Recently I’ve been thinking about a Chinese proverb I read a long time ago, “He who returns from a journey is not the same as he who left.” I’ve decided that every visitor to Anna Maria must have changed during their time on the Island, which is one of the reason they keep coming back.

Last month TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Island awards named Anna Maria Island the Number 3 island in the United States. This was up from last year’s Number 4 ranking and well ahead of some of the most famous and beautiful beaches in other parts of the country. Anna Maria ranked higher than beaches in the Hawaiian Islands, Nantucket, Massachusetts and Key West, among others.

Right after TripAdvisor announced this year’s rankings, The Wall Street Journal had a large section titled “Old Florida” drawing attention to areas of Florida that represent classic Florida. Anna Maria Island was front and center in this piece capturing the front cover with a picture of one of our beaches. A quote from the article reads, “Anna Maria is nice but not glitzy, quiet yet not desolate, with just enough quirk to keep things interesting.”

Why wouldn’t visitors keep coming back with that kind of an endorsement?

We know what Anna Maria’s popularity is doing to our traffic jams and umbrella space on the beach, but what is it doing to real estate? Real estate values in all of Manatee County are soaring, and Anna Maria Island is no exception. According to Florida Realtors, housing prices were the highest in four years at the beginning of the year. The median price of single family homes sold in January was $217,000 which is up almost 16 percent from January of last year. The average sales prices in Manatee County for single family homes was $272,506, also a 16 percent increase over last year. Condo and townhouses jumped to an average of $170,447 an almost 11 percent increase.

Contrasting this are the national median sales prices in January reported by the National Association of Realtors to be $188,900, which is 10.7 percent higher from the year before. The price increases are a definite reflection of the low supply of inventory both nationally and locally. Currently Manatee County has a 4.6 month supply of properties for sale.

Other great news reported by the Bradenton Herald is the amount of new construction that has already started or is in the planning stages mostly in the eastern and northern part of the county. According to the Herald, much of the demand for homes is being spurred on by a strong market in Hillsborough County and the new 1 million square foot distribution center being built by Amazon in Ruskin, expected to create about 1,000 jobs.

All of this activity, whether it’s right on Anna Maria Island or in Lakewood Ranch and Palmetto, has an impact on our little Island. People from all over the county come to the beaches, enjoy the restaurants and spend money in the shops. This combined with national recognition of Anna Maria will only add to an already busy winter season, which has now spilled over into the summer months as well.

Anyone who lives or works on Anna Maria has certainly been on a journey during the past couple years, and none of us are the same as we were when we started. I guess the Chinese had it right, but I can’t help wondering who we’ll be down the road.