Retirement villages hold firm in ailing us house market

They weren't the sexiest category of real estate in the high-flying days of the boom. But now, with prices falling and vacancy rates rising almost everywhere, Southwest Florida's big retirement communities are turning out to be a solid bet for investors, owners and residents alike, experts say.

"Most people pay cash for their house and they're very stable people," said Steve Adler, president and owner of Fort Myers-based Murex Properties, which manages manufactured-home communities nationwide. "In these topsy-turvy times, they've remained a good investment."

Lenders are especially open to borrowers with that kind of collateral, said Paige Rausch, a Fort Myers-based real estate consultant. She pointed out that two of the top five mortgages by dollar value in Lee County in 2010 were for large manufactured-home developments.

"I think there's a new caution," Rausch said. "Those assets that were mortgaged, there wasn't a lot of gamble about that. They weren't writing them on pipe dreams."