Florida Retirement Buzz

The Florida Association of Realtors has released sales and price data for March 2007 and comparative data for March 2006. The data show that number of sales and prices are still edging down. The data in the first table is for existing, single family homes and is arranged in order of the percent change in the number of sales. The percentage change in median sales prices is also included. The second table provides the same data for condominiums.

The data in these tables has been carefully checked for the absence of typos. Thus where some of the data doesn’t appear to make sense, it is what was reported. For example, the 45% drop in the number of condo sales in Miami that was accompanied by an 18% increase in the median sales price doesn’t sound believable, but it is what was reported.

The reader can make use of this data to get a snapshot of what’s happening in the area of interest to him/her. The author is a little skeptical of the percentage decreases in the sales prices that are reported here. The gut feeling is that they are actually larger than this data suggests. Here are some anecdotal comments made by some realtors on the East Coast in response to this data:

-I think this trend will continue through the rest of the year. But the decrease in prices isn’t so bad when you consider that we’ve seen 30-40 percent increases.

-The market might still need 24 months to divest its high inventory level.

-Although we (Martin County) saw a 29 percent drop in the number of homes sold, we saw an increase in the median sales price of 13%, which is an indication that prices might be stabilizing and heading into the upward direction.

-He theorized that many real estate investors have shifted their focus to the stock market. This is cyclical; just look back at the last 15 years. When real estate is doing well, they put their money there; but when the stock market is doing well, they put their money there. Just look at how the stock market is doing now!!!