December Sales Figures Are Not Encouraging
I'm doing my best to find the silver lining in this dark real estate cloud, but the December sales figures don't have much shimmer.
As usual we'll start by examining the Absorption Rate (AR) for December. The AR is the inventory turn; it's determined by dividing the number of units sold by the total number of properties listed in the MLS system for the month.
For single family homes, the AR was 5.1-percent. That's up from November's 4.4-percent AR, but is still the 9th lowest AR for the year.
For condominiums, the AR for December was 3.4-percent. It too is up from November's 3.0-percent figure, but ranks as the 7th worst month of 2007.
Single Family Home Data
The number of single family homes listed in the MLS system fell during the month of December. This is good news if you are trying to sell a home because it means there is a little less inventory competing against you. In December, there were 8,760 homes listed as compared to 9,181 in November and 9,228 in October. I grant you that's not a big inventory drop, but something is better than nothing. This drop in inventory is also the reason the AR went up this month -- it has nothing to do with sales. December was actually the second worst month of the year for single family home sales. Only 447 homes were sold in Pinellas County during December.
Here's something else single family home sellers need to consider. The December median selling price in Pinellas County was $184,900. Compared to the same period in 2006, that's a drop in median selling price of 13-percent in one year, or about 1-percent per month. To be candid, median prices now appear to be tracking with the same monthly medians we saw during 2004. So, if you bought toward the top of the market in 2004-2005, your property's market value might be less today than what you paid for it. If you want to sell it, you just might take a loss.
Condominium Data
The number of condos listed in the MLS took a nosedive in December. Why? I don't know, unless it is because a lot of condo sellers simply decided to take their units off the market and hope for better selling conditions sometime in the future. The net result is that those who keep their units on the market may have a little better chance to sell them -- the operative word there is "may".
The MLS has reported 7,957 condos for sale during December in Pinellas County. In November there were 8,325 units for sale. The reduction in listings did not result from condo sales, however, as only 267 condos were sold in the county during December; that's the 4th worst month in 2007.
The median selling price for condos increased significantly during December, jumping to $176,200 from November's $150,000 median. Still, these December prices reflect a year-to-year median drop of 12.9-percent for condos.
Overall, 2007 was a crummy year for real estate -- but I don't have to tell you that. There were more properties listed in the MLS in 2007 than in 2006 -- so, it was harder to sell property due to increased competition. In addition, 2007 saw fewer sales than were posted in 2006 -- probably because there were fewer buyers willing to make offers. Based on pure old sales volume, 2007 saw fewer properties sold than any year in the last five years.
Like I said, December was not encouraging.
For more information on real estate in Tampa Bay, please visit my website at http://www.thestpeterealestatesite.com/.
As usual we'll start by examining the Absorption Rate (AR) for December. The AR is the inventory turn; it's determined by dividing the number of units sold by the total number of properties listed in the MLS system for the month.
For single family homes, the AR was 5.1-percent. That's up from November's 4.4-percent AR, but is still the 9th lowest AR for the year.
For condominiums, the AR for December was 3.4-percent. It too is up from November's 3.0-percent figure, but ranks as the 7th worst month of 2007.
Single Family Home Data
The number of single family homes listed in the MLS system fell during the month of December. This is good news if you are trying to sell a home because it means there is a little less inventory competing against you. In December, there were 8,760 homes listed as compared to 9,181 in November and 9,228 in October. I grant you that's not a big inventory drop, but something is better than nothing. This drop in inventory is also the reason the AR went up this month -- it has nothing to do with sales. December was actually the second worst month of the year for single family home sales. Only 447 homes were sold in Pinellas County during December.
Here's something else single family home sellers need to consider. The December median selling price in Pinellas County was $184,900. Compared to the same period in 2006, that's a drop in median selling price of 13-percent in one year, or about 1-percent per month. To be candid, median prices now appear to be tracking with the same monthly medians we saw during 2004. So, if you bought toward the top of the market in 2004-2005, your property's market value might be less today than what you paid for it. If you want to sell it, you just might take a loss.
Condominium Data
The number of condos listed in the MLS took a nosedive in December. Why? I don't know, unless it is because a lot of condo sellers simply decided to take their units off the market and hope for better selling conditions sometime in the future. The net result is that those who keep their units on the market may have a little better chance to sell them -- the operative word there is "may".
The MLS has reported 7,957 condos for sale during December in Pinellas County. In November there were 8,325 units for sale. The reduction in listings did not result from condo sales, however, as only 267 condos were sold in the county during December; that's the 4th worst month in 2007.
The median selling price for condos increased significantly during December, jumping to $176,200 from November's $150,000 median. Still, these December prices reflect a year-to-year median drop of 12.9-percent for condos.
Overall, 2007 was a crummy year for real estate -- but I don't have to tell you that. There were more properties listed in the MLS in 2007 than in 2006 -- so, it was harder to sell property due to increased competition. In addition, 2007 saw fewer sales than were posted in 2006 -- probably because there were fewer buyers willing to make offers. Based on pure old sales volume, 2007 saw fewer properties sold than any year in the last five years.
Like I said, December was not encouraging.
For more information on real estate in Tampa Bay, please visit my website at http://www.thestpeterealestatesite.com/.
-30-
posted by Terry Ward at 5:11 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home