May Real Estate Stats Look Good For Pinellas
Wow! Real estate is looking up in Pinellas County!
Let's start this month's review with the Absorption Rate (AR). The AR is the inventory turn and essentially tells us how long it will take to sell all the property in the MLS.
For single family homes, the AR for May was 27.2% as compared to April's 25.4%. Essentially, this means that it would take 3.7 months to sell all the houses in the Pinellas MLS system given today's market demand. A 6-month turn is considered a market in equilibrium between buyers and sellers, so a 3.7-month turn indicates that we are now in a seller's market and that inventory levels are likely decreasing. In point of fact, the single family AR has improved each month in 2012 since January's 14.5% level. So, this is good news for sellers. Clearly, the market for single family homes has greatly improved.
The AR for condos in Pinellas did not fare as well as for single family homes. For May, the condo AR dropped to 18.8% from April's 20.4%. Even so, this is a lot better than the AR's from 2007 and 2008 when it took many additional months to clear condo inventory. Based on an 18.8% AR, the current condo inventory would turn in about 5.3 months. So, it's a market close to being in equilibrium between buyers and sellers, with a slight edge to sellers.
Listings & Sales
Single Family Home ...
For single family homes, there were 3,217 properties listed for sale in the Pinellas MLS system at the end of May. This is down slightly from April's listing level of 3,288. It is important to note that listed inventory in Pinellas County has declined every month in 2012. This means buyers have fewer options and sellers have a better chance of selling their homes.
The sales total for May stood at 874 single family homes sold. This is an increase over April's sales record of 835 single family sales. Sales volume has increased each month in 2012 since January's level of 558 sales.
Now for the important part. The median price of a single family home in Pinellas County for May was $135,000 as compared to May 2011's median price of only $117,000. This means that buyers are paying more for homes today than they were a year ago. This good news for sellers, bad news for buyers.
Condominiums ...
In the condo world, there were 3,303 condos in the Pinellas MLS in May. In April, there were 3,424. That's quite a difference. Again, buyers have fewer choices now than in the past.
Condo sales for May were 620 as compared to April's sales of 700. I think this drop reflects the seasonality of condominium purchases in Pinellas County. It seems to me that condo sales usually do better during the winter months than in the spring and summer. I think these figures reflect the seasonality of the inventory.
Finally, condo sales have made a big jump in value in the past year. This May, the median condo price in Pinellas was $94,000. In May of last year, it was only $79,400. That's an 18.4% increase in median price during the last twelve months.
So, what can we draw from this data?
First of all, I think we can see a real improvement in the real estate market in Pinellas County. Inventory is down, sales are up and prices seem to be modestly rising. That's what we have been waiting for throughout this real estate downturn that started so long ago.
Second, I think that if you are a buyer who has not purchased a property in the last year or two because you felt like you could "time" the market and get the "last great real estate deal in Pinellas County", well, you missed your chance. It is virtually impossible to time a market upturn (or downturn) unless you have day-to-day market statistics and know how to interpret that data. I felt like the market turned several months ago and wrote about it in this blog site. These good numbers today show that I was correct, otherwise I would not be able to report numbers like this now.
Yes, there are still short sales and foreclosures out there -- plenty of them. But have you noticed how the initial asking price on many of these distressed properties have gone up in the last few months? There used to be lots of property listed at from $35,000 to $55,000, and some of it was in good shape in acceptable neighborhoods. Today, not so much. That means you probably mis-timed the market and now will have to pay more. I think your only chance now is to buy immediately before prices climb again -- or wait for another real estate bubble to burst in who knows how many years.
Happy Selling!
Let's start this month's review with the Absorption Rate (AR). The AR is the inventory turn and essentially tells us how long it will take to sell all the property in the MLS.
For single family homes, the AR for May was 27.2% as compared to April's 25.4%. Essentially, this means that it would take 3.7 months to sell all the houses in the Pinellas MLS system given today's market demand. A 6-month turn is considered a market in equilibrium between buyers and sellers, so a 3.7-month turn indicates that we are now in a seller's market and that inventory levels are likely decreasing. In point of fact, the single family AR has improved each month in 2012 since January's 14.5% level. So, this is good news for sellers. Clearly, the market for single family homes has greatly improved.
The AR for condos in Pinellas did not fare as well as for single family homes. For May, the condo AR dropped to 18.8% from April's 20.4%. Even so, this is a lot better than the AR's from 2007 and 2008 when it took many additional months to clear condo inventory. Based on an 18.8% AR, the current condo inventory would turn in about 5.3 months. So, it's a market close to being in equilibrium between buyers and sellers, with a slight edge to sellers.
Listings & Sales
Single Family Home ...
For single family homes, there were 3,217 properties listed for sale in the Pinellas MLS system at the end of May. This is down slightly from April's listing level of 3,288. It is important to note that listed inventory in Pinellas County has declined every month in 2012. This means buyers have fewer options and sellers have a better chance of selling their homes.
The sales total for May stood at 874 single family homes sold. This is an increase over April's sales record of 835 single family sales. Sales volume has increased each month in 2012 since January's level of 558 sales.
Now for the important part. The median price of a single family home in Pinellas County for May was $135,000 as compared to May 2011's median price of only $117,000. This means that buyers are paying more for homes today than they were a year ago. This good news for sellers, bad news for buyers.
Condominiums ...
In the condo world, there were 3,303 condos in the Pinellas MLS in May. In April, there were 3,424. That's quite a difference. Again, buyers have fewer choices now than in the past.
Condo sales for May were 620 as compared to April's sales of 700. I think this drop reflects the seasonality of condominium purchases in Pinellas County. It seems to me that condo sales usually do better during the winter months than in the spring and summer. I think these figures reflect the seasonality of the inventory.
Finally, condo sales have made a big jump in value in the past year. This May, the median condo price in Pinellas was $94,000. In May of last year, it was only $79,400. That's an 18.4% increase in median price during the last twelve months.
So, what can we draw from this data?
First of all, I think we can see a real improvement in the real estate market in Pinellas County. Inventory is down, sales are up and prices seem to be modestly rising. That's what we have been waiting for throughout this real estate downturn that started so long ago.
Second, I think that if you are a buyer who has not purchased a property in the last year or two because you felt like you could "time" the market and get the "last great real estate deal in Pinellas County", well, you missed your chance. It is virtually impossible to time a market upturn (or downturn) unless you have day-to-day market statistics and know how to interpret that data. I felt like the market turned several months ago and wrote about it in this blog site. These good numbers today show that I was correct, otherwise I would not be able to report numbers like this now.
Yes, there are still short sales and foreclosures out there -- plenty of them. But have you noticed how the initial asking price on many of these distressed properties have gone up in the last few months? There used to be lots of property listed at from $35,000 to $55,000, and some of it was in good shape in acceptable neighborhoods. Today, not so much. That means you probably mis-timed the market and now will have to pay more. I think your only chance now is to buy immediately before prices climb again -- or wait for another real estate bubble to burst in who knows how many years.
Happy Selling!
-30-
posted by Terry Ward at 9:03 AM
1 Comments:
Love reading how the stats were during May of that year as compared to how they are now! SHELTER | Urban Real Estat http://www.SHELTERtampa.com
Post a Comment
<< Home