confidence is still among us. Here is the 2009 tally used from sales statics including the following communities: Caliente, City Retreat, Florida Naturist Park, Paradise Lakes, Paradise Pines and The Woods.
24 Condo’s closed despite the news that many banks were not financing condo’s.
22 Manufactured, mobile homes and trailers sold.
18 Lots for RV Use or park models.
5 Lots for Single Family Homes or Mobile Homes
1 Single Family Home

There may actually be a few more properties that closed in December that have yet to be recorded with the county.  Lake Como and Lake Linda were not included in this tally because they own shares instead of land and sales within those communities are not readily accessible on the tax site. I am thankful to see these sales in a slowed economy this reflects Buyers’ are interested in our “Uniquely Restricted Naturist Communities”
People are still hungry for peace and tranquility, a place in the sun with a warmer climate, a community for outdoor recreation and sports activities, a lively place to be among friends, and a place to decompress and get away from the chaos of the world. Prospective buyers are having to re-think how they can manage to make things work. Some buyers have opt to take a lesser amount on their home up North thinking they can recoup their loss by buying low in Florida. Buyers may also find themselves searching for a property in a lower  price range or have decided to forego a larger, fancier place for something more economical.  For others pursuing owner financing has been the method for purchasing in our communities.  We have also seen Sellers granting Buyers a one to two year lease with a signed purchase agreement so the Buyer can save the  down payment necessary to get financing. Buyers are also coming forward with handsome down payments and requesting owner financing for 3 to 5 years with a balloon payment due.  Of course we can’t forget those fortunate enough to come to the closing with cash.
There are lenders still financing in naturist communities. If you or someone you know is having problems with a lender that says they won’t lend in our communities because the property is  “Uniquely Restricted” contact a Realtor or sales associate who specializes in selling in naturist communities. These real estate professionals will be able to guide you or your friend in the right direction.  One thing we must be prepared for is that lenders will request an appraisal be done, if the offer is much higher than the appraised value the bank may turn down the loan or ask that you come up with the difference at closing toward the down payment.  
Although our resort communities have been vulnerable like the rest of the market I think we will recover more readily because people truly want to live in peace and harmony.