Real Estate Outlook – Citrus County, FL

Bouncing Along The Bottom                                 AUGUST 2009

     The owner of our national franchise used this cute analogy to describe the real estate market recently. Seems to be an appropriate way to describe what we are experiencing these days. Everyday we hear about a new indicator that leads us to believe the recovery has officially started and the worst is behind us. That indicator looses steam and we rest our hope on the next positive indicator. While business does seem to be gaining sstrength, we'll need a longer, more consistent string of activity before we start catching our breath and relaxing anytime soon.

     July did see a bigger bounce than normal in many areas of the country. Citrus County really wasn't one of them. Our numbers nearly mirrored what we had seen for the same period last year. The good news is, we're staying even and out of the red for now.

     The $8,000 tax credit to first time buyers is helping but the high local unemployment rate is keeping many families from taking advantage of it. If they don't have a paycheck they can't qualify for a loan no matter what the incentive. Employment is crucial to significantly change our market for the long term.

     One of our agents closed a $600,000 sale this month. While this would have brought little more than a notice a few years back, it was a major occurrence in today's market. With average sale prices hovering around $125,000, we all get excited when anyone sells something for more than $300K-$400K. In fact, you can see a very good example of this by the chart attached.

     Affordability is a bright spot in this market. So many more families can afford to buy a home as compared to just a few years ago. If they can overcome the income issues mentioned above, they'll save nearly $100,000 off the average price of just 3 years ago. It was interesting to note that we had about 20% less "new listing" inventory come on the market this year. That's a big plus towards our efforts to reduce the abailable inventory on the market. Too much inventory is detrimental to pricing. Also, about 12% less residential listings expired off the market this year. That's a good sign too. More listings sold instead of expiring or not selling. 1116 homes have sold in our market this year, about 160 a month. That's not a bad number when you think aboout. There is hope on the horizon.

In This Report…Sales by Price Range

$0 thru $140,000.............................624

$140,000 thru $300,000.................270

$301,000 thru $500,000................. 47

$501,000 and Up................................9                        

AUGUST 2009