Mid May market report

May 19, 2008

Spring is in the air in Lowndes county and we find ourselves in the midst of the free for all fever pitch of activity that is the end of school year. Baseball season ending, dance recitals, graduation, and Memorial day vacation are all coming to a head.

Of course I'm just reaching for an excuse to not have written since late April, lame as that is.

I do,however, have some market information that I hope is helpful. My sources are the Valdosta Board of Realtors MLS and the Spring '08 residential market report which was expertly prepared by Ms.Susan Morey of First State Bank.

Last month our MLS recorded an even 100 sales. The bulk of these sales, a whopping 71% occured between the $120,000 price mark and sharply dropped off just north of the $185,000 threshold. Sales above the $220K price point were slim with the slowest increment being the $240-$250K at nearly a year (358 Days).

Here's a trend that's worth noting: Just under a fourth of he sales took place outside of Valdosta-Lowndes County in Brooks, Cook, Lanier, but the bulk of the sales being in Nashville-Berrian County.

The First State report is incredibly well prepared and offers some excellent unbiased Information, most notably:

• The first quarter's number of building permits pulled is just 173. Annualized this equates to under 700 permits for the year 2008. To put this munber in perspective, understand that over the past four years the number of permits pulled annually has been between 900 and 1100.
• The sales volume of October '06 - March '07 compared to October '07 - March '08 indicates a 39% decrease in sales.

I have a full copy of the First State report and will be happy to e-mail it to whoever wants it because our firends there prepared it for the sole purpose of educating anyone who is keeping an eye on the market. Just e-mail me at tillmanrealty@bellsotuh.net