We're through October and the local real estate market has been another year of some real positives. It's also been a year of interesting devlopments too.
Highlights through October (Click here for a full market report):
- Inventory levels remain lower.
- As of 11/14/2011 there are 1024 houses for sale in Flagler County and 762 in Palm Coast. Palm Coast alone has typically remained above 900 for the last few years.
- The number of house sales has increased 10% compared to this period last year.
- There have been 1,345 houses that have closed through October 31st. Palm Coast has contributed 1,170 of those. This is an average of 134 closings per month for the area which has typically been about 100/month over the last few years.
- The percentage of Short Sale houses for sale has dropped to about 26% for Flagler County and 30% for Palm Coast as of 11/14.
- This has averaged about 36% pretty consistently
- What about price?
- Median and Average sale prices are slightly below last year.
- Taking into account lower inventory levels and increased demand, next year will be one to watch. We could see positive gains next year.
- Foreclosures ("Lender Owned", "REO", "Government Owned") all remain at low levels for sale in the area and move at very quick paces.
- There are currently 55 houses for sale that are "Foreclosures".
- Average days on the market for this category this year has been 80 days compared to 188 days for all house sales.
There's also been some nice and interesting surprises as well.
- Cash sales for houses has contributed about 53% of the 1,345 houses closed through October. The highest of which was $1.8M. The average cash sale has been $157,483 for the area.
- The Luxury housing market ($500k and above) has seen an uptick this year as well. 50 houses listed $500K and above have closed through October compared to 31 during the same period last year. Likewise, last year the highest sale was $1M during this period and this year it is $1.8M.
So, yes, it's been an exciting year with some nice surprises. We are in our "traditional" slower period right now. Decembers are typically an up month and there are a decent number of pending house sales which should contribute to a good end of the year.
If you are planning on buying, now is a good time to get serious as inventory levels are lower and demand is trending up (as it has been over the last few years). If you are looking to sell, it's also the perfect time to start planning. On either side it's very important to be open to reasonable negotiation to get to your goals especially with these market conditions. Low offers initial offers as a buyer can lead to the house not being available as another offer comes in while the seller is contemplating what they should do. Sellers not pricing realistically can cost you dearly in the long run as the house sees little or no activity (# of showings can be an indicator that you are priced too high).
Don't forget to visit
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com for your local real estate needs whether it being shopping all area houses for sale through a custom feed of our local MLS or getting started to offer your house for sale.
