Pinellas County Market Update - July 2008
St. Petersburg, Florida, August 10, 2008

529 single family homes sold during July. This is 16% less than in June, but that's a typical seasonal change. The number was down only 7% from last July. Inventory is down 6% from last July - so we have a 16 month supply of homes, compared to a 17 month supply a year ago. Prices reflect a bigger difference, though - the median price ($180,000) is down 20% from last July and the average price($252,000) is down 15.5%. It varies, though, by number of bedrooms:
Average 2 bedroom home price is $140,400
Average 3 bedroom home price is $245,900
Average 4 bedroom home price is $410,800
The median price at $180,000 was just slightly lower than the $184,000 median in 2003. The absorption rate is 6.1%

312 condos sold during July, just 5% less than sold in June. Compared to last July the number of sales was down by only 2% and inventory decreased by 6% from a year ago. Based on July sales, we have a 23 month supply of condos, for an absorption rate of 4.3%. That's a decrease from last year at this time when there was a 27 month supply.The median price ($152,000) is down 13% from a year ago and the average price ($238,600) is down 7% from last year.

There are some foreclosures on the market, but a lot of short sales. A short sale is when the listing price is less than the balance of the mortgage(s). Since any contract between the seller and the buyer is subject to approval of the lender(s), there is no certainty that the lenders will agree with the offer price, or even the listing price. When buyers see these listed prices, though, they get the impression that homes are available at these prices, and reflect that in their offers. Short sales can also drag out for months before the buyer knows if the bank will accept their offer - we've had one short sale that we wrote an offer on back in February, and haven't heard from the lender yet.

With the large number of properties to chose from, buyers are pickier on both price and condition. Some buyers are so overwhelmed with all the choices that they get analysis paralysis and don't make a decision at all. Some owners are offering their properties "for sale" and "for rent", whichever comes first. This means more properties available for rent which leads to decreasing rental prices as well.

For a few years, people were looking at homes as ATM machines (taking out home equity loans for cars, trips, etc) and also looking at their homes as an alternative to the stock market. We're now back to earlier times when you look at a home as a home.

the Voice of St Petersburg real estate – Sharon Simms