It's been a while since we talked stats!

Hi Everyone!

It's been a while since I posted stats. Below are the stats from the first of year (Jan 1 2008) to today May 18, 2008. If you have any questions about these stats, please don't hesitate to contact me at mitch@mitchrealty.com.

Brevard County Resale Stats Single Family - Average Active Listings Per Month - 7127

January - 253 Sold

February - 340 Sold

March - 417 Sold

April - 451 Sold

May (Through May 17) - 157 Sold


Brevard County Resale Stats - Condo/Townhomes - Average Active Listings Per Month - 2585

January - 68 Sold

February - 104 Sold

March - 97 Sold

April - 111 Sold

May (Through May 17) - 50 Sold

Brevard County Resale Stats - Land - Average Active Listings Per Month - 3529

January - 36 Sold

February - 48 Sold

March - 71 Sold

April - 51 Sold

May (Through May 17) - 16 Sold

These are pretty amazing numbers don't ya think? I think so! What does it tells us? Not much actually except that sales are still very slow and if you are thinking about selling your home, you better be "in" the market versus "on" the market.

However if you are a buyer... let the fun begin! With so few homes selling, terms and prices are negotiable. It's a great time to buy for the first time home buyer, for relocations, and for investors. In fact, I played golf the other day with an investor friend of mine and he bought 8 homes in the past 2 weeks. He told me that he isn't going to wait for the media to tell him it's the right time to buy, just look at the numbers he says!

Yes, the numbers say that selling your home is a bad idea. It is truly a buyers market. This is great for all of our buyers who have been waiting to buy. It's very true that we never know when the market reaches the true bottom, because at that point, we are already on the way back up. Right now, according to most of the professionals that I speak with, we believe we are at the bottom. Does that mean that some homes are still over priced? Of course it does. Do you remember three years ago you couldn't buy a brand new home in Palm Bay for under $200k? I do, currently there are 92 Brand New Homes in Palm Bay under $200k. You heard me right, you can buy a brand new home in Palm Bay for under $200k. In fact, 22 of those brand new homes you can buy for under $150k. Yes, it's a great time to be a buyer.

So what's the key here? The key firstly is not to miss the boat. If you are going to wait until the media tells you it's a great time to buy, then chances are you will miss the boat. Let's look at the worst case scenario in my opinion. Worst case is the market comes down another 5%...let's even say 10% which I very much doubt. That means a $200k home will be valued at $180 when the market hits bottom. (Even the media is predicting some time next year). If you are buying a home to live in for the next 4 years or more, then this will not affect you. You will still retain your value and have a small increase in value over the next 4 years.

The one main factor we don't know about waiting to buy is the lenders. Right now they have tightened their belts. The guidelines to buy are a little tougher and with the exception of FHA, all loans start around 5% down or more. The interest rates are still right around 6%. Given all this info, we know what your home is going to cost you today. Fast forward a year or so and what do we know? Firstly, we don't know if the market is going to come down anymore...that's just speculation (which is why we are in this position in the first place) it may stay exactly where we are at. We also don't know what the interest rates and terms will be next year. Today we know these factors and these factors are telling us it's a great time to buy!

Hopefully I have answered some of your questions in this blog about our market. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to contact me as I am always here to help.

Have a great Sunday!

Mitch