Daphne, AL

We experience these hurricanes regularly, but this one is just annoying. Why now? Grrrrr. I digress.

Once a Hurricane enters the gulf, the Gulf of Mexico, it is anybody's guess where it will make landfall. We find ourselves checking all sorts of weather pages on the Internet, waiting for updates from the weather channel, or interruptions to regular programming from our local stations. Anything. Any information that we can use, we are after.

I found a site several years ago that is the best at collecting all the information that is available and then some. The gentleman who runs the page is from New England, and he posts a discussion on tropical developments, all summer long. He makes sense. He is accurate. And he posts some of the most beautiful maps I have ever seen. I am such a color junkie, that I like to go over and look at the maps and - ooh la la - I just enjoy looking., They don't make a lick of sense, but they are beautiful.

If you are here with me along the Gulf Coast, and you want some in depth information, do yourself a favor and bookmark that page. You'll really appreciate the quick access to weather news you can use. And if you aren't here with me, you might want to check out of the webcams he has posted - just to get a peek at what might be happening in the path of a storm. Cool stuff. Useful stuff. Especially now, when we are biting our nails - again.

The upcoming expiration of the first-time homebuyer tax credit likely lead to a reduction in home sales in October on the Eastern Shore of the Mobile, Alabama, metro area.

Home sales fell from 87 in September to 59 in October in Spanish Fort, Daphne and Fairhope.

The first-time homebuyer tax credit of $8,000 was set to expire Nov. 30 and buyers apparently wanted to make that deadline with plenty of time to spare. Other buyers may have been waiting to see what would happen next.

At this writing, the U.S. Senate is poised to extend that credit through April 2010 and expand it to people with a $6,500 credit to people who have owned their home at least 5 of the last 8 years (income limits apply). With Senate passage, the bill is expected to be expedited through the house and to President Obama's desk for signing.

Pending sales have improved slightly from 128 at the first of September to 140.

Here are the stats for the Eastern Shore:
Total houses for sale: 1,235
Spanish Fort: 150
Daphne: 400
Fairhope: 560
Lake Forest: 125

Pending sales
Total: 140 (38% new construction)
Spanish Fort: 24 (including 15 new homes)
Daphne: 60 (including 32 new homes)
Fairhope: 37 (including 6 new homes
Lake Forest: 19 (none new)


Closed sales for October 2009
Total: 59
Average sales price: $204,107, down from $233,867 in September and $263,997 in August.
Median sales price: $179,900, down from $184,900in September.
List to sale percentage: 96.82%, an improvement over 96.19% in September
Spanish Fort: 6
Daphne: 21
Fairhope: 24
Lake Forest: 8

(Data from the Baldwin County Multiple Listing Service)

If I can help you with any of your home needs, please feel free to call or email.

Janet English

251 591-2411

Busy, busy, busy, that's where. I have had tons of Real Estate work to do since my return from the field trip early this month. And on the way home, I picked up my new little foster family. Since they are growing, I am beginning to have some extra moments, once again, so I though this would be a good time to introduce them to the world. They have taken all and then some, of my mornings, lunches and evenings, but they are well worth it. They are rescue kittens with their mother, who is a very, very good mother. For at least four weeks, I walked with her saying, "Please take me to the babies. Please show me the babies. Where are those babies?" And then, she brought us the babies.

Without further ado, meet Angel-Baby, who finally, finally brought her babies to us to care for.

What a sweet cat this is. She is calm and quiet, and grateful. She loves her new digs.

This is Crinkle on the left and Silverado on the right. Sweet kittens, they are, but are afraid of real quick movements, still. They are getting there. Just this morning Silverado climbed my leg...granted she was after a little green mouse I was holding, but still - progress is progress. Crinkle, well Crinkle is a big boy, but a scaredy cat. All that girth and no...., well, backbone. Yes, that's it, backbone. He's coming around.

This is E.F. Kitten. Because, when E.F. Kitten talks, everybody listens. Most likely to get into trouble. Most likely to cuddle up to me, too.

And finally, we have Piper. What an adorable little minx Piper is. Piper is most likely to find the teeniest, tiniest hiding place in the world.

Even though, given my druthers, I would not encounter kitty litter first thing in the morning, it has been such a heartwarming adventure to foster this precious family. Now that they are older, I am beginning to have more spare time, more time to come home to Active Rain.

And I know, I owe you all pictures of DeSoto Falls. I'm getting there. In the meantime, between Real Estate and fostering, my times is still a little limited. (See above!)

A year after the 2008 financial meltdown, let's take stock of the correction in home prices on the Eastern Shore.

■ The number of homes sold in the 3rd quarter of 2009 was only 6% behind home sales in the 3rd quarter of 2008.

■ Average sales price this past quarter was $243,176 - 19% lower than the average sales price of $298,947 a year ago.

The first statistic shows that the market is stabilizing in one respect.

A year ago, home sales between Spanish Fort and Point Clear fell off a cliff. Last summer 128 homes sold in June and another 135 in July. Then came August 2008 with only 84 sales, a 40 percent drop in the number of homes sold.

That we are only 6% behind the third quarter of 2008 demonstrates the difficult and momentous shift in attitudes toward home prices. Because home sales involve so many people - lenders, insurers, builders and their suppliers, tradesmen, Realtors, home inspectors, appraisers, movers, furnishers, etc. - they are essential to stable economy, despite the falling prices.

Locally, home prices continue to decline. Nationally, the rate of decline slowed for a sixth straight month, according to the S&P/Case Shiller 20-city home price index. Looking at these 20 major metro markets, the index noted a better-than-expected 13.3% decline compared to a year ago. David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor's, said: "These figures continue to support an indication of stabilization in national real estate values."

On the Eastern Shore, 569 price reductions were made on homes in the 3rd quarter; there are 1,209 properties listed.

On to the stats:

Overall, the pace of sales continues to improve, from 157 sales in the 1st quarter, to 207 in the 2nd quarter to 248 in the 3rd quarter, including 29 foreclosures or short sales (pre-foreclosures). The average time it took to sell was 179 days, a figured skewed by the fact that many properties had already gone through a previous listing.

Fairhope/Point Clear: 78 homes sold, compared with 98 a year ago this time and 70 during the 2nd quarter 2009. Average sales price was $300,699, down from $359,262 a year ago and but up from $284,033 in the 2nd quarter. (The sales of three homes over $1.7 million helped boost this quarter's average.) Average time it took to sell: 202 days. There are 562 houses on the market here.

Daphne/Montrose: 107 homes sold compared with 105 sales a year ago, and up from 73 sales the 2nd quarter. Average price was $231,746, down from $289,832 a year ago and $243,600 in the 2nd quarter. Average days on market: 167. There are 373 homes for sale.

Lake Forest: 28 homes sold, exactly the same as a year ago and up slightly from the 25 that sold in the 2nd quarter. Average sales price was $150,107, compared to $153,965 a year ago and $145,680 in the 2nd quarter. Average days on market: 137. There are 134 homes for sale here.

Spanish Fort: 36 homes sold, compared with 34 a year ago and 39 in the 2nd quarter. Average price was $224,392 vs. $272,853 a year ago and $255,977 in the 2nd quarter. Market time averaged 178 days. There are 140 homes for sale.

Home sales in the Eastern Shore of the Mobile, Alabama, metro area improved ever so slightly in September, with 87 sales, compared to 82 sales in August.

Pending sales dropped from 158 during the first week of September to 128 during the first week of October in Spanish Fort, Daphne and Fairhope/Point Clear. In typical years - and this is not a typical year - home sales slow during the back-to-school season and pick up again in late October. Whether there will be a last minute rush of buyers trying to qualify for the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit that expires Nov. 30, is anybody's guess.

Here are the stats for the Eastern Shore:
Total houses for sale: 1,211
Spanish Fort: 139
Daphne: 375
Fairhope: 569
Lake Forest: 123

Pending sales
Total: 128
Spanish Fort: 19
Daphne: 60
Fairhope: 35
Lake Forest: 14


Closed sales for September 2009
Total: 87
Average sales price: $233,867, down from $263,997 in August.
Median sales price: $184,900, down from $187,450 in July
List to sale percentage: 96.19%
Spanish Fort: 13
Daphne: 46
Fairhope: 21
Lake Forest: 7

(Data from the Baldwin County Multiple Listing Service)