Existing home sales not as weak as reported, Realtors say
Existing home sales not as weak as reported, Realtors say
May 13, 2010 07:01:00 PM
SCARLET SIMS / News Herald Writer
PANAMA CITY — Bay County existing home sales continued to slump while sales rose 24 percent statewide, according to Florida Realtors association numbers released this week. Local Realtors say those numbers are misleading.
“We’re as busy now as we were during the boom — it’s just cash buying as opposed to financing,” Overstreet Realty owner Connie Overstreet said.
Bay County saw existing home sales and prices increase dramatically about 2005, but sales faltered when the worst recession in decades collapsed the state’s real estate market. Bay County sales dried up for the last 18 months, Prudential Shimmering Sands Realtor Art Lester said.
“Last year was horrendous,” Lester said.
This year, sales are getting better, Realtors say. Prices are falling less slowly and investors are coming back.
Multiple Listing Service data shows the first three months of this year are up about 6 percent over 2009, Overstreet said. April numbers show even better sales — up more than 20 percent in combined total sales, said Charlie Commander, Realtor at Century 21 Commander Real Estate. Sales in April were 285, compared to 236 the same time a year ago, he said.
Florida Realtors will release April numbers later this month, but Metro Market Trends, a company that tracks real estate, reported April sales rose from 139 last year to 200 this year.
Realtors disagree with the Florida Realtors report that shows Bay County is one of only two metro areas to show a slump in existing home sales for the first quarter of this year. The report shows Bay County sales were down 4 percent from the 243 sales seen last year. Sales were weak compared to surrounding areas, like Fort Walton Beach, where 578 existing homes sold the first quarter compared to 233 sales in Bay County.
Metro Market reported existing home sales dropped nearly 7 percent in January and were down about 2 percent in February. Sales picked up to nearly 8 percent in March but not enough to offset earlier declines.
Bay County Realtors Association President Darren Haiman said the Florida Realtors’ numbers are too narrow in scope to show what is really happening. The numbers don’t include homes like manufactured homes or duplexes, he said.
“Our numbers are much, much better than have been reported,” Haiman said.
Sales are actually up this quarter over the same time last year by about 5.7 percent, Haiman said.
Florida Realtors spokeswoman Marla Martin wrote in an e-mail she thought the association’s numbers are accurate. The numbers are based on a survey of MLS sales.
Realtors say 2010 will be a better year for the real estate market. Home prices are falling more slowly, inventory is shrinking and the real estate market is stabilizing, Commander said. Interest remains low, banks are loosening up on credit and the federal government unveiled a new plan to expedite sales of distressed PROPERTY this month.
“I think we’ll be strong during the remainder of the year,” Overstreet said.
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Florida Sales Report – First Quarter
Existing Homes
• Bay County 233, 2010; 243, 2009
• Florida 38,846, 2010; 31,410, 2009
Condominium Sales
• Bay County – 146, 2010; 95, 2009
• Florida – 16,897, 2010; 10,131, 2009
Source: Florida Realtors
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