Whitetail sale could impact rest of recently slower McCall market

McCall home sales and prices remain well below 2005-06 levels, but the recent ownership change at the upscale Whitetail Club & Resort bodes well for the west central Idaho mountain town, several real estate professionals said.

An Aug. 28 McCall Star-News story said Whitetail sold to a company headed by current Whitetail Club President John Sabala and Boise-based Alscott Real Estate LLC.
 Sabala, whose corporate career includes stints at Gillette Co., Advantage Sales & Marketing and the Sabala Bros. food brokerage, is the son-in-law of previous owner Douglas Manchester. Alscott is headed by Joe Scott, who chairs the board of the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation. Scott is the grandson of the late Joe Albertson, who founded the Albertsons grocery chain. The Star-News reported that Alscott is the majority owner and Sabala Whitetail LLC is the minority owner. Other terms of the sale were not disclosed.
“It sounds like it is a good thing, with new, energized partners coming to town,” Community Real Estate broker-owner Bill McMurray said. “I can only view it as a positive to the property, which translates into a positive for the community.”
The sale of Whitetail is one symptom of what is taking place at the resort communities across the state. Resort properties are faced with a sales anomaly: those who need to sell and those who may want to but don’t need to sell.
Whitetail Vice President of Real Estate Sales and Marketing Rory Veal said the ownership change will have “a very positive effect on all aspects of resort operations, including real estate sales. The idea that ownership has come back to Idaho is a very positive thing in the minds of a lot of people in the local area as well as the state, and that should be reflected in a higher degree of acceptance of the whole property.”
Manchester spent most of his time in San Diego, where his development company is based, though he continues to own a residence in McCall and “loves the community,” Veal said. Whitetail’s Idaho-based owners should have more direct, on-site control as well as a greater connection to market sentiments in the region, he said.
“The uncertainties in a (home) buyer’s mind over ownership of the property have been answered with this new acquisition, and any reluctance to purchase caused by those uncertainties are now resolved,” Veal said. Whitetail was openly for sale for two years, “and that created concerns for some potential homeowners.”
Whitetail’s residential property includes 124 estate home sites, of which 91 have been sold, Veal said. Sixteen cabin home sites are to be platted soon, and the developer recently sold one of five completed “lodge” homes that range from 6,000 to 7,600 square feet. Some property prices include club memberships.
“It’s slower than in years past,” he said. “We are negotiating on a number of deals right now.”
Whitetail at the start of 2008 introduced a new property price list, having “realistically assessed current market conditions,” Veal said.
Recently, Whitetail rolled out a price-protection program that offers protected buyers a rebate if the developer subsequently sells a comparable property at a lower price. “What we’re trying to accomplish here is to overcome nervousness in the marketplace that we haven’t reached the bottom,” he said.
Northwest Appraisal co-owner Judy Leister works in Boise and McCall. Now in McCall, the pool of properties for sale consists of those owned by people who “really need to sell” and owners “who might like to sell but really don’t need to,” she said.
“Eventually, those who don’t really need to sell will begin to drop out of the market, leaving a growing number of owners who have to sell for whatever reason,” she said. “These properties will be priced more realistically. This will result in some stabilization of the market, although it will stabilize at a lower level.”
According to Mountain Central Multiple Listing Service statistics, McCall home sales in the first seven months of the year totaled 172 in  2005, 129 in 2006, 75 last year and 59 this year. Dollar volume totaled about $46.8 million in 2005, $53.9 million in 2006, $33.2 million last year and $21.5 million this year.
Mountain Central MLS figures show that McCall lot sales (land only) for January through July numbered 171 in 2005, 105 in 2006, 47 in 2007 and 16 in 2008. Lot-sale dollar volume was $25.4 million in 2005, $24.7 million in 2006, $13.98 million last year and $2.8 million this year.
Some properties are headed for the auction block.
Blackhawk On The River developers auctioned some home sites Sept. 1. Nine miles north of McCall, in New Meadows, MeadowCreek Golf Resort is scheduled to be auctioned Oct. 3, The Associated Press reported.
Judd DeBoer, partner in the River Ranch development in McCall, said he can live with this year’s slower pace of sales.
“It tells me that people are being cautious and maybe taking their time and deciding, which I think is smart,” he said. “They are looking very carefully at the competitive opportunities.
“We feel like we are doing OK at River Ranch, having sold a couple of lots this year,” he said. “We are a long-term project.”  He added: “We have actually raised prices.”
River Ranch has significant amenities completed, and no debt, DeBoer said. His development partner recently built a home for speculative sale, and a builder is completing another spec’ home.
At Community Real Estate in late August, McMurray reported an up-tick in offers, contracts and escrow openings. McCall traditionally sees more transaction activity in late August and early September than in June and July – when people “cement their desire to be here and are busy having fun,” he said.
“We are absolutely still seeing some price adjustments down,” he said.
Challenges for the McCall market include that many would-be buyers were taken out of the market by purchases made during 2004-06 – a period made more hectic by excitement over then-new Tamarack Resort – low interest rates and easier-to-obtain financing, McMurray said.
“I’m hoping that in mid-’09 we start seeing some firmness in the market and start building our demand back up,” he said.
“Whether there is a real estate boom or not, the lake (Payette) and the other amenities are still here, and people still enjoy them,” McMurray said.