The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it. – Michelangelo

I chose this quote because it seems as if our recent economic challenge has put many people in survival mode. Survival mode can distract us from our long term goals.  We must not think this way but keep reaching for the stars.

I will share an overview of the market stats provided by the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors starting with Pending Sales. August 2011 pending sales of 1,744 is 24% higher than August 2010 sales of 1,402. There have been some confusing monthly comparisons because of the tax credits last year, but the year to date pending sales for 2011 are 7% higher than year to date pending sales for 2010.

The closings for August 2011 are up 1.5% over the closings in August 2010 and the year to date closings for 2011 are almost the same as 2010. I would like to go a little deeper into closings and share that there were 691 traditional closings in August 2010 and 835 in August 2011 for an increase of 21%. The lender–mediated closings dropped from 729 in August 2010 to 626 in August 2011 for a 14% decrease. This is a very good sign when we have more traditional closings and less distressed closings.

The lender-mediated closings dropped from 44.3% of July 2011 closings to 42.8% of August 2011 closings. We continue to move in the right direction. Read more