Melbourne Area Blog

As seen in my previous posts, the number of home sales in Brevard County continue to show gains from the same month a year ago. Up 19% in May. This trend has continued for the past eight out of nine months. The driving factor is first that Brevard homes are under valued (see previous post), the median price of homes in Brevard County are down 24% compared to 2008 and interest rates have been historically low.

In the past few weeks interest rates spiked to just under 6% and now have stabilized to around 5.5%. The Fed has been buying mortgage backed bonds (yes, we are purchasing our own debt) issued by Fannie Mae in order to keep those interest rates down. It remains to be seen how long this practice can continue. For those in the market to purchase a home it would be wise to keep an eye on the mortgage rates and lock in if the rates start to move higher.

Inventory of resale homes has fallen considerably this year. We are now well under 4800 homes and look to be under 4700 soon through out the county. I have received many emails from those who are on an automated email program wondering why they have not received many notifications of new listings or price reductions. This month there has been a lack of new listings coming on the market. True, we are heading out of our peak season and there are many homes still on the market. The new listings that do come on the market and are priced at market value are moving quickly and in some instances we are seeing multiple offers again. The majority of sales are under $200,000 although there has been some movement recently on the upper end & water front homes.

I have received many questions regarding the government programs in place for first time home buyer or mortgage assistance. Stay tuned for the next post!