A quick look at Alachua County real estate sales figures for the second quarter of 2011 (covering the period 4/1/2011 through 6/30/2011) reveals the impact of short sales and foreclosures on home prices. Median sales prices dropped across all categories when compared to home sales in the second quarter of 2010.
Short sales and foreclosures
Short sales and foreclosures comprised 27% of Alachua County home sales in the second quarter of 2011. During the same time last year, short sales and foreclosures accounted for 9% of all homes sold in Alachua County.
The tripling of the number of short sales and foreclosures sold this quarter helps to explain the downward pressure exerted on home sales prices. As long as short sales and foreclosures are moving through the Alachua County real estate marketplace, this trend will most likely continue.
It’s a buyer’s market
We are still in a strong buyer’s market in Alachua County, with 10.5 months of inventory. What this means is it currently will take us 10.5 months to sell all of the homes listed for sale in Alachua County.
Advice for home buyers
If you are looking to buy Alachua County real estate, this is obviously a great time.
Advice for home sellers
If you are looking to sell Alachua County real estate, it is imperative that you take these market conditions into account when pricing your home. “Let’s start high and lower our price later if we don’t get any offers” is NOT a good strategy if you are looking to sell your home in any sort of reasonable time frame.
