Ocala Home Sales, Housing Market Bouncing Back, But Well Off Last Year’s Pace
While existing-home sales in the Ocala area last month continued to bounce back, the number of homes sold was down 33 percent from the same month a year ago, when local real estate was red hot.
There were 400 Realtor sales in the Ocala housing market during March, Florida Association of Realtors data showed Tuesday. That’s up 13 percent from the 354 sales in February, but well off the 598 sales a year ago.
Statewide, sales of existing homes last month were down 28 percent from the same period in 2006. Each of the state’s 20 largest metro areas saw declines in sales from the same month last year, except the Sarasota-Bradenton area, reporting an increase of 16 percent, and Panama City, reporting a 28 percent gain.
It wasn’t just Florida mortgage activity seeing a downturn, either. Existing home sales nationally in March plunged.
The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes fell by 8.4 percent in March, compared to February, the biggest one-month decline since a 12.6 percent plunge in January 1989.
David Lereah, chief economist with the National Realtors Association, attributed the big drop in part to bad weather in February, which discouraged shoppers and meant that sales that closed in March would be lower.
Lereah said the troubles seen by mortgage lenders and brokers in the market also were playing a significant part in depressing sales.
Lenders have tightened their standards due to increasing defaults among home loan holders, especially in the bad credit Florida mortgage market, where many borrowers with weak credit histories obtained their loans.
The median price for an existing home in Ocala edged up 2 percent from a year ago during the same month. With a median price of $164,400, Ocala is still the most affordable metropolitan area to live in the state.
Bert Meadows, of Meadows Realty, believes the local housing market is on the upswing, and he said his salespeople are getting more and more phone calls from prospective buyers.
“It’s not what it was, but definitely the market has started moving again,” he said.
Meadows said the Central Florida housing market boom of the last couple of years was an anomaly, and said most Realtors would be happy to see sales figures similar to those witnessed in 2003 or 2004.
“I think it was an unusual time in the market,” he said of the frenzied sales period.
There’s still lots of inventory on the market, but with Florida mortgage rates still low, buyers are in a good position, some say.
Judy Disney-DiFranco, a Realtor with Coldwell-Banker Ellison Realty, said she’s seeing more homes are being listed than being sold, and prices are falling. In turn, buyers have the advantage.
“It’s still a buyer’s market,” Disney-DiFranco said. “It’s a good time to make a really good deal.”
SOURCE: Ocala Star-Banner
