As I’ve said on several occasions it’s been an exciting last few years in Real Estate both locally and for Florida. Yes, I said “exciting”. It has been because there are a great deal of positives. All “markets” will naturally have their ups and downs. Real Estate is no different. What happened a few years ago was unprecedented that’s for sure. But the good news is that we are seeing “market correction” here in Florida. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look at residential house sales for Florida going back to 1994 through 2010 (stats provided by the Florida Association of Realtors):
Number of House Sales For Florida 1994 to 2010
2011 totals and are waiting on December numbers, but the state and local markets exceeded last year in terms of quantity of sales. Notice that rise towards the end and then take a look at the level it’s getting back to. Market correction. Demand is important because if people aren’t buying then price can not recover.
In terms of the local market we are seeing a similar month-to-month trend in activity with slight increases each year. 2009 appears a bit strange graphically, but this was due to the expiring Home Buyer tax credit that pushed activity up during that year and number of sales finishing about 1% higher than the year before. Let’s take a look (Information based upon the Flagler County Association of Realtors MLS. Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed):
Number of Residential House Sales For Flagler County Month-to-Month
The positive thing here is activity trends remaining similar. This is key to knowing the better times to plan if you are thinking of selling. For example if you place your house on the market for sale in January or February, your expectation should be that you will most likely see lower levels of activity. The reason really isn’t “the market” but rather the normalcy or the local trends in activity. Likewise, contrary to common assumptions . . . December is actually an active month for Real Estate locally. Look at the consistent upticks for December each of the last 3 years.
Things are looking up, and we are seeing some great positives locally and at state level. The numbers tell the story.