Slow Market Breeds Seller Creativity

Terri Ossi tried to sell her Ormond beachside home for $349,000 but only one person came by to take a look in three months. So she decided the asking price could drop $14,000 - with some incentives.

Her new deal includes not only a pool home with an in-law apartment on Ponce De Leon Drive, but also appliances, washer, dryer, home warranty, termite bond - and a 1998 Honda CR-V valued at $5,000.

“The furniture is negotiable, and if they want the dog, they can have him, too,” Ossi joked.

Ossi’s effort to create a buzz about her property shows how some owners are going to unusual lengths to attract Florida mortgage applicants in a market whacked by 11 straight months of declining sales and prices.

During May, Realtors sold just 644 existing single-family homes in Volusia and Flagler County, 29 percent fewer than the 912 that changed hands in this segment of the Florida housing market in May 2006.

The median price - the midpoint for all brokered sales in the two-county area - dropped 14 percent to $196,800, the Florida Association of Realtors reported Monday.

It was the second time in the past three months that area house prices have dipped below the $200,000 level. In March, the median was $199,600 but was $205,500 in April before falling again in May.

Condominium sales fared a bit better, at 99 for the month, two more than a year earlier. But condo prices dropped 16 percent to $208,300, down from $247,900 a year ago.

The Flagler-Volusia County figures mirrored a slump occurring throughout Florida and the rest of the nation.

• Statewide, Florida home sales plunged 34 percent to 12,607, and Florida home prices slipped 5 percent to $237,000.
• Nationally, sales slowed to an annual rate of 5.9 million homes and condos in May, the lowest level in four years. The median home price dropped for a record 10th consecutive month to $223,700.
• The number of unsold homes on the market rose 5 percent to 4.43 million, which could take nearly nine months to clear out at the current pace.

While sales dropped in the South and other regions, they rose 5.8 percent in the Northeast, raising hope that more retirees may soon be house hunting in Florida.

Indeed, local real estate boards said the Volusia-Flagler County market is stirring a bit, perhaps spurred by talk of a property tax rollback.

“On the whole, agents feel there’s more activity going on out there. We have more contracts coming in,” said Marge Allison, vice president of the Daytona Beach Area Association of Realtors.

“But pricing is everything,” she added. “The buyers that we have are looking for bargains.”

Outside the immediate Daytona Beach area, median prices fell but still remained above the $200,000 level.

That’s low, but still high enough to be causing more than a little difficulty for the average Florida mortgage loan applicant.

Southeast Volusia recorded the highest median price at $214,000, while West Volusia’s median was $205,000 and Flagler County’s was $201,250.

Growing numbers of sellers are offering incentives, such as payments toward the buyer’s closing costs and rebates of up to $5,000 if the buyer can meet an early deadline for closing the deal, said Don Woods, president of the Southeast Volusia Board of Realtors.

Not surprisingly, builders are offering the biggest incentives.

SOURCE: Daytona Beach News-Journal