You are reading the April 2011 Real Estate Report for Alachua County & Gainesville. The information in the report is through 3/31/2012. I take a look at home values, real estate trends, sales activity and the strength of the real estate market each quarter and share what we see with you. The report comes from information that local REALTORS® update in the local multiple listing service and won’t include every single transaction in the County.
Overview: Home Values and Real Estate Trends
The residential market has been stabilizing over the last year, and the evidence of that can be found throughout the graphs in the report.
You can see that Qtr1 home prices are about the same in 2012 as they were a year before. We are also seeing more home sales closing in the first quarter than the last few years.
Days on the market are almost unchanged from a year ago.
House sale prices are also a lot closer to the asking prices on homes, coming up by 2% from a year ago.
At the same time there are fewer new listing coming onto the market than a year ago, and when combined with more sales we will start to see the supply of inventory shrinking. It’s still a buyer’s market, but the tables are slowly turning.
Vacant land is still moving slowly, with a large oversupply of inventory.
We have about an 14 month supply of homes on the market and 13 months of condos, down from November’s numbers of about an 18 month supply of homes on the market and 16 months of condos.
(That means it would take 14 months to sell all the homes on the market if buyers kept going at their current activity levels and no more homes came on the market)
For Sellers
There are real buyers out there, but they have a lot of homes to look at. If you are thinking of selling your home make it beautiful, price it right, and get as much exposure as possible where your buyers are looking for homes.
For Buyers
Many buyers are overwhelmed because they have a lot of homes to look at and they don’t want to miss out on an amazing deal. Keeping a few ideas in mind will help you stay in control.
Start by narrowing down your search by finding the homes that have the features you want (fireplace, 2 car garage, full yard fencing, etc.).
If you want the best deal on a home don’t fall in love with one house, try to pick out 2 or 3 that will work for you. If you do that then you have a better chance of finding a bargain.
Some of the best deals are homes that need some TLC, or short sales and foreclosures, these homes are overlooked by most buyers because they can’t imagine what how much clean carpet and fresh paint changes a room.
Get an idea of what other homes have sold for in the area, not just what prices they are asking, so you really know if you are getting a good deal or not.
Distressed Properties in Alachua County
Short Sales closed out at about $65/sqft in the first quarter, compared to $79 in 2011.
On the other hand, foreclosure sales (bank owned properties) sold for about $68/sqft – up from $55/sqft in 2011!
If you haven’t seen these homes before you won’t know what to expect. It’s common to see foreclosed homes that have rotten roofs and missing air conditioners, and you can probably plan to spend tens of thousands of dollars to make them livable.
If you are willing to do some minor repairs look at short sales. If you can handle major repairs consider foreclosures too. These homes are a great way to buy your first home, or get into an investment property. There are loans available that will help you pay for the repairs and roll that cost into your mortgage (403-K loans).
Do you want us to help you?
If you want to know how this affects you we can help.
We can do the looking for you, and check out the details of the homes you like.
Contact us and let us know how we can help you.
Download the Full Report
The full report has stats on active, pending, and sold real estate for the 2nd Quarter of 2011 and 2011 year to date, as well as information on price trends, days on the market, and inventory supplies by price bracket.
Click Here to download the Gainesville & Alachua County Real Estate Market Report 2nd Quarter 2011. (Adobe PDF file)
How to Read It
- The top of each page tells you what that page is about.
- Near the top left of most pages you will find details for the current quarter – January – March 2012.
- Near the top right of most pages you will find the details for the entire year to date for 2012, 2011, and 2010.
- Pages that are not set up that way may be comparing activity in this quarter to a previous quarter, or show graphs comparing 2011 real estate trends to market statistics going back up to five years.
Read our Past Real Estate Reports
3rd Quarter 2011
Read the Summary Article: Click Here
Download the Full Report: Click Here
2nd Quarter 2011
Read the Summary Article: Click Here
Download the Full Report: Click Here
2010 Year in Review
Read the Summary Article: Click Here
Download the Full Report: Click Here
2009 Review
Read the Summary Article: Click Here
Download the Full Report: Click Here
Based on information from the Gainesville-Alachua County Association of REALTORS or its Multiple Listing Service. Neither the Association nor its MLS guarantees or is in any way responsible for its accuracy. Data maintained by the Association or its MLS may not reflect all real estate activity in the market.