Price Drops and Inventory

[30ashopper]

I've been tracking prices now in a few key areas I'm interested in since January. For the non real estate types out there ReMax publishes a great hot list daily that can be found here that lists back on market, price changes, and new listings.

In just the last month I've seen a steepning decline in asking price with larger reductions, and a signifigant increase in listings in the last three months. Anybody else picking up on this vibe? I'm not sure what caused the flood of inventory in just the last few months and I also wonder why people are slashing prices all of the sudden. Did something go wrong with the spring selling season? I can't tell yet because Walton isn't up to date. Also, my data only goes back to January so maybe this is normal for the end of spring.

 

[Smiling JOe]

i haven't seen a net increase of inventory during the last few months. In what area are you looking and what type of property?

 

[30ashopper]

The areas I'm tracking closely are Watercolor, Watersound Beach, Seacrest Beach, and some parts of Sandestin, and Blue Mountain. Generally I'm looking at everything but these seemed like good areas to really get into and watch. Seacrest Beach was the most notable with what seemed like a flush of new listings in the last couple months. Of course, it's possible the listings were out there all along and I'm just finding them now, not sure.

 

[30ashopper]

One possibility is that the glut of backed up foreclosures is finally landing in the market. Here's a scary graph -

Final foreclosure judgments seem to be follow the same trend.

 

[Kurt]

Where did you get the graph and what segment does it cover for what area?

 

[ASH]

Is that graph just Walton County?

 

[30ashopper]

Yeah, it's based on the public records, I just punched in the dates, month by month and plucked out the total number of "Lis Pendens" filings. Joefromseagrove gave me the idea of tracking these in a different post.

 

[30ashopper]

Where did you get the graph and what segment does it cover for what area?

Walton County overall. I'd like to break it down by lot vs. home when I get a chance. There seem to be a lot of lot foreclosures going on right now.

 

[Bobby J]

I think the influx of inventory may stem from sellers hearing that property is selling. I am getting many calls from sellers to list but will not touch it unless it is priced right. I am still amazed at how fast the foreclosures and short sales are leaving this market (unless countrywide). The past two contracts I have put together have back ups on them. A client asked me yesterday about all the inventory and I said there really is not allot on the market that is truly priced to sell. The trick is to know what is priced right. This way you don't have to waste your time looking.

 

[pgurney]

Yeah, it's based on the public records, I just punched in the dates, month by month and plucked out the total number of "Lis Pendens" filings. Joefromseagrove gave me the idea of tracking these in a different post.

I think that you might be getting a double count if you're tracking this way. I believe the county files will show records for each party. It could actually be more than a double count if there are more than two parties involved.