Time to Buy in Indian River County?
Sales of existing homes in Indian River County continued to slide, as home prices inched down and Realtors sold 30 fewer homes in April than they did in the same month last year.
“I wish it was better, but it could be worse,” said Karen Hall, president of the Realtors Association of Indian River County, whose group tracks the figures. “But we are not discouraged by it.”
As Florida mortgage demand remained tepid, sales were off 18 percent while the median price of existing homes fell 7.5 percent to $217,400 from April 2006.
“It is a great time to buy. There is a good inventory to pick from,” Hall said. “Sellers are getting more reasonable with their prices, but I expect to see more flattening out in prices.”
The data follows a report released this week by the U.S. Commerce Department that showed a 16 percent jump in new home sales in April from a year earlier.
While those new homes were selling, buyers were getting them for about 11 percent less than the original asking price.
“Although I find an increase in sales encouraging, we need a couple of months of it before I get excited,” said Brad Hunter, the director of Metrostudy, a research firm that tracks new home move-ins.
“Absorption is always a good thing.”
Hunter said the new home market might be fairing better than the existing market because home builders can slash their home prices, while individual homeowners don’t have the same flexibility.
“My fear is that a lot of people are not lowering their price because they can’t,” Hunter said. “There is no negotiating room left.”
The relatively small change in median home prices in Indian River County was reflected across the region, as was the much larger decline in sales.
The median price of existing homes sold in Martin County actually rose $2,000 in April to $285,000 from a year earlier.
Sales, though, fell 16.6 percent between the two months to 141, according to the Realtors Association of Martin County.
The Fort Pierce-Port St. Lucie market, which also includes Stuart, saw a large (41 percent) decrease in sales in April, according to the Florida Association of Realtors. Median home prices fell 4 percent to $242,600.
If Florida home loan rates rose a few more times like they did last week, we might see even lower demand… though on the other hand, buyers might finally get the cajoling they need to make a move.
SOURCE: TCPalm.com
