December Sales: Volume Up
December was kind of an interesting month from a statistics viewpoint for real estate in Pinellas County. The volume of sales was up, prices were down and -- of all things -- condo sales improved quite a bit.
Let's take a look ...
We'll start as always with a quick glimpse at the Absorption Rate (AR) for single family homes and condos. For those of you who may be new to this report, the AR is actually the inventory turn. It is determined by dividing the number of units sold in the month by the total number of listed properties in the Multiple Listing Service for each category.
Single Family Homes
For single family homes, the AR for December climbed to 9.8% from November's 9.6%. That's not a huge increase but these days we'll take any kind of improvement in sales. The number of listings for December was less than in November. In December, 5,928 homes were listed for sale in the MLS while in November there were 6,096. In December, some 586 single family homes were sold, and in November the number was exactly the same, 586 single family sales. So the AR improvement was the result of having fewer homes listed rather than a jump in the number of homes sold.
The median price for a single family home in Pinellas during December was down to $140,000 as compared to $145,000 for December of 2008. I'll have some comments on real estate pricing later in this article.
Condominiums
Condos actually made some improvements, and that's surprising since they've kind of been the forgotten stepchild of real estate for the past year or two.
During December, the MLS carried 5,180 condos listed for sale. That's down from November's 5,382. But here's why the AR jumped so much for condos. During December, there were 413 condos sold in Pinellas County as compared to November's 305. That's actually quite a nice improvement in volume and should give condo sellers a glimmer of hope. Maybe things will pick up as we move through the winter season.
The median price for condos, however, was not so great. The median fell from December 2008's $140,000 to December 2009's $124,900, a decrease of 10.8%. Not so hot.
Here's something interesting. Since we have finished the year statistically, I took a look at pricing to determine what price ranges are selling best. For condos the best price range was in the area of $200,000 to $249,999. Some 9.2% of all condos sold this past year were in that price range -- better than any other pricing category according to MLS data.
For single family homes, the best price range was from $120,000 to $139,999. During the past year, 10.4% of sales were made in that price range. The second best price range for houses was from $100,000 to $119,999 at 9.6%.
Now, I may not be the smartest guy in town about these things, but this bit of information kinda leads me to believe that those houses that are being bought at relatively modest prices are being bought by a lot of first time home buyers and investors. I'll bet a lot of those moderately priced homes were paid for using cash rather than a mortgage, which I think means investors are making these purchases. I have no data to back this statement up, but I have some experience in the world of real estate that leads me to believe I'm right about this.
The condos being bought in the quarter of a million dollar range lead me to believe that those are being bought as homes rather than investment property -- and not necessarily by retirees. Pinellas County is not the Mecca for retirees that it once was, and I'll bet you that a lot of those condos are being purchased by middle-aged empty nestors who are still working but want the more easy-going lifestyle available in a condo. Again, no data to back any of this up.
I noticed one more thing about pricing when I reviewed the entire year. Median prices were actually pretty flat. Sure, they were down as compared to 2008, but overall for the year the median seemed to hover around $140,000 give or take $5,000 or so on any given month. The same is pretty much true for condos -- pretty flat for the year as a whole.
Now, what does this mean? Well, it could mean that prices are beginning to reach their bottom. Of course, a new influx of short sales and foreclosures during 2010 could drive prices even lower so we have to watch what the bankers will be doing on that score. But if distress properties can remain off the market, we just might be beginning to see the end of these falling prices and perhaps, just perhaps, be seeing some stability returning to the local real estate market. Only time will tell.
Anyway, it's been an interesting year.
Happy Selling!
-30-
Let's take a look ...
We'll start as always with a quick glimpse at the Absorption Rate (AR) for single family homes and condos. For those of you who may be new to this report, the AR is actually the inventory turn. It is determined by dividing the number of units sold in the month by the total number of listed properties in the Multiple Listing Service for each category.
Single Family Homes
For single family homes, the AR for December climbed to 9.8% from November's 9.6%. That's not a huge increase but these days we'll take any kind of improvement in sales. The number of listings for December was less than in November. In December, 5,928 homes were listed for sale in the MLS while in November there were 6,096. In December, some 586 single family homes were sold, and in November the number was exactly the same, 586 single family sales. So the AR improvement was the result of having fewer homes listed rather than a jump in the number of homes sold.
The median price for a single family home in Pinellas during December was down to $140,000 as compared to $145,000 for December of 2008. I'll have some comments on real estate pricing later in this article.
Condominiums
Condos actually made some improvements, and that's surprising since they've kind of been the forgotten stepchild of real estate for the past year or two.
During December, the MLS carried 5,180 condos listed for sale. That's down from November's 5,382. But here's why the AR jumped so much for condos. During December, there were 413 condos sold in Pinellas County as compared to November's 305. That's actually quite a nice improvement in volume and should give condo sellers a glimmer of hope. Maybe things will pick up as we move through the winter season.
The median price for condos, however, was not so great. The median fell from December 2008's $140,000 to December 2009's $124,900, a decrease of 10.8%. Not so hot.
Here's something interesting. Since we have finished the year statistically, I took a look at pricing to determine what price ranges are selling best. For condos the best price range was in the area of $200,000 to $249,999. Some 9.2% of all condos sold this past year were in that price range -- better than any other pricing category according to MLS data.
For single family homes, the best price range was from $120,000 to $139,999. During the past year, 10.4% of sales were made in that price range. The second best price range for houses was from $100,000 to $119,999 at 9.6%.
Now, I may not be the smartest guy in town about these things, but this bit of information kinda leads me to believe that those houses that are being bought at relatively modest prices are being bought by a lot of first time home buyers and investors. I'll bet a lot of those moderately priced homes were paid for using cash rather than a mortgage, which I think means investors are making these purchases. I have no data to back this statement up, but I have some experience in the world of real estate that leads me to believe I'm right about this.
The condos being bought in the quarter of a million dollar range lead me to believe that those are being bought as homes rather than investment property -- and not necessarily by retirees. Pinellas County is not the Mecca for retirees that it once was, and I'll bet you that a lot of those condos are being purchased by middle-aged empty nestors who are still working but want the more easy-going lifestyle available in a condo. Again, no data to back any of this up.
I noticed one more thing about pricing when I reviewed the entire year. Median prices were actually pretty flat. Sure, they were down as compared to 2008, but overall for the year the median seemed to hover around $140,000 give or take $5,000 or so on any given month. The same is pretty much true for condos -- pretty flat for the year as a whole.
Now, what does this mean? Well, it could mean that prices are beginning to reach their bottom. Of course, a new influx of short sales and foreclosures during 2010 could drive prices even lower so we have to watch what the bankers will be doing on that score. But if distress properties can remain off the market, we just might be beginning to see the end of these falling prices and perhaps, just perhaps, be seeing some stability returning to the local real estate market. Only time will tell.
Anyway, it's been an interesting year.
Happy Selling!
-30-
posted by Terry Ward at 7:31 AM
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