Palmetto Bay, FL

Earth Day is tomorrow, April 22, 2009. Earth Day was established in 1970 as a celebration intended to inspire awareness of and appreciation for the Earth's environment. Many countries have since decided that a global observance was needed; therefore, April 22 is recognized each year. In 2009, hundreds of millions of people in more than 180 countries are expected to participate in Earth Day activities.

Here are some of the Earth Week celebrations in Palmetto Bay:

1. The week started with a kayak and canoe tour of Biscayne Bay on Saturday, April 18th sponsored & led by volunteers from the Tropical Audubon Society.
2. Also on Saturday, a Biscayne Bay clean-up project, known as Baynanza occurred throughout Miami-Dade County. In Palmetto Bay, the cleanup was at the Deering Estate (16701 SW 72 Ave.) Deering Estate hosted numerous Earth Day events on Sunday April 19th . There was a natural area tour, a bay cruise, a butterfly walk and a Living Artist Concert all during the day.
3. On Monday, April 20th, Palmetto Bay residents were urged to trail the Village IBus, which was filled with a group of Alexander Montessori students, in their own cars to clean our community.
4. On Wednesday April 22th, Earth Day, 9,000 lady bugs will be set free on this day by area students, as they learn about the environmental importance of lady bugs. Members of the Village council will join Mayor Eugene Flinn and area children in 3 different Village of Palmetto Bay locations to release the ladybugs.
5. On Thursday April 23th, another 6,000 ladybugs will be released into the schoolyards of Palmetto Bay!
6. On Friday, April 24th , bring your own popcorn, soda and blanket to watch the movie, “Bee Movie” at Coral Reef Park, (7895 SW 152 St) at 7:30pm. Meet “Willie the Bee Man” who will talk about the importance of bees in our environment.
7. And lastly, on Saturday, April 25th , join other local Palmetto Bay residents on a “Ride the Path of Old Cutler”, beginning at 8am. It will begin from the Deering Visitor Center.

Enjoy YOUR Earth Day!

For more information about Palmetto Bay Real Estate and surrounding neighborhoods such as Pinecrest & Coral Gables, Florida, visit my website at www.LynnCromer.com or email me at Lynn@LynnCromer.com.

Lynn Cromer is a Broker Associate at Coldwell Banker in Pinecrest, Florida. She can be reached via e-mail or catch her latest writings on the South Florida Home Blog , or by calling 305-962-4068.

Palmetto Bay Real Estate Market Report

Palmetto Bay will be broken down into North Palmetto Bay (SW 136 St to SW 168 St) and South Palmetto Bay (SW 168 St to SW 184 St).

North Palmetto Bay:

There are currently 128 homes for sale in North Palmetto Bay.

• Highest priced listing is $2,700,000 (6921 SW 144 St)
• Lowest priced listing is $220,000 (short sale at 16641 SW 92 Ave)
• Pending sales: 14
• Closed sales in Last 3 months: 6 (highest sale at $663,000 at 8447 SW 138 Terr & the lowest sale was bank-owned at $155,000 at 15601 SW 90 Ave)

There are 28 short sales and 14 bank-owned homes in North Palmetto Bay. Palmetto Bay has quite a bit more bank-owned/short sales than Pinecrest. The average list square foot price is $201 while the average sold square foot price was $153. The average days on the market were 215.

South Palmetto Bay:

There are currently 89 homes on the market in this Palmetto Bay area.

• Highest priced listing is $2,000,000 (17625 SW 74 Pl)
• Lowest priced listing is $132,000 (bank-owned at 18000 SW 94 Ct)
• Pending sales: 16
• Closed sales in Last 3 months: 5 (Highest sale price was $830,000 at 8500 SW 182 Terr)

There are 21 bank-owned homes and 22 short sales in South Palmetto Bay. The average list square foot price is $163 while the average sold square foot price was $139. The average days on the market were 115.

Lynn Cromer is a real estate sales and marketing professional for Coldwell Banker in beautiful Pinecrest, Florida. For more information on Pinecrest, Florida or the communities of Coral Gables, Palmetto Bay and Coconut Grove, she can be reached at 305-962-4068, by email at Lynn@LynnCromer.com or online at www.LynnCromer.com.

Have you been looking at foreclosures in Palmetto Bay? Here's the latest home listings in the foreclosure sector.

Palmetto Bay foreclosures are a great way to get a good deal on a home in the area. Of course, inspections are in order, as in any home purchase. Just because you're buying AS IS, as most foreclosures are sold, doesn't mean you can't perform an inspection.

As of today there are 228 single family homes for sale in Palmetto Bay. Of those, 21 are foreclosures. Of those 21, I am providing a link to the 16 that I feel represent the best value. Click on the picture below for more details.

This is a live link, which means that as soon as information is updated on the multiple listing service, you will see the updates here also. That includes the addition of pictures if there are none now.

Maggie Dokic is a licensed real estate broker in the state of Florida selling residential real estate in Miami, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, Coral Gables, Gables by the Sea, High Pines and the Redland.

For more information on our local real estate market, or to see or sell a home in Miami, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, Coral Gables or the Redland, visit my Miami Real Estate blog or contact me at Maggie (at) TheBlogThatAteMiami (dot) com.

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of EWM Realtors.

Are you looking for a home in Palmetto Bay? Here's a snapshot of what the market is doing lately.

The Absorption Rate is something we real estate agents use to determine how active the market is. We look at the homes sold in the last 12 months and figure out the average per month. Then we look at how many homes are available right now and divide that by the average # of homes sold per month. The resulting number is known as the Absorption Rate and it tells us how many months it would take to sell all the available homes if sales continued at the present pace.

A normal market has an Absorption Rate of about 6 - 10. A smaller number signals a seller's market and a higher number signals a buyer's market. Palmetto Bay is definitely a buyer's market right now. But it is interesting to note that the number has come down in the last 2 years, which is good. Sales have been picking up in all of Miami-Dade county.

It is interesting to note the different absorption rates for each price range. I like to provide data for the different price ranges as it's important to see what's happening in the different price points.

If you look at the luxury homes in Palmetto Bay, there are 23 homes that are priced at a million or more, but in the last year there have been no sales of homes at over a million. So it's impossible to figure out the absorption rate for these higher end homes. Does it mean you can't sell your million dollar home? No, not at all. It just means it will be harder as there don't appear to be any buyers out there in this price range.

If you need real estate information for Palmetto Bay or the neighboring communities, feel free to contact me.

Absorption rate of homes in Palmetto Bay, Florida

Understanding how the inventory of homes on the market affects the sale prices of those homes, in the purpose of this post. The longer the absorption rate, the longer it takes for a home to sell. This in turns translates to a downward trend on pricing. The formula is the same for any marketplace.

Number of Homes Currently on the market ÷ The Average Number of Homes Sold each month in the past 12 Months.

In Palmetto Bay, Florida the statistics are as follows: 251 homes on the market & 181 sold homes.

181 sold homes ÷ 12 months = 15 homes sold per month
251 home on market ÷ 15 sales per month = 16 months supply of inventory

How well do you think your marketplace is holding up in this current climate?

Keep checking back as I will be breaking down these absorption rate further and will also be discussing absorption rates in Coral Gables as well.
For more information on real estate data, please email me at Lynn at LynnCromer.com or call me at 305-962-4068.

Pinecrest Absorption Rate, Part 1
Pinecrest Absorption Rate Part 2