Tuesday, November 24, 2009
The Herald Tribune is reporting today that home sales in Sarasota are up 50%!!
I'm reminded of the Mark Twain quote: "There are three kinds of lies; lies, damned lies, and statistics".
As I've stated before, I think everyone in the business is seeing more activity but that doesn't mean we're out of the woods just yet.
Here are the "statistics" for condos in the downtown/Lido area as of October 2009 (taken from Tredgraphix):
Listings are up 3.2% since last month, down 9% since last year, and down 5.9% from 15 months ago.
Sales are down 40% since last month, up 20% since last year, and down 18.2% from 15 months ago.
Pending Sales are up 59.1% since last month, up 250% since last year, and up 118.8% from 15 months ago.
The only trend I see from these stats is that pending sales are way up. I've explained recently that a large portion of these pending sales are "short sales" which take longer to close and often never do.
I remain positive for the long term future of sales and a return of slowly escalating prices in the downtown area. I'm also encouraged by the "type" of buyer we're seeing recently. One that is looking for the Sarasota lifestyle and will actually USE the condo at least part of the year. Very few buyers are looking at the purchase option as purely an investment. That's probably a good thing.
I'm reminded of the Mark Twain quote: "There are three kinds of lies; lies, damned lies, and statistics".
As I've stated before, I think everyone in the business is seeing more activity but that doesn't mean we're out of the woods just yet.
Here are the "statistics" for condos in the downtown/Lido area as of October 2009 (taken from Tredgraphix):
Listings are up 3.2% since last month, down 9% since last year, and down 5.9% from 15 months ago.
Sales are down 40% since last month, up 20% since last year, and down 18.2% from 15 months ago.
Pending Sales are up 59.1% since last month, up 250% since last year, and up 118.8% from 15 months ago.
The only trend I see from these stats is that pending sales are way up. I've explained recently that a large portion of these pending sales are "short sales" which take longer to close and often never do.
I remain positive for the long term future of sales and a return of slowly escalating prices in the downtown area. I'm also encouraged by the "type" of buyer we're seeing recently. One that is looking for the Sarasota lifestyle and will actually USE the condo at least part of the year. Very few buyers are looking at the purchase option as purely an investment. That's probably a good thing.
Labels: Statistics
Monday, November 23, 2009
Yes things are getting better in general, but what's happening with downtown Sarasota condos?
My last post hailed the fact that existing home sales are up an astounding 10% nationally, but all real estate is very localized. People want to know what's happening in my town, my neighborhood, even my street or condo!!
Here are some facts for the zip code 34236 which includes condos on Lido along with the downtown area:
1. There are still about 400 condos on the market. This number has not changed appreciably for most of 2009.
2. There are 63 pending sales. This is up almost 250% from a year ago but 60% of them are "short sales or bank owned" meaning they may never close. Many have been in pending status for several months which has swollen this category out of proportion. If one assumes that only 20% of those pending short sales will eventually close, then the real number of pending sales is more in line with the current sales volume.
3. Sales for the last 3 months have averaged 22.3 per month. 19% of those sales are either bank owned or short sales. This means we still have about 18 months of inventory on hand and most economists believe that a 6 month supply represents a healthy, balanced market. It also shows that the sellers in this market must compete with the bank owned and short sales head to head...these cheap "under priced" comps are no longer an anomaly that the seller or potential seller can dismiss.
A year ago it was very difficult to say what some of these properties were worth because there hadn't been enough recent sales to justify ANY offer. Now, at least, there have been sales and buyers are feeling more comfortable to make offers in line with those sales.
In the final analysis, I do think we are building a base here at the end of 2009 and prices will SLOWLY move upward from here. The best inventory is getting picked up and prices have been stabilizing. My co-workers and I are seeing an increase in activity with showings and offers and October/November is usually a very quiet time of year!
My last post hailed the fact that existing home sales are up an astounding 10% nationally, but all real estate is very localized. People want to know what's happening in my town, my neighborhood, even my street or condo!!
Here are some facts for the zip code 34236 which includes condos on Lido along with the downtown area:
1. There are still about 400 condos on the market. This number has not changed appreciably for most of 2009.
2. There are 63 pending sales. This is up almost 250% from a year ago but 60% of them are "short sales or bank owned" meaning they may never close. Many have been in pending status for several months which has swollen this category out of proportion. If one assumes that only 20% of those pending short sales will eventually close, then the real number of pending sales is more in line with the current sales volume.
3. Sales for the last 3 months have averaged 22.3 per month. 19% of those sales are either bank owned or short sales. This means we still have about 18 months of inventory on hand and most economists believe that a 6 month supply represents a healthy, balanced market. It also shows that the sellers in this market must compete with the bank owned and short sales head to head...these cheap "under priced" comps are no longer an anomaly that the seller or potential seller can dismiss.
A year ago it was very difficult to say what some of these properties were worth because there hadn't been enough recent sales to justify ANY offer. Now, at least, there have been sales and buyers are feeling more comfortable to make offers in line with those sales.
In the final analysis, I do think we are building a base here at the end of 2009 and prices will SLOWLY move upward from here. The best inventory is getting picked up and prices have been stabilizing. My co-workers and I are seeing an increase in activity with showings and offers and October/November is usually a very quiet time of year!
Labels: Local market - downtown condos in Sarasota
Existing Home Sales in the United States Rise in October by a Staggering 10.1 Percent!
The U.S. housing market is showing more signs of increased activity, as cheap home values and the ongoing support from the U.S. government through tax credits for first time buyers continue to support activity in the housing sector, yet the housing market is still stabilizing amid the worst slump since the early 1930s and we should expect activity to increase only gradually, since rising unemployment, tightened credit conditions, and rising foreclosures will continue to weigh down on activity in the housing market.
The National Association for Realtors released today the existing home sales index for the month of October, existing home sales increase in October by a staggering 10.1% to an annual rate of 6.10 million units from the prior revised estimate of 5.54 million units, where single family home sales increase by 9.7%, and Condos sales increased by 13.2%.
Moreover, the supply for pre-owned homes available for sale declined noticeably in October to 7.0 months from the prior reported estimate of 8.0 months of worth of supply, as the median price dropped in October to $173.100 from $176.000, while average prices for homes declined to $218.100 from $221,000.
Cheap home values continues to support activity in the housing market, as it’s luring consumers into buying homes, while the tax credit program from the government for first time buyers which was extended by President Obama indeed continues to support activity as well, as though the housing market is still stabilizing and we probably won’t see a sustained recovery in activity, but still activity overall is rising.
However, we still expect the housing market to remain under pressure, especially as unemployment is now standing at a 26-year high above 10%, while the outlook for the labor market still suggests that unemployment will probably rise further over the upcoming few months before it starts to drop back probably within next year.
Rising unemployment will l surely affect activity in the housing market, as income growth will drop and accordingly consumer spending will decrease and savings on the other hand will increase, and since consumers are still rather uncertain over the outlook for the economy, they will continue to save rather than spending money, and considering credit conditions are still tight, we should expect activity in the housing market to be negatively affected, which means that the recovery won’t be to continue over a strong pace.
Yet still we are past the worst of this housing crisis, as the housing market seemingly managed to reach its bottom and started to rebound slightly, though activity is still stabilizing but the housing market is indeed improving, and that could provide a solid base for any upcoming recovery for housing market activity, though we still expect the housing market to continue being under pressure at least in the first half of next year.
However, this was still good news for investors, as equity markets rose strongly in today’s early trading session, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average index rose so far by 1.65% and was last traded at 10488.81, while the S&P 500 index rose by 20.14 points to trade at 1111.52, and the NASDAQ Composite index rose by almost 2% to reach 2187.91, data as of 10:18 New York time.
this article was copied from E-News.
The U.S. housing market is showing more signs of increased activity, as cheap home values and the ongoing support from the U.S. government through tax credits for first time buyers continue to support activity in the housing sector, yet the housing market is still stabilizing amid the worst slump since the early 1930s and we should expect activity to increase only gradually, since rising unemployment, tightened credit conditions, and rising foreclosures will continue to weigh down on activity in the housing market.
The National Association for Realtors released today the existing home sales index for the month of October, existing home sales increase in October by a staggering 10.1% to an annual rate of 6.10 million units from the prior revised estimate of 5.54 million units, where single family home sales increase by 9.7%, and Condos sales increased by 13.2%.
Moreover, the supply for pre-owned homes available for sale declined noticeably in October to 7.0 months from the prior reported estimate of 8.0 months of worth of supply, as the median price dropped in October to $173.100 from $176.000, while average prices for homes declined to $218.100 from $221,000.
Cheap home values continues to support activity in the housing market, as it’s luring consumers into buying homes, while the tax credit program from the government for first time buyers which was extended by President Obama indeed continues to support activity as well, as though the housing market is still stabilizing and we probably won’t see a sustained recovery in activity, but still activity overall is rising.
However, we still expect the housing market to remain under pressure, especially as unemployment is now standing at a 26-year high above 10%, while the outlook for the labor market still suggests that unemployment will probably rise further over the upcoming few months before it starts to drop back probably within next year.
Rising unemployment will l surely affect activity in the housing market, as income growth will drop and accordingly consumer spending will decrease and savings on the other hand will increase, and since consumers are still rather uncertain over the outlook for the economy, they will continue to save rather than spending money, and considering credit conditions are still tight, we should expect activity in the housing market to be negatively affected, which means that the recovery won’t be to continue over a strong pace.
Yet still we are past the worst of this housing crisis, as the housing market seemingly managed to reach its bottom and started to rebound slightly, though activity is still stabilizing but the housing market is indeed improving, and that could provide a solid base for any upcoming recovery for housing market activity, though we still expect the housing market to continue being under pressure at least in the first half of next year.
However, this was still good news for investors, as equity markets rose strongly in today’s early trading session, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average index rose so far by 1.65% and was last traded at 10488.81, while the S&P 500 index rose by 20.14 points to trade at 1111.52, and the NASDAQ Composite index rose by almost 2% to reach 2187.91, data as of 10:18 New York time.
this article was copied from E-News.
Labels: Big News today from NAR on existing home sales for October
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Just got an update from Toni Schemmel, our marketing director, with news of our Wall Street Journal microsite stats...
Hi,
I just wanted to send you a brief email update on some new information available at Sotheby’s International Realty! These are just a few things that differentiate us from our local competitors.
· Sothebysrealty.com is now available in German and Chinese. This brings total languages to 6 including Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, French, German and Chinese!
· The Business of Extraordinary Living microsite (wallstreetjournal.com/sothebysrealty) stats through September are available. Highlights are below.
o 920,389 times when one of the SIR listings were served up (made the search criteria) on the microsite.
o 52,308 times those users went off to view a specific SIR property on the Sothebysrealty.com site. This equates to click through rate (CTR) of 5.68%.
o The banner campaign (where ads run to drive traffic to sothebysrealty.com) had its highest monthly CTR yet in September of .37%. This is in comparison to the industry norm and WSJ norm of .1%!
o Average time spent on the microsite in September was 4 minutes and 56 seconds.
o The Address had the highest number of page views in September followed in order by Insights, Living and The Brand.
· ShopAD.net provides visitors with an exclusive place to search and shop for high-design, high-caliber home products. With over 20,000+ products featured, ShopAD.net showcases the best in furniture, lighting and carpets along with the largest collection of textiles by leading brands on the web. The Sotheby’s International Realty network has gained exclusive exposure on ShopAD.net by collaborating with Architectural Digest to be an official launch sponsor. This partnership continues to provide our network with targeted impressions through a property search tool, a link to our latest issue of RESIDE® magazine and brand web banners, all leading to sothebysrealty.com Check out this video from FOX news Coral Gables, Florida. http://www.fox4morningblend.com/tabid/3530/story/36735/Default.aspx
Hi,
I just wanted to send you a brief email update on some new information available at Sotheby’s International Realty! These are just a few things that differentiate us from our local competitors.
· Sothebysrealty.com is now available in German and Chinese. This brings total languages to 6 including Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, French, German and Chinese!
· The Business of Extraordinary Living microsite (wallstreetjournal.com/sothebysrealty) stats through September are available. Highlights are below.
o 920,389 times when one of the SIR listings were served up (made the search criteria) on the microsite.
o 52,308 times those users went off to view a specific SIR property on the Sothebysrealty.com site. This equates to click through rate (CTR) of 5.68%.
o The banner campaign (where ads run to drive traffic to sothebysrealty.com) had its highest monthly CTR yet in September of .37%. This is in comparison to the industry norm and WSJ norm of .1%!
o Average time spent on the microsite in September was 4 minutes and 56 seconds.
o The Address had the highest number of page views in September followed in order by Insights, Living and The Brand.
· ShopAD.net provides visitors with an exclusive place to search and shop for high-design, high-caliber home products. With over 20,000+ products featured, ShopAD.net showcases the best in furniture, lighting and carpets along with the largest collection of textiles by leading brands on the web. The Sotheby’s International Realty network has gained exclusive exposure on ShopAD.net by collaborating with Architectural Digest to be an official launch sponsor. This partnership continues to provide our network with targeted impressions through a property search tool, a link to our latest issue of RESIDE® magazine and brand web banners, all leading to sothebysrealty.com Check out this video from FOX news Coral Gables, Florida. http://www.fox4morningblend.com/tabid/3530/story/36735/Default.aspx
