Janet English Realtor Mobile Alabama's Eastern Shore Suburbs

June home sales dipped slightly but pending sales and the list-to-sale percentage show that the market may be stabilizing.
Seventy-three homes sold in June on the Eastern Shore of the Mobile Metro area, down from the 77 sales in May in the area encompassing Spanish Fort, Daphne and Fairhope/Point Clear.
Pending sales increased from 136 in the first week of June to 157 as of July 8, 2009. Sellers also got on average 96.21% of the list price in June, compared with 95.89% in May.


Here are the stats for the Eastern Shore in June, 2009:
Total houses for sale: 1,251
Spanish Fort: 148
Daphne: 377
Fairhope: 600
Lake Forest: 126

Pending sales
Total: 157
Spanish Fort: 28
Daphne: 69
Fairhope: 42
Lake Forest: 18


Closed sales for June 2009
Total: 73
Average sales price: $252,497, down from $265,549 in May.
Median sales price: $211,400, down from $225,000 in May
List to sale percentage: 96.21%
Spanish Fort: 12
Daphne: 28
Fairhope: 23
Lake Forest: 10

(Data from the Baldwin County Multiple Listing Service

June home sales dipped slightly but pending sales and the list-to-sale percentage show that the market may be stabilizing.
Seventy-three homes sold in June on the Eastern Shore of the Mobile Metro area, down from the 77 sales in May in the area encompassing Spanish Fort, Daphne and Fairhope/Point Clear.
Pending sales increased from 136 in the first week of June to 157 as of July 8, 2009. Sellers also got on average 96.21% of the list price in June, compared with 95.89% in May.


Here are the stats for the Eastern Shore in June, 2009:
Total houses for sale: 1,251
Spanish Fort: 148
Daphne: 377
Fairhope: 600
Lake Forest: 126

Pending sales
Total: 157
Spanish Fort: 28
Daphne: 69
Fairhope: 42
Lake Forest: 18


Closed sales for June 2009
Total: 73
Average sales price: $252,497, down from $265,549 in May.
Median sales price: $211,400, down from $225,000 in May
List to sale percentage: 96.21%
Spanish Fort: 12
Daphne: 28
Fairhope: 23
Lake Forest: 10

(Data from the Baldwin County Multiple Listing Service

With the South in the grip of a record-breaking heat way, air-conditioning systems are dropping like flies. HVAC technicians are working from dawn to midnight in my area.

And as I seem to be going through one of those periods where everything starts breaking down (cars, a generator, and even my father's knee-cap), I have been able to "fix" two air-conditioners by simply catching up on routine maintenance by cleaning out the condensation overflow lines.

These lines are designed to remove the condensation created by the air-conditioner squeezing the humidity out of the air.

Your main condensation line should flow to the outside of the house. Algae and other materials can clog it over time and that's when the condensation overflow line takes over. This line usually drips to the outside in an obvious place (over a window or near a door) so you will notice it! When it starts dripping, you need to take action. If it's running a steady stream, trouble may be ahead. (Some units have a float or kill switch that will shut down the unit until you clean out the line; some units may run but not cool properly, or you may have water leak from the interior blower unit).

You need to locate the main line to clean it out and then you can maintain it by flushing it with a cup of bleach once a month during the months you are using your air-conditioning. You flush it through a capped PVC pipe located at the interior blower. If that blower is in your attic and not readily accessible, as one of mine is, then things get a little more complicated.

Here are my experiences. But I warn you: I AM NOT AN AIR-CONDITIONING

TECHNICIAN.

1. In my older personal home, the main line runs out of the attic out the eave, under the deck and some 16 feet to the edge of the patio. The secondary overflow line runs out of the eave ending in a saw-off 4- inch stub. Because of the length of the piping on my main line, my HVAC technician has back-washed it using a garden hose. He's gives it a 10 second blast of water and then repeats until the line flushes clean. We have also used a coat hanger to dislodge silt and other materials. Last week, I knew I had been successful in fixing the problem when water gushed clean and then became a steady stream out of the main line, while the overflow line drip eventually dried up. (Please note that the turtles in this photo who had made this mini-lake their home were very happy too.)

2. My parent's home is newer and both the main and overflow line come out of the slab at ground level with about 6 inches of pipe to work with. On this particular day -- this past Monday -- water was dripping from the interior blower and dampening their carpet.

With such a short length of piping to work with you obviously don't want to shoot water directly into the AC. Using a coat hanger and foot-long bottle brush, I worked from both the inside and the outside to get things flowing, not really knowing which was the main line and which was the overflow. I had to dig out dirt in and around the exterior lines before giving it a good pipe cleaning. Eventually, a chunk of gray gellatinous gunk came out of one of the lines in a gush of water. And the drip below their blower unit stopped.

Saved myself some money and saved the air-conditioning man for someone who really needed it.

May home sales increased 22 percent over April on the Eastern Shore of the Mobile Metro area.

This typical seasonal bump of 77 homes sold was still some 15 percent lower than sales in May 2008 when 91 houses closed. However, it was better than April's 53 sales in Spanish Fort, Daphne/Lake Forest and Fairhope/Point Clear.

Pending sales have declined slightly with 136 homes under contract, compared to 143 under contract this time last month.

Average sales price and median sales price both rose significantly. But this reflects the type of home selling, not that home prices are increasing across the board. In fact, May marks a milestone: The first and only home over $1 million to close on the Eastern Shore this entire year closed in May.

Here are the stats for the Eastern Shore in May, 2009:

Total houses for sale: 1,240

Spanish Fort: 141

Daphne: 372

Fairhope: 596

Lake Forest: 137

Pending sales

Total: 136

Spanish Fort: 26

Daphne: 61

Fairhope: 34

Lake Forest: 15

Closed sales for May 2009

Total: 77

Average sales price: $265,549, up from $217,849 in April.

Median sales price: $225,000, up from $206,563 in April

List to sale percentage: 95.89%

Spanish Fort: 18

Daphne: 22

Fairhope: 26

Lake Forest: 8

(Data from the Baldwin County Multiple Listing Service)

May home sales increased 22 percent over April on the Eastern Shore of the Mobile Metro area.

This typical seasonal bump of 77 homes sold was still some 15 percent lower than sales in May 2008 when 91 houses closed. However, it was better than April's 53 sales in Spanish Fort, Daphne/Lake Forest and Fairhope/Point Clear.

Pending sales have declined slightly with 136 homes under contract, compared to 143 under contract this time last month.

Average sales price and median sales price both rose significantly. But this reflects the type of home selling, not that home prices are increasing across the board. In fact, May marks a milestone: The first and only home over $1 million to close on the Eastern Shore this entire year closed in May.

Here are the stats for the Eastern Shore in May, 2009:

Total houses for sale: 1,240

Spanish Fort: 141

Daphne: 372

Fairhope: 596

Lake Forest: 137

Pending sales

Total: 136

Spanish Fort: 26

Daphne: 61

Fairhope: 34

Lake Forest: 15

Closed sales for May 2009

Total: 77

Average sales price: $265,549, up from $217,849 in April.

Median sales price: $225,000, up from $206,563 in April

List to sale percentage: 95.89%

Spanish Fort: 18

Daphne: 22

Fairhope: 26

Lake Forest: 8

(Data from the Baldwin County Multiple Listing Service)