Brevard County Has A Healthy Real Estate Market
… And I Have The Stats To Prove It.
Well that is a bold statement, isn’t it? Everywhere I look, whether online, in print, or on the TVÂ when the topic of real estate comes up it seems like it’s the same message over and over again; the whole country is suffering from a “down real estate market“. I feel obligated to show you some stats that paint a different picture, at least in Brevard County Florida. I’ve compiled several charts using data from the Brevard MLS of residential sales to show you what I’m getting so excited about.
The first chart I want to share is the 2011 Average Days on Market stats. The chart to the right (click the chart image to see the full size image) shows a dramatic decline from about 130 average days on market in January to a very low average days on market of 101 for the month of October. That’s a 30 day difference. That would be a good feeling to get your home under contract within the first two months of putting it on the market, wouldn’t it? Don’t forget that it takes an average of 30-35 days for a home to close/sell after the contract date!
The second chart on the left shows the 2011 Average Sales Price. You can see the average residential sales price for January was just under $139,000. July had the highest number so far this year at $167,343. October showed a slight increase in average price of $143,217. Not a huge increase, but that is still moving in a positive direction.
The third chart on the right shows the residential Units Sold. Now we had some big fluctuations here with March 2011 getting the highest number so far this year of 718 homes sold. We started January with a lower number of sales at 487 and October had 510 units sold. Those are still good numbers!
The trend so far on all these stats shows that from January to October we had an increase in average sales price, an increase in units sold, and a decrease in days on market. Now, you might be thinking that sounds like a positive upswing in the market stats, but nothing to really get too excited about. Of course I’ve saved the best for last. Check out the chart on the left showing the Month’s End Inventory of homes. That should be enough to make you think I’m on to something here. In January 2011 Brevard County and the Brevard MLS showed an inventory of over 6,400 residential homes. When you consider that the average month’s end inventory for the 5 previous years has hovered around or well above 6,000, the natural assumption would be that 2011 is going to be “more of the same”. As you follow the month by month inventory of the graph it becomes readily apparent that the available month’s end inventory has been literally cut into half. October 2011 finished with just over 3,300 residential homes on the market.
Could we have finally hit a level point in housing values? Our inventory is low, and any economist will tell you that a low inventory and continued demand will eventually cause an increase in price. If these stats stay consistent, we should see some housing values appreciate in the coming months. And as inventory becomes lower and lower, there will be less and less to choose from, giving a chance for homeowners to get more money for their homes than in previous years, or even just a few months ago. Positive Real Estate News For You.
Interesting Low Cost Marketing Idea
In my mail this morning, I found this interesting marketing mail out from a national surveying company. They actually included a new crisp dollar bill and a survey form. It’s a pretty effective way to get people to respond to direct mail out marketing. The survey would normally have been thrown in the trash immediately, but since they sent me a dollar, I decided to fill out the survey. It was almost like they struck my moral obligations by including the money. How could I not fill out the survey if I accepted the money?
