July Real Estate Looked Pretty Flat
July appears to have been a pretty flat month for real estate in Pinellas County, Florida. I guess it's a combination of things ... and some of it probably has to do with just the summer doldrums.
Let's take a look at how real estate did ...
For single family homes, the absorption rate (AR) stood at 29.8% for July, That means it would have taken 3.35 months to clear all the single family homes in the inventory. That's not too bad and, in all honesty, is pretty close to June's AR of 29.1%. By comparison, the AR for July of 2009 stood at 11.1%, meaning it would have taken about 9 months to sell the available homes in the MLS. As you can see, the market has certainly improved in the last three years.
Condo sales, however, seemed to have slipped a little in the last month. For July, the AR for condos in Pinellas was 16.8%. So, it would have taken almost 6 months to sell the listed inventory. In June, the AR for condos was 18.9%, or about 5-1/2 months to sell the inventory. I think this reflects the seasonality of condo sales in Pinellas County. If you think back to July of 2009, the condo AR stood at 6.9%, meaning it would have taken 14-1/2 months to sell the inventory at that time. Quite a change for the better!
Single Family Sales
In July, the MLS showed a total of 3,024 single family homes listed for sale in Pinellas County. In June, the total number of homes was 3,160. As you can see, the Pinellas home inventory continues to slip each month. If we were to go back to July of 2007, there were 9,198 homes listed for sale. So, we have about 1/3 as many homes listed for sale today as we did five years ago. This is probably good news for sellers, but bad news for buyers. As you recall from basic Econ class, scarcity coupled with high demand causes prices to increase.
Sales for July were about the same as they were for June. A total of 900 homes were sold in July as compared to June's 918 -- not much of a difference. In July of 2007 -- despite that big number of homes on the market -- only 541 were sold. Going back to that Econ class you took, remember that oversupply and lack of demand causes prices to drop.
Reflecting this supply/demand cycle, the median price for a single family home in Pinellas County in July 2012 now stands at $137,600 as compared to July 2011's median price of $122,500. That's an increase of median price of 12.3% in the last year.
Condominium Sales
Unlike single family home sales, condo listings actually increased between June and July. In June, we had 3,223 listed properties and in July we had 3,272. So, there are about 50 more condo units listed in the county. Good news for buyers -- a few more from which to select. The big selection numbers were in July of 2007, however, when there were 8,614 condos listed for sale in Pinellas County alone!
Condo sales, however, slumped in July as compared to June. In July, only 551 condos made it to the closing table whereas 610 condos were closed in June. So, more inventory and fewer sales. That tells me condo prices should be falling.
I'm right! In July 2011 the median price for condos in Pinellas County stood at $92,000 but in July of 2012 it was only $90,000. That a drop in median price of 2.2% for condos. Hey, it's basic economics!
Oh, just so you remember, in July of 2007 only 319 condos were sold out of those 8,614 that were listed ... so, we're doing a lot better today!
Well, that's the July report. I'd give a slight edge to sellers of single family homes and to buyers of condos. Let's see what happens in the fall!
Happy Selling!
Let's take a look at how real estate did ...
For single family homes, the absorption rate (AR) stood at 29.8% for July, That means it would have taken 3.35 months to clear all the single family homes in the inventory. That's not too bad and, in all honesty, is pretty close to June's AR of 29.1%. By comparison, the AR for July of 2009 stood at 11.1%, meaning it would have taken about 9 months to sell the available homes in the MLS. As you can see, the market has certainly improved in the last three years.
Condo sales, however, seemed to have slipped a little in the last month. For July, the AR for condos in Pinellas was 16.8%. So, it would have taken almost 6 months to sell the listed inventory. In June, the AR for condos was 18.9%, or about 5-1/2 months to sell the inventory. I think this reflects the seasonality of condo sales in Pinellas County. If you think back to July of 2009, the condo AR stood at 6.9%, meaning it would have taken 14-1/2 months to sell the inventory at that time. Quite a change for the better!
Single Family Sales
In July, the MLS showed a total of 3,024 single family homes listed for sale in Pinellas County. In June, the total number of homes was 3,160. As you can see, the Pinellas home inventory continues to slip each month. If we were to go back to July of 2007, there were 9,198 homes listed for sale. So, we have about 1/3 as many homes listed for sale today as we did five years ago. This is probably good news for sellers, but bad news for buyers. As you recall from basic Econ class, scarcity coupled with high demand causes prices to increase.
Sales for July were about the same as they were for June. A total of 900 homes were sold in July as compared to June's 918 -- not much of a difference. In July of 2007 -- despite that big number of homes on the market -- only 541 were sold. Going back to that Econ class you took, remember that oversupply and lack of demand causes prices to drop.
Reflecting this supply/demand cycle, the median price for a single family home in Pinellas County in July 2012 now stands at $137,600 as compared to July 2011's median price of $122,500. That's an increase of median price of 12.3% in the last year.
Condominium Sales
Unlike single family home sales, condo listings actually increased between June and July. In June, we had 3,223 listed properties and in July we had 3,272. So, there are about 50 more condo units listed in the county. Good news for buyers -- a few more from which to select. The big selection numbers were in July of 2007, however, when there were 8,614 condos listed for sale in Pinellas County alone!
Condo sales, however, slumped in July as compared to June. In July, only 551 condos made it to the closing table whereas 610 condos were closed in June. So, more inventory and fewer sales. That tells me condo prices should be falling.
I'm right! In July 2011 the median price for condos in Pinellas County stood at $92,000 but in July of 2012 it was only $90,000. That a drop in median price of 2.2% for condos. Hey, it's basic economics!
Oh, just so you remember, in July of 2007 only 319 condos were sold out of those 8,614 that were listed ... so, we're doing a lot better today!
Well, that's the July report. I'd give a slight edge to sellers of single family homes and to buyers of condos. Let's see what happens in the fall!
Happy Selling!
-30-
posted by Terry Ward at 8:14 AM
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