The housing market in Pinellas County for August has been relatively calm. It appears that the real estate market is looking for news of a recovery or a double recession. Listings across the board continue to fall, and prices are rising, albeit slowly. Distressed property (bank owned and short sales) listings have been steadily declining since January this year. Comparing to August 2010, they are down 43%.
Residential properties in the areas of $30k- $40k, $100k to $140k and $200k to $250k continue to be the strongest market price segments in the county. Sales on homes valued over $500k are continuing to struggle, with buyers looking for bargains rather than to move up.
Overall, residential market sales increased from 971 to 1203, or 23.9%, from August 2010 to August 2011. Median sales price for the same time period dropped 15.4% from $135,000 to $117,000, but is up $3,000 month over month. Active listings continued to slide by 22% from August 2010 to August 2011, for six straight months of listing decreases.
Condo sales from August 2010 to August 2011 are up nearly 26%. The median sales price for condo’s continues to remain relatively stagnate month over month. For August it is $94,200, a decrease of 18.1% from August 2010. Condo listings decreased from 5,546 to 4,222, or -23.9% for the same time period.
Single family listings are down from 6,670 to 4,270, or 37%. The median sales price is down from $135,000 to $126,080 from year over year. Single family sales climbed for a 22% increase for the same time period.
In the distressed market, pending sales of bank-owned properties and short sales ticked up about 7.3%. Median price and sales of distressed properties increased slightly.
With the decreasing number of listings, the absorption rate is steadily rising this year. For August 2011 the single family rate was 17.5%, the highest it’s been since December 2005.
Click Here for August 2011 Pinellas County Residential Real Estate Report