In 2002, when the St. Joe Company, one of Florida’s largest real estate developers, began selling parcels in a new neighborhood here, it was inundated by potential buyers.
With as many as 10 applicants for every lot, the company put numbered balls into a fishbowl, then had an agent draw the balls at random, to decide who would be allowed to buy the home sites.
Four years later, you can hear a pin drop at the gated community of WaterSound Beach. Most of the lots sit empty, and even Thanksgiving weekend brought only a handful of visitors.