Younger Neighborhoods Fighting Hard To Retain Fleeing Homeowners

Weems Plantation is a popular Northeast Tallahassee neighborhood that is undergoing some turmoil related to the age of the community, as are all newer neighborhoods around Tallahassee.

With home sales happening at half of our historical rate, we know that a shadow inventory of pent-up supply is growing, and thus so too will the list of homes for sale in Weems Plantation.

People who want to move, but know they owe more on their homes than what is worth, are growing in number. They want to flee, but do not know how.

The impact that this is having on neighborhoods in Tallahassee that are less than 15 years old is greater than it is on those that have been around for a longer period of time.

Why you say?

Because young neighborhoods all have one thing in common for certain. Everybody who owns a home there purchased it in recent years.

Everybody who lives in Weems Plantation moved in after June of 1999, and the majority of homeowners in Weems Plantation have been there 5 to 7 years. This means that normal move cycle trends forecast that the majority of homeowners currently want to sell their home.

All neighborhoods undergo this phenomenon as they grow out of their infancy, but unfortunately for Weems Plantation and other young neighborhoods, they are going through it during the worst real estate market to hit Tallahassee in a long, long time. I suspect if prices were to suddenly increase by 30% and buyers flooded back to the market (don't hold your breath), we would see a lot of homeowners step out of the shadows in Weems Plantation.

Because of this, there will be an abundance of supply on hand for many years to come. Homeowners who choose to sell a home sooner rather than later, will get the best prices for the next five or more years. The decision for homeowners will be to either sell immediately, or hold the property for 15+ years for the decision to make smart financial sense (I dedicated an entire previous post explaining how to calculate the best "financial" decision on whether to sell or hold).

Weems Plantation Home Prices

The average sales price of a home in Weems Plantation in 2011 was $157,800, which was down from the $209,000 average in 2006. The graph below shows no signs of the decline stopping anytime soon, even though the first and only sale of 2012 is higher. The percentage of recent sales that have been distressed properties is on the rise, which will make it even harder for arms length home sellers to compete for a sale in 2012.

Weems Plantation Home Values

Home values have fallen 25% in Weems Plantation, from nearly $150 per square foot in 2007 to an average of $112 per square foot thus far in 2012. With more short sales and foreclosures hitting the market, we can expect to see further real estate depreciation in Weems Plantation.

List Of Recent Home Sales In Weems Plantation