What is the "Value" of a Pinehurst Country Club Membership?

Pinehurst Country Club is a world class facility.  The Resort has been voted the #1 Golf Resort in America by Travel & Leisure Golf for three years running.  It is a wonderful club and the resort complex and amenities are a significant part of the fabric and charm of the community.  Membership to the Pinehurst Country Club is open to individuals who own real property within the Village of Pinehurst.  Every property, improved or unimproved, within the Village either has a membership available to transfer or does not.  The purpose of this posting is to attempt to establish, through a review of select property transactions, the intrinsic value of this membership.

The methodology of the research is simple and designed to eliminate the variables associated with each individual property.  I have reviewed property sales of specific condos/townhome developments within the Village of Pinehurst.  These developments are: Lawn & Tennis, Colonial Pines, Lakeview Condos, Bretton Woods, Linville Gardens, Pine Valley, Pinehurst Manor and St. Andrews Condos.  I looked specifically at sales of two bedroom condos over the past 5 years.  In order to smooth the data I eliminated from consideration units which offered  golf front, golf view, water front or water views. 

From the 46 observations available from the Pinehurst Southern Pines Association of Realtors MLS system I found the following results.  The average sales price for condos WITH a membership was $16,300 higher than for units WITHOUT a membership.   Similarly, the median sales price was $9,000 higher for units WITH a membership.  The membership availability was responsible for a price differential of  7 to 12%.

I also found that within my sample of observations that 100% of the units sold in 2010 and to date in 2011 offered Pinehurst Country Club memberships. No condo within my selected group, without a membership had sold since November of 2009.  I found the same sales results when considering a similar selection of three bedroom condos. 

Thus it appears that the "value" of a Pinehurst Country Club membership is significant in a real estate transaction.   In addition to increasing the likely sales price of a property it also greatly improves the likelihood of a timely sale. 

Bob Barmore

bob@laroseandcompany.com.com

mailto:bbarmore@pinehurstnchomes.com

http://www.laroseandcompany.com/