Congratulations to our saleswoman of the year, Alba Henesy!

We appreciate all the hard work she did this year, and all of you who worked closely with her have told us how much you appreciated her care and understanding.

Her reward is a chance to relax and recharge during a week’s resort stay. We hope it will help her ramp up for a busy 2012.

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We have had our best year yet!

Our agents are all doing great in their markets, and we want you to thank you for helping to make that happen.

Thank You!

Your support, enthusiasm, and trust in us (referring your friends and family) has launched us to #22 on the list of brokers in Alachua County! It’s heartwarming.

In just 4 short years our company became one of the top real estate agencies in the area. We couldn’t have done it without you.

Since it takes longer to sell homes, and so many homes have to keep adjusting their prices, a lot of people are asking what homes are selling in Alachua County.

The hottest zip codes are 32608 and 32605 – they account for 1 in 4 sales this year.  These zip codes cover most of West Gainesville including new communities like Longleaf, Willow Oak, and Haile Plantation.  There are some excellent schools in these areas, which is part of why they draw families to them.

For every home that has sold so far this year there are two that are still on the market.

The most action has been in inexpensive homes.  Over 40% of the home sales last year closed out under $150,000 and two-thirds of the homes sold for under $200,000.

Selling a home above $750,000? Try to be nice to your prospects! There have only been 4 buyers so far this year.

So if you have to sell your home you have more buyers out there in the lower price ranges, even though there are more homes for sale there is only 15 months of inventory for homes under $150k, where over $300k you are looking at 2-3 years of inventory for sale now.

It would take 18 months to sell everything on the market if buyers keep buying at their current rates & nothing new comes on the market.

The surprising thing to me is how large most of these homes are.  I used to expect homes in this price range to be small, like 1,000 sqft or so. The homes selling in this price range are around 1,400 sqft on average.

In fact, homes that have between 1,500 to 2,000 square feet of living space make up the most active part of the market – about 35% of sales so far this year.

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Click Here if you’d like to see our 2010 Annual Report.

Overview: 3rd Quarter Home Values and Real Estate Trends

In the short-term our market has been fairly stable, our absorption rates basically unchanged from last quarter, but are better than last year.  That means our inventory has come down from 2010 – because there were fewer listings than last year, and more sales.

There are still lots of homes available compared to demand – only 1 in 2 homes sold so far this year.  That’s better than last year when only about 1 in 3 homes sold.  We have about an 18 month supply of homes on the market and 16 months of condos.

(That means it would take 18 months to sell all the homes on the market if buyers kept going at their current activity levels and no more homes came on the market)

This month we added a new page to the report for distressed homes because they account for about 1/3 of our sales and their prices are so different than standard sales. The average sale price for standard sales last quarter was $184k, while short sales were at $116k, and foreclosures were at $81k.

For Sellers

There are real buyers out there, but they have a lot of homes to look at.  The good news is that most of them have already been picked over and most of your competition is either over-priced or unattractive for some other reason, or both.

If you are thinking of selling your home make it beautiful, price it right, and get as much exposure as possible where your buyers are looking for homes.

For Buyers

Many buyers are overwhelmed because they have a lot of homes to look at and they don’t want to miss out on an amazing deal.  Keeping a few ideas in mind will help you stay in control.

Start by narrowing down your search by finding the homes that have the features you want (fireplace, 2 car garage, full yard fencing, etc.).

If you want the best deal on a home don’t fall in love with one house, try to pick out 2 or 3 that will work for you.  If you do that then you have a better chance of finding a bargain. Some of the best deals are homes that need some TLC, these homes are overlooked by most buyers because they can’t imagine what how much clean carpet and fresh paint changes a room.

Get an idea of what other homes have sold for in the area, not just what prices they are asking, so you really know if you are getting a good deal or not.

Distressed Properties in Alachua County

Short Sales and Foreclosures are more common this year.  About 30% of the sales in 2011 were from distressed properties.

Short Sales closed out at about 37% below the market average sale price.

Foreclosure sales (bank owned properties) sold for 45% below the market average!

If you haven’t seen these homes before you won’t know what to expect.  It’s common to see foreclosed homes that have rotten roofs and missing air conditioners, and many of the new owners spend tens of thousands of dollars to make them livable homes.

If you are willing to do some major repairs these homes are a great way to buy your first home, or get into an investment property. There are loans available that will help you pay for the repairs and roll that cost into your mortgage.

Do you want us to help you?

If you want to know how this affects you we can help.

We can do the looking for you, and check out the details of the homes you like.

Contact us and let us know how we can help you.

Download the Full Report

The full report has stats on active, pending, and sold real estate for the 2nd Quarter of 2011 and 2011 year to date, as well as information on price trends, days on the market, and inventory supplies by price bracket.

Click Here to download the Gainesville & Alachua County Real Estate Market Report 2nd Quarter 2011. (Adobe PDF file)

How to Read It

• The top of each page tells you what that page is about.
• Near the top left of most pages you will find details for the current quarter – April thru June 2011.
• Near the top right of most pages you will find the details for the entire year to date for 2011, 2010, and 2009.
• Pages that are not set up that way may be comparing activity in this quarter to a previous quarter, or show graphs comparing 2011 real estate trends to market statistics going back up to five years.

Read our Past Real Estate Reports

2nd Quarter 2011

Read the Summary Article: Click Here
Download the Full Report: Click Here

2010 Year in Review

Read the Summary Article: Click Here
Download the Full Report: Click Here

3rd Quarter 2010

Read the Summary Article: Click Here
Download the Full Report: Click Here

2009 Review

Read the Summary Article:  Click Here
Download the Full Report: Click Here

Based on information from the Gainesville-Alachua County Association of REALTORS or its Multiple Listing Service. Neither the Association nor its MLS guarantees or is in any way responsible for its accuracy. Data maintained by the Association or its MLS may not reflect all real estate activity in the market.

Lets talk turkey! 

Many people ask me

How is the real estate market doing? Are homes really selling. What are they really worth? Is it a good time to buy?

 Let’s look at what has closed and the data that is available.

This report is for homes (single family residential) that closed in Alachua County between September 1, 2011 to  October 18, 2011 from the MLS system.

There were 153 closed residential properties in this time period. Of these, there were 11 that were short sales, 28 Bank Owned, and 114 somewhat normal sales.

SHORT SALE information:

The sold prices of the 11 short sales  ranged from $80,000 to $275,000 with the average being  $153,992. The average asking price was $160,958. The average asking price was $160,958. The average ratio between asking to closed prices was 96%. The price per square  foot range was $44.40 to $116.43.  (Yes, $116.43 for a short sale home!). The average days on the market was 258, ranging from 134 days to 456 days.

BANK OWNED information:

In this same time period, there were 28 bank owned properties that closed. Their sold prices ranged from $12,000 to $330,000 with an average selling price of $112,617. The average asking price was $118,177. The average ratio between asking to closed prices was 95%. The price per square foot range was $14.93 to $101.14. The average day on the market was 124 ranging between 24 days on the market to 418 days on the market.

NORMAL SALES information:

There were 114 normal sales. Their sold prices ranged from $30,000 to $725,000 with an average selling price of $197,561. The average asking price was $207,838. The average ratio between asking to closed price was 95%. The price per square foot range was from $24.04 to $164.10 with an average of $101.25. These homes sat on the market an average of 174 days. The shortest was zero days on the market to 667 days on the market.

Interest Rates

Interest rates are low for some borrowers. If you have a great credit score, the rates are great. I suggest the first thing to do when you are contemplating buying a home, is to have a chat with your local lender. They can give you all the details of what YOU can expect when getting financing on a home. Also have them look at your credit. You can be surprised if something shows up that would stop the loan process.

As for the low home prices, it may not be quite what you expect. For example, don’t think you can put offers in 20% below asking price and get the seller to even respond.  Also, if you see a home you like, don’t wait too long or it could sell to someone else. We are also seeing many sellers getting multiple offers on their homes at the same time.

How can you use this information?

Well look at the ratio between asking and selling prices. The average is close to 95% of the asking price. Then look at days on the market – the more a home needs work, the longer it sits on the market.

A home that is in great shape, asking price is within reason, can expect to get 95% of their asking price, and sell within a few weeks to a few  months.

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