The Alabama Gulf Coast stands out as one of the most attractive real estate markets in the Southeast. Whether you're searching for a primary residence, vacation home, or investment property, the region offers enduring value and broad appeal. Here are the top reasons demand continues to remain strong.

1. Tourism Continues to Break Records

The Alabama Gulf Coast isn't a hidden gem anymore, and the numbers prove it. Visitor spending on lodging reached approximately $923 million in 2025, while retail spending exceeded $1.4 billion. Those are record-setting figures, and they reflect a destination that continues to attract more visitors year after year.

Why does this matter for real estate? Because tourism and property values are closely linked in

Gulf Shores International Airport has welcomed over 40,000 passengers in just six months—and the momentum is only growing. Thanks to this tremendous success, Allegiant is adding five new nonstop destinations to its Summer 2026 schedule, bringing even more visitors straight to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach. This expansion builds on Allegiant’s rapid growth across key Midwest and Southern markets. With 13 total nonstop routes now connecting travelers directly to the Alabama coast, the demand for easy, affordable beach getaways is higher than ever.

Allegiant Summer 2026 Schedule:

Newly Added Destinations:
Huntsville, AL (HSV)** – 2x/week
Louisville, KY (SDF)** – 2x/week
Omaha, NE (OMA)** – 2x/week
Springfield, MO (SGF)** – 2x/week
Oklahoma City, OK (OKC)** –

Construction is officially underway at Margaritaville Resort Orange Beach, marking a major milestone for the Alabama Gulf Coast’s hospitality and tourism industry. The groundbreaking ceremony took place Wednesday, May 14th, on the 83-acre waterfront site along the Intracoastal Waterway direct across from The Wharf. The resort will bring over 400 coastal residences to the area, including luxury condominiums, condo-hotel units, and a mix of resort cottages, bungalows, and waterfront villas. Guests and owners will enjoy an array of resort-style amenities, including a sprawling six-acre water recreation complex complete with a lazy river, waterslides, a serenity pool, and a swim-up bar. Additional features include a marina with 43 deep-water transient

Tickets are now on sale for Tropic Falls Theme Park at OWA. OWA entertainment district expanded its amusement park this summer to include a 100,000 square foot indoor-outdoor water park. Season Passes, which include the water park and amusement park, begin at $269.99 with a one-day admission ticket to both parks priced at $63.00 if purchased online. Tropic Falls is set to open phase one on June 27. OWA, pronounced “oh-wah”, is the Muscogee Creek Indian word for big water and Tropic Falls promises to provide just that. Phase one will include access to six thrill slides, a five slide children's play area, lazy river, dining area, arcade and party rental rooms. The phase one fun is all indoors, enclosed in a beautiful glass building so that locals and

Plans for Caribe Seaside have just been announced and units are available for reservation. With all of the condominiums up and down the beautiful Gulf Coast, renters and investors have no shortage of places to enjoy the sugar sand beaches and southern hospitality. This new project, however, offers more than any other in the area.  Local developer Larry Wireman, who is responsible for the luxury Orange Beach condominiums Turquoise Place and The Caribe, says his company’s motto is to “create a project unlike any other” and I believe he will accomplish just that with this new venture.

Caribe Seaside offers one hundred and fifteen gulf front residences that will consist of three or five bedrooms complete with high end finishes, fireplaces in the living

Cottages at Romeo Beach - Gulf Shores, AL

Over the last five years, we've seen a number of new residential communities popping up in both Gulf Shores and Orange Beach. Aside from Brett Robinson developments, the Alabama Coast hasn't experienced much increase in new condo construction but rather a boom in new cottage communities particularly in the West Beach and East Beach areas of Gulf Shores. These small communities consist of 10 or more free-standing raised homes and offer shared amenities such as outdoor swimming pools and BBQ areas. Similar to a condo HOA, owners pay monthly dues that typically cover water, sewer, waste removal, cable TV, internet service, pool maintenance, and landscaping. 

We've compiled a list of new cottage communities in

A new luxury hotel and mixed development is planned for the public beachfront in Gulf Shores, AL.  The $85 million project was revealed on June 19, 2018 by Mayor Robert Craft and DD Partners, LLC, a development team led by Ron Durham and Ron Day.  Once permitting is approved, Embassy Suites by Hilton will break ground at the 1.93 acre parcel on the corner of West Beach Blvd and West 1st St. Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2019 with a build time of 22 months.  The first-class resort will span 398,000 square feet and offer 229 rooms, a fine dining restaurant, conference room/meeting spaces, ball room, full-service spa, fitness center, and indoor pool.  A vast 23,000SF roof top terrace will feature an outdoor pool, bar and lounge with great

New Update - September 9th, 2018

Since the original Phoenix Orange Beach II blog post, there's been another Phoenix project released - Phoenix Gulf Towers

Aerial Video of Phoenix Gulf Towers Construction Site

Original Blog:  Phoenix Orange Beach II

Phoenix Orange Beach II is the latest condo development to alter the city's skyline.  The $70 million project recently broke ground this past fall and is desirably located in the heart of Orange Beach sharing the beachfront between Tidewater condominium and Island House Hotel.  The high-rise will look similar in design to its sister development Phoenix Orange Beach located approximately a mile to the west.  The 27-story tall condominium will offer 120 gulf-facing units available in two-,

I was out gathering video of a new listing the other day - a small lot on West Beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama.  I was approached by someone who had left work to come speak with me.  I first noticed him from about 70 yards away.  He was walking in my direction and by 30 yards, he was definitely coming to talk with me.  After reaching me, the first thing said was - "the latest invasion of our privacy, right there!".  This hasn't been uncommon since I bought a drone and I've been approached with animosity before.

While I'm often inclined to say as little as possible, especially when the initial contact offers a tone of contempt and aggravation, this time I decided to try and share some insight.  I simply replied to the man, "Let me show you something".  I

Be careful of FREE tools

This is intended for webmasters and real estate website owners

When Zillow, Realtor.com, Trulia and other large real estate portals advertise "free" tools, there's a cost - a very big one.  While there may not be a place to enter your credit card number or a request for your billing address, these sites didn't reach the top of Google's search results by accident.  Although they're good sites, full of information and easy-to-use software with huge marketing budgets, their most effective marketing tactic isn't something they discuss.  In fact, unless you've read the fine print within their terms and conditions, you've probably never heard of how they take advantage of unsuspecting professionals.

Anytime a mortgage calculator,