Do March Figures Show The Emergence Of Price Stability?
If you're a real estate buyer, you might be hoping that prices will continue to drop -- and they might.
On the other hand, you might want to know that the median prices for single family homes in Pinellas County have been pretty stable for the first quarter of 2008, so you might be seeing some price stability coming back into the marketplace with prices starting to level off at or near the current level.
Let's take a look at the figures ...
Absorption Rate
Regular readers of this blog know by now that the absorption rate (AR) is determined by dividing the number of units sold in the month by the total number of listings in the MLS system.
For the month of March, 2008, the AR for single family homes stood at 5.4-percent. That's an increase from February's 4.3-percent. The March 08 figure, however, is a decrease from March '07's AR of 6.1-percent.
The AR for condos during March of '08 was the same as last month, 3.6-percent. In March of '07 the AR was 4.2-percent.
Single Family Homes
The number of listed homes in the MLS decreased a little during March, falling to 8,872 properties as compared to February's 9,005. Of course, this is a big decrease in listings as compared to the same time a year ago when March had 11,226 listed single family homes.
Single family home sales for March increased to 481 properties sold as compared to February's 390 sales. Don't start waving the flag. If you compare the number of sales for this March to March of '07 it was quite a bit better last year with some 687 properties sold then.
The median price for March was just about the same as February, $180,000 for March versus $179,000 for February. January, by the way, had a median of $176,500. That's why I mentioned at the start of this article that buyers might want to think about these prices flattening out just about where they are -- at least that has been the trend for the first quarter of 2008.
Overall, for the first quarter of 2008 versus the first quarter of 2007, sales volume of single family homes is off by 30.4-percent. Not real encouraging.
Condominiums
Condos continue to baffle me. For months I've been wondering if anybody really wanted to buy condos anymore, and suddenly they stage a bit of a comeback.
The number of condos listed in the MLS for March 2008 was 7,915 as compared to 8,117 in February. That's an increase over the number for sale during the same period last year.
The number of condos sold in March 2008 was 282. In February it was 289. So, not much change in the number of condos sold.
The median price for a condo moved up to $160,000 for March, 2008 versus February's median of $155,000.
Overall, condo sales have increased during the first quarter of 2008 versus the same time last year by 6.5-percent. That's a good sign, but exactly why condos have staged this minor increase is beyond me.
I had a conversation recently with a man who thinks real estate prices are going to fall another 40-percentage points in the coming months. When they do, he'll buy something. The figures we've just reviewed would indicate that while prices may continue to fall, the big price drop may be over and the market might be on the road to some much needed price stability -- at least, that's been the trend for the first quarter of this year based on median price analysis. Where this fellow gets his info is anybody's guess, but if you read this article you're better informed than he is.
For more information about real estate in the Tampa Bay area, please visit my website at http://www.thestpeterealestatesite.com/.
On the other hand, you might want to know that the median prices for single family homes in Pinellas County have been pretty stable for the first quarter of 2008, so you might be seeing some price stability coming back into the marketplace with prices starting to level off at or near the current level.
Let's take a look at the figures ...
Absorption Rate
Regular readers of this blog know by now that the absorption rate (AR) is determined by dividing the number of units sold in the month by the total number of listings in the MLS system.
For the month of March, 2008, the AR for single family homes stood at 5.4-percent. That's an increase from February's 4.3-percent. The March 08 figure, however, is a decrease from March '07's AR of 6.1-percent.
The AR for condos during March of '08 was the same as last month, 3.6-percent. In March of '07 the AR was 4.2-percent.
Single Family Homes
The number of listed homes in the MLS decreased a little during March, falling to 8,872 properties as compared to February's 9,005. Of course, this is a big decrease in listings as compared to the same time a year ago when March had 11,226 listed single family homes.
Single family home sales for March increased to 481 properties sold as compared to February's 390 sales. Don't start waving the flag. If you compare the number of sales for this March to March of '07 it was quite a bit better last year with some 687 properties sold then.
The median price for March was just about the same as February, $180,000 for March versus $179,000 for February. January, by the way, had a median of $176,500. That's why I mentioned at the start of this article that buyers might want to think about these prices flattening out just about where they are -- at least that has been the trend for the first quarter of 2008.
Overall, for the first quarter of 2008 versus the first quarter of 2007, sales volume of single family homes is off by 30.4-percent. Not real encouraging.
Condominiums
Condos continue to baffle me. For months I've been wondering if anybody really wanted to buy condos anymore, and suddenly they stage a bit of a comeback.
The number of condos listed in the MLS for March 2008 was 7,915 as compared to 8,117 in February. That's an increase over the number for sale during the same period last year.
The number of condos sold in March 2008 was 282. In February it was 289. So, not much change in the number of condos sold.
The median price for a condo moved up to $160,000 for March, 2008 versus February's median of $155,000.
Overall, condo sales have increased during the first quarter of 2008 versus the same time last year by 6.5-percent. That's a good sign, but exactly why condos have staged this minor increase is beyond me.
I had a conversation recently with a man who thinks real estate prices are going to fall another 40-percentage points in the coming months. When they do, he'll buy something. The figures we've just reviewed would indicate that while prices may continue to fall, the big price drop may be over and the market might be on the road to some much needed price stability -- at least, that's been the trend for the first quarter of this year based on median price analysis. Where this fellow gets his info is anybody's guess, but if you read this article you're better informed than he is.
For more information about real estate in the Tampa Bay area, please visit my website at http://www.thestpeterealestatesite.com/.
-30-
posted by Terry Ward at 7:40 AM
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