Davidson Realty, Inc.

North Florida Real Estate Trends for January 2012

February 27, 2012

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Posted by in Northeast Florida Market Trends

“If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not, you’ll find an excuse.” Unknown

This quote really hit home for me, I hope you enjoy.

The Northeast Florida Association of Realtors market stats for January revealed some interesting information. First I noticed the large drop in closings from 1,432 closings in December, 2011 to only 977 closings in January 2012. I looked back and found similar trends every January. Next I compared January 2012 to January 2011 and saw a 6% decline in closings. I looked a little closer to discover that in January 2011 there were 612 lender-mediated closings and this year there were only 488 for a 20% decline. The traditional closings increased by almost 14% from 430 in January 2011 to 489 in January 2012. So overall closings are down but non distressed closings (traditional) are up.

It has been reported that the banks are going to increase foreclosing properties. How they market these foreclosures and whether this impacts short sale negotiations may be a major factor in 2012. We have seen the banks get much tougher lately with negotiations on short sales.

The median sales price was $122,000 in January 2011 and $115,000 in January 2012 for a 6% decline. There is a similar decline from the December 2011 median sales price of $125,500. Looking a little deeper, we can see that the lender-mediated median price dropped 10.5% and the traditional sales median price is down 2% from the previous January.

The January 2012 average sales price of $154,558 is almost identical to the January 2011 average sales price of $154,625. I looked at the average price trends for single family homes in the 4 zip codes in Northern St. Johns County and the average sales price increased in 3 of the 4.

Our inventory continues to decline. The number of properties available for sale at the end of January 2012 was 10,180 compared to 14,605 in January 2011 for a 30% decline. For reference, there were 10,523 properties available last month. The months supply of inventory dropped to 6.9 months from 10.5 months in January 2011. The largest decline was 42.5% in properties under $150,000. The months supply in this price range went from 9.8 months in January 2011 to 5.6 months in January 2012.

Pending sales increased 23% over January 2011. There were 1,534 contracts written in January 2012 compared to 1,250 in January 2011. We have seen an increase in buyer activity in January and February which has been confirmed by most Realtors I know.

We have March madness to look forward to, great golf coming to our area soon, and spring training for baseball fans. I wish you much success this spring and remember I am never to busy for any of your referrals.

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About the Author
Sherry Davidson
President of Davidson Realty

Since launching Davidson Realty in 1989, Sherry Davidson has built the firm to include nearly 60 agents and exceed $100 million in annual sales. She is known throughout the First Coast as an authority on all things residential real estate, having served on the Board of Directors for Northeast Florida Association of Realtors, Florida Realtors® (a division of the National Association of Realtors), and Builders Care (charitable arm of Northeast Florida Builders Association).

Thanks to Sherry’s leadership, Davidson Realty has been recognized as one of the state’s Best Companies to Work For (Florida Trend Magazine), as well as one of the region's Best Places to Work and 50 Fastest Growing Companies (Jacksonville Business Journal). Get to know Davidson Realty’s talented team of agents by clicking here or call us at (904) 940-5000.

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