Forecast Calls For Home Prices Dropping in 2010

The Tallahassee area logged 163 single-family existing-home sales in October, down 5 percent over a year ago which is not as good as many other areas in Florida that seem to show gains in every market measured. Of course, those measurements are from REALTOR® MLS reports, which typically do not show much more than 1/2 t o 2/3rds of the entire market activity.

The median price for those local sales gained 1.2 percent to $174,000 from $172,000 in October 2008. Fort Walton Beach was the only other market in October to see prices rise, up 1 percent from a year ago.

Graph Of Home Prices In Tallahassee, Florida

The real estate graph above shows that the average price continues to drop, while the median price has actually been recovering. Unfortunately, the graph does not depict appreciation or depreciation, as it shows what home buyers are paying without regard to what they are buying.

Tallahassee Housing Market Sees Slight Increase In Home Sales

This is wonderful to report, as we have been producing reports showing the number of homes selling in Tallahassee declining for over 3 years running! Based upon the growth in pending home sales, it appears like the market is starting to turn around.

Much of this could be due to the First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit which was scheduled to terminate at the end of November, but with the extension, buyers have until June 30, 2010, to close on their purchase, and the rules no longer limit the credit to first-time buyers. Hopefully this will continue the rise in pending home sales.

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