- April 18, 2024
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In line with national trends, Ormond Beach homes are selling faster and for higher prices.
BY MATT MENCARINI | STAFF WRITER
Ormond Beach real estate continues to follow the national trend of quicker sales and higher prices.
In February, one out of three homes sold in the United States was on the market for less than a month, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Additionally, the organization said the average home was on the market for 74 days before it sold, which was 24% below the 97-day average in February 2012, signaling more evidence of a slow but steady housing recovery.
Not only are homes selling more quickly, they’re selling for, on average, more and more. Sales have continued to show “year-over-year price increases” for 12 consecutive months, according to the same release.
“February sales were at the highest level since the tax credit period of November 2009,” the National Association of Realtors said.
“We have seen more homes with multiple offers in the past three to six months than I’ve seen in the last five years,” Realty Pro’s Bill Navarra said. “We’re definitely, in our area, seeing a turn in events.”
He estimated an accurately priced home in the Ormond Beach area could likely sell within 45 days, while an overpriced home could take anywhere from four to six months.
Short sales, transactions that involve a bank accepting an offer lower than the owner owes in order to facilitate a sale, were on the market for an average of 101 days, foreclosures for an average of 52 days and non-distressed homes an average of 77 days. Non-distressed homes sales are considered any general home sale that isn’t a short sale or a foreclosure.
The level of first-time buyers continues to stay near 30%, according to the trade association, where it was in January and February 2013, down slightly from February 2012, when it was 32%.
Total housing inventory at the end of February rose 9.6% to 1.94 million nationally, which, according to the National Association of Realtors, is a 4.7-month supply at the current sales pace.
This is up from the 4.3-month supply in January, which had been the lowest supply since May 2005, the National Association of Realtors said. But the supply is 19.2% lower than it was a year ago, when there was a 6.4-month supply.
Navarra said a five- to six-month supply is considered good, and anything lower is considered great. He said the current supply in the Ormond Beach area was likely in the 4.5-month range.
Limited buyer choices, the National Association of Realtors said, led to flattened February pending home sales. However, they were at a the second highest level in nearly three years.
"Only new home construction can genuinely help relieve the inventory shortage, and housing starts need to rise at least 50% from current levels," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors.
