April 2008 - Real Estate Sales Summary

April 2008 Sales Summary
(Based on Sales Statistics from Emerald Coast Association of Realtors)


By Murray Balkcom, Realtor

Coldwell Banker United, Realtors


Many people having been impatiently waiting for the market to swing upward. Many others have been hoping the prices will continue to dip downward. Buyers and sellers get excited about different things. The national news tends to be based on people who bought in 2004 and 2005, while forgetting how exciting it must be a buyer right now. Interest rates continue to be at historical lows, and many real estate prices are also at recent lows. Inventory is high, and selection is wide open. Buyers are in a great position right now, and I think they are secretly drooling with the opportunities before them.

Who is buying real estate? As the lenders tighten up on their lending habits, people with cash are buying real estate in South Walton. Fifty percent of the residential land sales in South Walton, during April 2008, were cash sales. Home sales (detached, attached and condos) in South Walton were slightly different, with 36% being cash sales, still outnumbered by sales with conventional financing (41%). How does this compare to the same period in 2007? Twenty-Four percent of South Walton home sales in April 2007 were cash sales. For home sales in Feb and Mar 2007, cash sales were 13% for each month. Feb and Mar 2008 showed cash sales at 33% for each month. Currently, cash is king.

Overall, compared to March 2008, there is nothing in particular which grabs my attention with the April 2008 Sales. Residential lot sales in South Walton are up 50%, but with only twenty-one sales, I’m not sure that the percentage is very meaningful. Inventory is still relatively high for residential lots, but it is worth noting that the levels have decreased back down to the levels of June 2005, which was the sales peak of the market. Ideally, I’d like to see this number decrease by half, but I’m not sure we will get there soon. With 50% of the sales being cash sales, it is not surprising to me that we are seeing the selling price average about 85% of the listing price for residential lot sales in South Walton.

Regarding home sales (detached, attached, and condos) for April 2008, I am glad to see the sales numbers hold tight to March 2008 sales, which were up over Jan and Feb '08. That gives us two fairly strong, consecutive months of sales, and the average sales price is up 30% over March 2008. Again, it is no surprise with so many cash sales, that the selling price averages 16% off the listing price. Inventory continues to slowly trend down, but relatively speaking, it is still rather high, giving much selection to buyers.

As I mentioned the average sales price for homes is up 30% over March sales. When I break it down, it appears that the greatest increase in average sales price is in the category of Detached Single Family Homes in the South Walton area from Mack Bayou to Bay County. Quantity of sales in that area remained fairly stable, and the average sales price increased 82% over March 2008 sales.

Buyers continue to stay away from townhome purchases in the 30A area of South Walton, but we finally saw two sales, after four months of no sales. As a buyer, this may be worth looking into as a potential for a good buy.

We see positive growth of sales for condos in the area from Sandestin to Okaloosa County. We’ve seen four consecutive months of increased quantity of sales as well as increasing average sales prices. Inventory has tapered only slightly over the last four months, but remains at all time historical highs, again, giving buyers plenty of choice.

Although Freeport grew very quiet for a while, we are beginning to see a little activity in detached single family home sales in that area. Average sales price remained steady from March sales, and the number of sales doubled over Mar 2008 sales, though the total number of sales was still relatively low. Sale prices for this category were fairly high compared to average list prices, with the variance being only 6.5%, which is stronger than single family detached sales in any other area.

With so many of today’s buyers being conservative cash buyers, I think they will be a catalyst which excites other buyers who have been sitting on the sidelines for a while. Only time will tell.

Please remember that statistics are only statistics, and it is possible for many interpretations to exist. My goal is to give you an accurate portrayal of sales in my above summary. I’ll gladly do further research to pinpoint sales, peak or extreme numbers, or anything else which may catch your eye in the numbers. Just let me know.