The U.S. Post Office in Santa Claus, Ind., is a popular spot at this time of year. The housing crisis has not reached Santa Claus. Santa Claus, Indiana, that is. Realtor Angela Vanover believes that as firmly as, well, as avidly as kids believe in Santa Claus.
"Property values have not gone down," said Vanover, broker/owner of Re/Max Professionals+ in Santa Claus, Ind. "Here in Santa Claus, I have not noticed a difference.
"I listed a home in Holiday Village just in the last few weeks and sold it two days later," she said. "With this being a resort area with many area attractions, I have not noticed a difference in our market here.
"I sold a house to a lady from Chicago, and she couldn't believe the homes here. I have a home [for sale] here that I'm sure would be $2 million in Chicago. It's huge."
Most residents in Santa Claus live in an 850-home development called Christmas Lake Village, a gated site situated around three lakes: Christmas Lake, Lake Holly and Lake Noel.
"I have never had anybody here whose jaws just didn't drop when they see how beautiful it is here," she said. "Properties are so reasonable. You can find a nice home from $100,000. Or if you want to be on the water, it would be more."
The residents in Santa Claus seem to have the Christmas spirit 12 months a year. "I never heard anybody say anything bad about Christmas," she said. "Many decorate year-round. I have two Christmas trees in my office year-round.
"One thing that I feel is really hurting the housing market is that folks are listening to much to the national news and not enough to the news and Realtors in their local area. As broker in Kentucky and Indiana for nearly 30 years, I feel the market is different in your smaller towns than in some of your large cities.
"The negative national news of the real estate market has caused so much fear that the fear itself is the problem causing people to wait on purchasing a new home," she said. "One local bank told me that they had plenty of money to lend if people would just come in and borrow; if people could hear some positive news.
An 8,265-square-foot lakefront home on Reindeer Circle in Santa Claus is listed for $797,000. Amenities include an elevator, a theater room (with an 8-by-4-foot screen) and a sunroom (with skylights and a hot tub).
A dining room with hardwood flooring opens onto decks in a Melchoir Drive house, priced at $282,700. An adjacent boat dock rents for $50 per year. The residence also has a three-car garage plus a one-car carport.
A waterfront residence on Sled Run is priced at $139,900. The house has five bedrooms, two baths and a two-car garage. Amenities include a great room (with fireplace), a workshop and a deck.
The Christmasy street names also include Ornament Circle, Madonna Drive and Prancer Drive.
Just how did a town get to be named for the big jolly guy with a red suit? The Web site of the town's Santa's Candy Castle, tells this story:
In the mid-1800s, pioneers settled a tiny town in southern Indiana, originally naming it Santa Fe. But the town's application for a post office was denied because another town with the same name already had a post office.
On Christmas Eve, as services concluded in the small log church, the town's residents decided to stay and hold their final village meeting of the year. The only order of business -- selecting a new name for the town -- was not going well. The residents just couldn't agree on anything.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew open the door to the church -- and sleigh bells were heard in the distance. "Santa Claus!" shouted the excited children. And that provided the inspiration for the town's new name. On May 21, 1856, the U.S. Post Office Department approved a post office in the newly renamed town of Santa Claus, Indiana.
The town's unique name went largely unnoticed until the 1920s, when Postmaster James Martin promoted the Santa Claus postmark as a festive way to adorn Christmas cards. A growing volume of holiday mail began to flow through the otherwise little post office each year.
After the town was featured in the nationally syndicated "Believe It or Not" newspaper cartoon, the little post office was flooded with mail. This year, the town is pleading for more volunteers amid an avalanche of mail.
"The post office is located at Kringle Place Plaza, where I am also located," said Vanover.
The population of Santa Claus is 2,356, up 2 percent since 2000. The median household income is $74,326. The unemployment rate is 5.3 percent.
The town of Santa Claus also hosts a theme park called Holiday World. ("It's like Six Flags," Vanover said.) In addition to roller coasters, family rides and attractions for the little ones, there are also water park rides at Splashin' Safari.
Other town attractions include the Santa Claus Museum, Santa's Candy Castle, Buffalo Run Farm, Christmas Lake Golf Course, Santa's Lodge & St. Nick's Restaurant, Lake Rudolph Campground & RV Park, Lincoln State Park and Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial.
