YTD August Real Trend Report for Walton County--
Home sales down 14%, BUT average sales price UP 11%
Condo sales up 4%, AND avg sales price UP 39%
Lot sales down 50% and avg price down 13%
Volume was slowing through August, and I believe September will show a huge decrease across the board versus last year. However, it is encouraging to see that prices are actually up on average for homes and condos. Raw land continues to be a very tough sell.
This is just compared to the previous month?
Seems consistent with what I am hearing - the stuff moving seems to be the higher end properties that consistently hold their value due to location, not the homes whose value was overinflated by the "bubble".
IMO lot sales is a combination of an overdue price correction and a much needed reality check as to the true market worth of wetlands with no utilities, abandoned cars or appliances, and a meth lab down the street ;-).
If someone has the access to the info/free time I'd love to see a breakdown that includes the percentage of "sales" that are really pre-construction condo, foreclosures etc. as opposed to "real sales" (for lack of a better phrase). I know properties are still selling, but overall it seems that they are selling for far less than the owner would like and the data gets a little murky with the above mentioned items mixed in.