Archive for October, 2008
Pinellas Real Estate Sales as of August 2008, The Good, Bad and The Ugly
October 28th, 2008 categories: Pinellas Market Statistics
Do you want to know what’s really happening with Pinellas Real Estate? Want to avoid the sugar-coated smooth talk and just want honest answers?
Suncoast Partners and The Pinellas Peach take pride in providing meaningful knowledge, insight and data to assist you with making informed Pinellas real estate investment decisions. Above is our first monthly installment of data that’s seemingly too difficult for the educated Pinellas real estate consumer to find these days.
PRO, The Pinellas Board of Realtors, dispenses boat loads of data each month. Some meaningful and some, quite frankly, will put even the most analytical types to sleep. ZZZzzzzzzz. We’ve assembled the parts we believe are important, but we need you to please let us know what you like, don’t like, and what data, if any, you would like to see that’s not here.
This data shows us that for Pinellas home SELLERS (reverse this if you’re buying or buying up):
The Good :
- Just as many homes are selling this year as last year.
- The number of homes on the market has declined slightly, which is good news for everybody because it’s an indicator that we’ve got fewer non-serious sellers.
- Our MSI (Month’s Supply of Inventory) numbers are down significantly for single family homes and down slightly for condos – a healthy sign toward market correction.
- In August we saw the lowest ‘Days on Market’ numbers we’ve seen in months. Homes are selling more quickly than they were earlier in the year.
The Bad:
- Prices are down significantly from last year – roughly 14% for single family homes and 22% for condos. Keep in mind this is just a snapshot for the past two months over last year. The thing I hate about statistics is that one can slice them and dice them to suit just about any purpose, but know that the numbers being bantered about by those in the know is that Pinellas home prices have come down about 16% in the last year.
- Prices are still declining as the Palm Harbor foreclosures and Dunedin Short Sales continue to pop up. (The rate at which that is happening and what we expect to happen is subject matter for another post).
- These low interest rates aren’t going to last forever (they were already up again to between 6.5% and 6.75% today), so it’s going to continue to get harder and harder to find qualified buyers to buy your Ozona FL home. If you’re considering a purchase, it’s time to get your game shoes on (yet another subject for another post).
The Ugly:
Tricked ya! Happy Halloween! There’s nothing ugly about real estate as long-term investment, a great tax write-off, and most importantly, a place to call home sweet home.
Remember, tell us what you think. Your opinion matters!
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1 Acre Estate in West Palm Harbor: A Rare Find, and a Beauty to boot!
October 24th, 2008 categories: Featured Listings
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Palm Harbor Waterfont Tropical Paradise with Pool, Covered Boat Lift, New Kitchen & Immaculate!
October 24th, 2008 categories: Featured Listings
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SOLD @ $185K! Palm Harbor Real Estate in Gleneagles Cluster – Stunning 2/2 with privacy galore
October 24th, 2008 categories: Featured Listings
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Odessa Home @ The Eagles Golf & Country Club – Immaculate and Spacious
October 24th, 2008 categories: Featured Listings
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Prime Dunedin Real Estate in Baywood Shores – Approved Short Sale with Gulf Views
October 24th, 2008 categories: Featured Listings
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SOLD @ $225K! Palm Harbor Home in Wooded Gleneagles Cluster – 2,379sf of Perfection!
October 24th, 2008 categories: Featured Listings
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4BR 3BA Delightful Dunedin Home with In-Law & Workshop
October 24th, 2008 categories: Featured Listings
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Poof! Palm Harbor Realtor Has Magic Wand That Makes Great Home Deals Appear. Meanwhile, on Wall Street, 401K disappears.
October 11th, 2008 categories: East Lake Palm Harbor Homes, Pinellas Market Statistics
Do you wish that all it took to make sound investment, including real estate investments, was a $10 magic wand? Maybe all we need is a cozy 
living room without a television, a dog house in the yard and a Palm Harbor Realtor with the faith and perseverance to help you find and secure a great Pinellas home at an incredible price.
For those of you that know me best, you know I often speak of my magic wand, and how I wish I had one that truly worked wonders. Lately, I’m beginning to believe my wand has hutzpah. It’s been working magnificently as of late, particularly with finding bargains on gorgeous homes in Palm Harbor East Lake – the Ridgemoor neighborhood, as it so happens.
Last month my wand worked for Sasha and Kim, who landed an incredible below-market investment and beauty to behold, with two other bidders nipping at the heels of our offer. Today, my wand helped Charlie and Angela land the East Lake Palm Harbor home of their dreams, and we out-smarted THREE other bidders to land it! Poof! Just like that. (Well, perhaps it was because we really stay on top of these hot new listings as they appear out of the magic hat). These two examples of many remind us that:
- Homes that aren’t in foreclosure are in high demand. These homes weren’t Palm Harbor foreclosures or short sales. They were immaculately cared for.
- Homes are selling quickly. One of these homes was on the market 2 days before we made our bid and the other only 5 days before securing it. Note that they were well priced.
- Bidding wars are happening all the time. This is true for homes that are priced correctly and well-marketed, of course.
Meanwhile, on Wall Street, chaos abounds. Poof! 401K’s, lifetime savings, gone. Just like that. Just accross the wires tonight, we have this AP article which may be of interest to Pinellas Home buyers. It brilliantly discusses the topic of just where did all that money go? Or did we ever really have it in the first place?
The notion that we’ve lost everything when the price of our stock tanks, when in reality its value equals only the amount that a buyer is willing to pay for it on any given day, is right on the money. This concept holds true for Pinellas real estate, too. Hmmm….
Tonight, my magic wand reminded me that it’s probably a great time to remind all of our friends that at Suncoast Partners @ Keller Williams Realty we believe in our hearts that real estate remains the single best long-term investment.
Sure, Palm Harbor home values rise and fall, but over the long term the gains are there – historically and yes, even if you purchased fairly recently. Most remarkably, there’s something tangible behind the investment: A house to call home where a lifetime of memories can be made. And, baby, interest rates are incredible! To me, that’s much more exciting that a stock certificate any day of the week.
Would you like to see if the Suncoast Partners magic wand can work for you, too? Seeing is believing, after all.
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