We mail out a newsletter approximately every 3 months, updating our customers and friends with what’s happening on Scenic 30A. We want to include you in our mailing, so feel free to send us your E-mail address. Please feel free to E-mail or call us anytime with any questions or thoughts. Beware though - our enthusiasm for the area is contagious and you just may end up at the beach.
30A Market Stabilizing with Pockets of Price Appreciation
By Jon Miller / November 28, 2011
I hope everyone had a good turkey day and enjoyed themselves.
It has been 90 days since my last newsletter, and while there has been a lot of activity along 30A, things have not changed much. Sales continue to improve. This will be our second highest single-family home sales volume in the last 10 years. 2004 was the highest and 2011 follows with the past 12 month total sales at 476 homes Sold and 100 more Under Contract.
I believe the pace of home sales will place continued upward price pressure on our market. Going back to the last “Gold Rush” for land/homes on 30A, back around 2002, 2003, I remember watching prices rising first in structured developments (Ex: WaterColor, Seaside, Rosemary Beach), then spreading out the full length of 30A.
If you have been to the beach lately and have driven to Publix grocery on 395, you will notice that in the past few years the Watercolor community on the east side of 395 has transformed from barren to a very active. Adam and I sold several of these homes at going market value. In 2009 the going value was $500,000. In 2010, it was $525,000. And in 2011, we are seeing prices in the $535,000 to $552,000 price range, with the last two properties going under contract at the higher price as pre-sales. Zero days on market…. Now that’s pretty good!
I expect to see this price appreciation encompass all of 30A in the near future.
Short Sales and REOs (aka: foreclosures) continue to sell and disappear along 30A. We currently have 64 properties falling into this classification. Of these, there are only 25 that I would consider looking at. And of the 64 properties, only 7 have come on the market in the last 3 months. I believe our volume of sales can absorb this pace of new short sales and REOs without having much of a negative effect on price appreciation. I know I have been doing my share of cleaning the market up with currently having 3 short sale contracts before banks, waiting for their price approval and closing dates.
As I mentioned in my last newsletter, today’s buyer on 30A is an entirely different type of buyer than the large percentage of speculator buyers back in 2004 and 2005. Today buyers are looking for the 30A lifestyle experience rather than the quick $50,000 to $100,000 speculated gain from their investment. Every day we have a real estate closing on 30A, the market gets healthier and more stable. Each sale is setting a base for price appreciation. I’m looking forward to a steady and slow price gain in the future, rather than the “Gold Rush” gain of the past.
As usual, I will include a link to my BEST BUYS in 3 single-family price categories and one condo section. I will also highlight in detail one Ultimate Luxury Property. You can click on the links below or view our BEST BUYS by going to our newsletter on our web site. Please feel free to e-mail or call for the full MLS reports on any property that looks interesting.
Click on the five links below to view properties:
Best Buy Single Family Homes $250,000 to $600,000
Best Buy Single Family Homes $600,000 to $1,200,000
Best Buy Single Family Homes $1,200,000 and UP
*Also, I’d like to point out to iPhone, iPad and Android users: we just added a real estate search App for you to download for FREE! Get your “Emerald Coast Homes” App on the App Store and Android Market. Enter the VIP ACCESS CODE …. gotothebeach
You can also do detailed searches from your computer on our web site at www.GOTOTHEBEACH.com or .net.
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*We are going to start monthly giveaways on our FACEBOOK page, so be sure to “like us” and have some fun!
Lastly, I would like to mention to everyone. We sometimes get busy and may not communicate with everyone as often as we like. However, we promise to make ourselves available whenever you have questions or need some help. We haven’t forgotten you; we are here to help anytime. So please drop us an E-mail or give us a call.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Jon Miller
850.231.3344