February 2011 SoWal Real Estate Report

February was hot, and I’m not talking about the temperature. February is typically our slowest month for real estate in SoWal. When we looked at pending sales in January we knew sales would be up if they closed in February.

That turned out to be true. Real estate sales are on the rise and many people are jumping in.

Let’s start with a look at the residential lot sales in South Walton going back to Jan 2007 through the end of February 2011. We aren’t setting records for the highest number of residential lot sales in South Walton, but we are seeing a continuing trend in the rising number of lot sales since the beginning of 2009.

The combined category of homes, condos, and town homes which Realtors reported to the Emerald Coast Association of Realtors (ECAR) in February, show an increase of 14% over January 2011 sales. Looking at sales in previous years during the month of February, we see a huge jump of 48% compared to Feb 2010. This is the best February we’ve seen since the real estate market peaked in 2005! 

In addition to the number of sales increasing, looking at the median sold price for February, we have also seen three consecutive years of moderate increases in the median sold price for the combined category of homes, condos, and town homes. Detached home sales continue to dominate the other sales categories, and I’ll report more on that next week.

Again, comparing February from previous years, we’ve seen an increase in the number of sales, median sales price, and we have also seen an increase in the  total dollar volume of sales, an increase of more than 90% compared to Feb 2010. You will also note in the next chart that the dollar volume of sales also increased compared to January 2011, by about 40%.

Now, for the look ahead. No, I’m not trying to predict the market. We all know that no one can do that with any real measure. However, by looking at pending sales, we get an idea of what may be happening in the future.

Pending sales don’t always result in closed sales, so always use pending sales with a grain of salt. January 2011 was a very strong month for pending sales in South Walton, with a total of 184 reported to ECAR and we saw great sales in February resulting from many of those sales actually closing.  It was quite an unusual spike compared to December. Even more surprising is that February pending sales actually increased higher, which could very likely mean that March will be shaping up nicely. Pending sales in Feb 2011 increased 51% compared to Feb 2010. Don’t try and time the market. You will know when the market turns only after it turns.

If you, or someone you know, are interested in buying or selling property in South Walton, please contact Murray Balkcom, GRI, Realtor with The Premier Property Group, or go to www.dreamBIGproperties.com and search for properties on your own to get an overview of the market and currently listed properties.

Murray Balkcom is a licensed Realtor with The Premier Property Group. All sales data referenced above is provided by Emerald Coast Association of Realtors and is thought to be accurate but not guaranteed.