The St. Joe Company (NYSE: JOE) (“St. Joe”) releases its 2021 letter to shareholders and Annual Report on the company’s website at ir.joe.com.
The Annual Report pdf is also attached to this post.
An excerpt from St. Joe CEO Jorge Gonzalez:
We have seen other real estate cycles before in this part of Florida. However, this cycle feels
different in ways that may be not obvious unless one looks at it carefully. Past cycles felt
somewhat hollow with very high peaks and very low valleys. A major reason why they felt hollow
is that past cycles were primarily driven by speculators - essentially capital looking for a place to
land trying to time the cycle for short term profits. Like a game of musical chairs, when the music
stopped, the speculators and their money left with little to no residual benefit to the area. The
current cycle does not feel that way. It feels more substantive because it is not being driven by
speculators purchasing homesites or vacation rentals to flip. Instead, it is being driven by
individuals and families moving to live here full time. The other way it feels different is where
people are coming from. Historically, this area attracted visitors and residents from a few metro
markets in the Southeastern U.S. like Atlanta. We are still seeing residents and visitors from those
traditional metro markets, but we are now seeing residents and visitors from many other parts of
the country. As an example, in 2021, we had buyers from 25 states at the Watersound Origins
community, our primary resident community in Walton County. The buyers came from
California, Oregon, Texas, Illinois, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Minnesota, and Connecticut
among others and they included a mixture of families, empty nesters, and retirees.
The Annual Report pdf is also attached to this post.
An excerpt from St. Joe CEO Jorge Gonzalez:
We have seen other real estate cycles before in this part of Florida. However, this cycle feels
different in ways that may be not obvious unless one looks at it carefully. Past cycles felt
somewhat hollow with very high peaks and very low valleys. A major reason why they felt hollow
is that past cycles were primarily driven by speculators - essentially capital looking for a place to
land trying to time the cycle for short term profits. Like a game of musical chairs, when the music
stopped, the speculators and their money left with little to no residual benefit to the area. The
current cycle does not feel that way. It feels more substantive because it is not being driven by
speculators purchasing homesites or vacation rentals to flip. Instead, it is being driven by
individuals and families moving to live here full time. The other way it feels different is where
people are coming from. Historically, this area attracted visitors and residents from a few metro
markets in the Southeastern U.S. like Atlanta. We are still seeing residents and visitors from those
traditional metro markets, but we are now seeing residents and visitors from many other parts of
the country. As an example, in 2021, we had buyers from 25 states at the Watersound Origins
community, our primary resident community in Walton County. The buyers came from
California, Oregon, Texas, Illinois, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Minnesota, and Connecticut
among others and they included a mixture of families, empty nesters, and retirees.