Pensacola Real Estate

Real Estate Market Update Jan 07

Market Update from Jan 07. I had trouble trying to paste the stats into this one.

Hi all,
Here is a quick update on Real Estate in the Pensacola area for the beginning of 2007. Following the statistics below, I've included some thoughts on what it all means and what we might expect in the coming year.
Thought you might interested in comparing January 2006's statistics to January 2007's.

[couldn't figure out how to cut and paste the table]

That represents a 10% drop in the Average Sold price and a 32% drop in the Median Sold price! Wow! Neither of these drops are insignificant. The median price indicates that the most frequently sold homes in Pensacola are in the $130,000 price range vice the $190K price range of a year ago. The problem with this is that the average list price of a home in Pensacola is much higher than $130,000. Having been out looking these past several weeks for homes under $150K, I can tell you that there is not much to choose from.
Bottom line: The market is saturated with listings that exceed the financial capability of the average Pensacolian. Therefore, even though rates remain constant at around a very good 6%, or so, on a 30 year mortgage, we will continue to see Days on Market increase, Sold Prices decrease, and foreclosures on the rise. A Lawyer friend of mine whose company deal in Real Estate Law and processes bank foreclosures told me that for one particular bank whom they service, they performed only 1 or 2 foreclosures all of last year. This year, they have already processed 5! If these trends continue, things are going to get real interesting this year.
And so what I've said previously remains true as far as I can tell:
1. Buyers who don't mind shopping around and being patient, will find an occasional good deal. There are sellers who MUST SELL and will be more willing to deal as there days on market climb and as the next mortgage payment looms.
2. Sellers, who have owned their homes for more than 2 or 3 years (bought prior to the escalating prices of late '04 and '05 and avoided the temptation to refinance), and who are willing to price their homes aggressively, below market, are poised to sell their homes in well under the DOM average and make a very nice profit.
3. If you are thinking of buying and you've owned your present home for a while, sellers are much more likely to accept an offer contingent on the sell of your home. This was not the case a year of so ago. Sellers had the upper hand and could demand and receive a full priced offer with no contingencies. Not so any longer! So, find a home you like, negotiate a "buyer friendly" deal, then price your own home aggressively and move into your dream home within a couple of months!
Hope this was helpful and informative.
His by grace,
Tom Robertson

posted by Tom @ 12:05 PM