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The Truth About Recent Real Estate Sales Numbers
By Chad Miller | February 15, 2010
Over the past 90 days or so I have seen numerous news sources report that real estate sales are up. In fact, I saw one today reported by the Florida Association of Realtors. The article reported
“Feb. 11, 2010 – Sales of existing single-family homes in Florida rose 44 percent in fourth quarter 2009 compared to the same period a year earlier, according to the latest housing statistics from Florida Realtors®. A total of 43,926 existing homes sold statewide in 4Q 2009; during the same period the year before, a total of 30,610 existing homes sold. It marks the sixth consecutive quarter that Florida has seen higher existing year-to-year home sales, according to the state association.”
This information can be misinterpreted. It may be encouraging that existing home sales are up but the increase in sales come from foreclosures and short sales which are driving prices down.
After reading the Florida Association of Realtors article, I pulled the numbers from the Panama City MLS to see how many foreclosures and short sales sold in 2008 and 2009. We had 296 foreclosures and short sales in 2008 and 1119 foreclosures and short sales in 2009. This is discouraging news when it comes to prices because lenders list foreclosures at or below today’s market value and if the property is not under contract in the first 30 days the price is reduced on average 5 percent. This process is driving our average sales price down. In fact, the average sales price in Bay County dropped 14 percent from $220,829.33 in 2008 to $190,611 in 2009.
You may be asking yourself, why would a real estate agent report this. It’s simple, sellers need to know. Sellers need to know real numbers and have real information to make smart decisions. In today’s market you aren’t competing against Mr. and Mrs. Jones from down the street, you’re competing against large banks and desperate developers and distressed sellers. The only thing selling in today’s market is price. Don’t be misled.
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