Melbourne Area Blog

We have seen the real estate market make some gains in 2011. The number of homes sold was 13% higher than in 2010. The median price was down 3% compared to 2010 but has stabilized in many areas of the county.

Many buyers have taken advantage of the lower inventory and the lowest interest rates in years. It is not just your normal investors entering the market. Several clients this past year have opted to take advantage of the low prices and purchase an investment property to generate income from savings not earning much interest in investment accounts. The rental market is extremely busy. With three such purchases, tenants were found within 2 weeks of closing.

Foreclosure filings were down almost 50% in 2011, however at the end of the year the numbers had started to rise again. With the low inventory, I don't expect that foreclosures will have much affect in most of the county as banks tend to list these homes at current market value.

Another sign of the low inventory is that in the first two weeks of this year I have been in multiple offer situations. This is pointing to another busy year!

At a glance it seems that sales were down across the board for the month of December. Some of that is attributed to the Holiday season, but also with inventory of homes at it's lowest point in years, buyers are waiting for new listings to hit the market.

The over all year to date numbers are encouraging and point to an improved real estate market

December 2011 Sales Stats:

Following are the stats for December 2011 compared to December 2010:

Single Family Homes Sold : 549 - down -9.41% from December 2010

Condo's Sold : 97 - down - 30.22% from December 2010

Townhomes Sold : 36 - down - 12.20% from December 2010

Overall Combined Sold: 691 down 12.09% from December 2010

Year to date 2011 - 2010:

Single Family Home Sales: up 7.57%

Single Family New Listings: down 20.53% 

Condo Sales: up 13.13%

Condo New Listings: down 20.80%

Townhome Sales:  up 4.46%

Townhome New Listings: down 18.65%

All Properties: up 11.40%

All Properties New Listings: down 19.15%

Highest Sale Price:

Single Family Home : $825,000 -down - 41.07% from December 2010

Condo : $525,000 - down -6.25% from December 2010

Townhome : $276,000 - down - 43.09% from December 2010

Questions or comments?

The December 2011 and end of year numbers will be posted the beginning of next week. In 2011 we watched a stabilizing of the market here in Brevard. Inventory fell throughout the year, the drop in home prices flattened out and the number of sales rose. I think the numbers next week will reflect that.

Looking ahead 2012 should be a good year in real estate. With low prices and interest rates it is a good time to purchase a home. I am asked frequently if the market has "bottomed" out. I believe that it has for the most part. Will we see homes prices to continue to fall? Yes, in some areas of the county. Other areas seem to have hit bottom already.

For sellers, the days a home is on the market is reduced. With the low inventory, there are buyers waiting for new listings. This is generally the sign of a turn around in the market. Prices should increase minimally... 2% - 3% per year except in the areas where there is still an abundance of distressed homes.

Look for the sales stats the beginning of the week!

Following are the sales statistics for November 2011 compared to November2010.  Due to the low inventory of homes for sale compared to last year the monthly numbers may not be a true snapshot of our housing market. The year to date figures following the monthly stats will put it in perspective. I have also added the the percentage of new listings in each category year to date.

November 2011 Sales Stats:

Following are the stats for November 2011 compared to November 2010:

Single Family Homes Sold : 523 - up -9.19% from November 2010

Condo's Sold : 93 - down - 10.58% from November 2010

Townhomes Sold : 35 - up - 29.63% from November 2010

Overall Combined Sold: 653 up 2.35% from November 2010

Year to date 2011 - 2010:

Single Family Home Sales: up 9.01%

Single Family New Listings: down 21.60% 

Condo Sales: up 18.31%

Condo New Listings: down 21.58%

Townhome Sales:  up 5.65%

Townhome New Listings: down 18.65%

All Properties: up 11.40%

All Properties New Listings: down 19.19%

Highest Sale Price:

Single Family Home : $945,000 -down - 35.93% from November 2010

Condo : $496,000 - down -44.89% from November 2010

Townhome : $224,990 - down - 21.06% from November 2010

Questions or comments?

Last December Embraer opened it's assembly hanger and administration offices. Yesterday they celebrated the opening of their customer center which will be the showroom for all of their private jets.

Embraer is manufacturing their Phantom 100 and Phantom 300 jets at their first and only North American final assembly plant here in Melbourne.

After the Embraer announcement in 2008 that they had chosen Melbourne as their location two other avionic companies have moved to the area.

It is great news for the county as a whole after the cancelation of the Constellation project at Kennedy Space Center to replace the shuttle cost many jobs in the area.

Following are the sales statistics for October 2011 compared to October 2010.  Due to the low inventory of homes for sale compared to last year the monthly numbers may not be a true snapshot of our housing market. The year to date figures following the monthly stats will put it in perspective. I have also added the the percentage of new listings in each category year to date.

October 2011 Sales Stats:

Following are the stats for October 2011 compared to October 2010:

Single Family Homes Sold : 510 - up -1.80% from October 2010

Condo's Sold : 104 - down - 11.11% from October  2010

Townhomes Sold : 37 - up - 23.33% from October  2010

Overall Combined Sold: 654 down 2.24% from October  2010

Year to date 2011 - 2010:

Single Family Home Sales: up 8.18%

Single Family New Listings: down 23.06% 

Condo Sales: up 19.55%

Condo New Listings: down 22.49%

Townhome Sales:  up 2.89%

Townhome New Listings: down 18.79%

All Properties: up 11.22%

All Properties New Listings: down 20.26%

Highest Sale Price:

Single Family Home : $850,000 -down - 8.11% from October  2010

Condo : $590,000 - even -0% from October  2010

Townhome : $242,000 - up - 58.17% from October  2010

Questions or comments?

The following chart shows the decline in inventory for both single family homes and condos/townhomes:

Following are the sales statistics for September 2011 compared to September 2010.  We should take into consideration that our inventory of homes for sale is well below what it was last year. Looking back, in August of 2010 there were a total of 10,230 active listings, single family, condo & townhomes. In August of this year, the total number was 4,403.

Overall right now is a good time for both buyers and sellers in Brevard County. For buyer's, interest rates are at an all time low of below 4% for 30 year fixed rates and prices have declined. For sellers, although the prices are down, due to the low inventory, we have buyers waiting for new listings to come on the market.

September Sales Stats:

Following are the stats for September 2011 compared to September 2010:

Single Family Homes Sold : 516 - down -11.95% from September 2010

Condo's Sold : 89 - down - 19.82% from September 2010

Townhomes Sold : 30 - down - 9.09% from September 2010

Overall Combined Sold: 652 down 12.25% from September 2010

Year to date 2011 - 2010:

Single Family Home Sales: up 8.24%

Condo Sales: up 21.74%

Townhome Sales:  even -0%

All Properties: up 11.89%

Highest Sale Price:

Single Family Home : $1,030,000 -down - 23.70% from September 2010

Condo : $505,000 - down -8.84% from September 2010

Townhome : $225,000 - down 8.35% from August 2010

Questions or comments?

In the past few weeks the national news has reported dim homes sales figures. This is not happening in Brevard County,as shown by the following statistics for August 2011. Both the number of sales and average price has increased... again.

August:

Following are the stats for August 2011 compared to August 2010:

Single Family Homes Sold : 577 - up -13.81% from August 2010

Condo's Sold : 129 - up - 12.17% from August 2010

Townhomes Sold : 42 - up - 10.53% from August 2010

Overall Combined Sold: 759 up 15.35% from August 2010

Year to date 2011 - 2010:

Single Family Home Sales: up 9.82%

Condo Sales: up 25.72%

Townhome Sales:  even -0%

All Properties: up 13.87%

Highest Sale Price:

Single Family Home : $1,375,000 -down - 29.49% from August 2010

Condo : $765,000 - down -1.92% from August 2010

Townhome : $391,000 - down 4.63% from August 2010

Questions or comments?

With our inventory extremely low and home sales up it is a great time to sell a home!

July:

Following are the stats for July 2011 compared to July 2010:

Single Family Homes Sold : 584 - up -14.29% from July 2010

Condo's Sold : 102 - down - 5.56% from July 2010

Townhomes Sold : 29 - up - 7.41% from July 2010

Overall Combined Sold: 714 up 8.51% from July 2010

Year to date 2011 - 2010:

Single Family Home Sales: up 8.54%

Condo Sales: up 27.34%

Townhome Sales:  down -2.51%

All Properties: up 12.94%

Highest Sale Price:

Single Family Home : $3,100,000 -up - 24.00% from July 2010

Condo : $549,900 - up -15.77% from July 2010

Townhome : $199,800 - down 51.15% from July 2010

Questions or comments?