The Gainesville luxury real estate market is improving. An analysis of the luxury home market** during the first half of 2014 as measured against the first half of 2013 reveals the following:
- Gainesville luxury home sales prices rose 5%
- The number of Gainesville luxury homes sold increased 37.1%
- Gainesville luxury homes sold in an average of 138 days, a 6.8% decrease
Gainesville luxury homes are defined as homes which sell for $500,000 or more in the Gainesville real estate market.
Luxury homes as a percent of total sales
The luxury real estate market represented 3.9% of total Gainesville real estate sales in the first half of 2014 — a 1% increase over 2013. Even though the market share of Gainesville luxury real estate relative to the total real estate market is improving, Gainesville luxury home sales continue to represent just a small fraction of all homes sold in the Gainesville real estate market.
Distressed sales in Gainesville luxury real estate
The Gainesville luxury real estate market is not immune to distressed sales — that is, short sales and foreclosures. During the first half of 2014, 4.2% of all Gainesville luxury homes sold were short sales or foreclosures. This is an improvement over 2013, when distressed sales represented 5.7% of all Gainesville luxury real estate sold.
Luxury home market in Gainesville is a buyer’s market
Despite the Gainesville real estate market’s improvements, the luxury home segment is still a buyer’s market.
Unlike other market segments, there is still an excess of luxury homes available for sale relative to the number of luxury buyers.
As of July 28 2014 there are currently 138 luxury homes for sale, or 11.3% of the total of 1,216 single family homes for sale in the Gainesville real estate market area.
If 3.9% of home buyers purchased luxury homes during the first half of 2014 — and 11.3% of the homes currently available for sale are luxury homes — luxury home sellers looking to sell their homes in a reasonable time frame need to ensure that their homes are updated, move in ready, and — most importantly — competitively priced.
