What a difference a year makes

Yep. Last year at this time it was get those prices down. The worst is yet to come. Blood in the water, sharks out there....

You get the picture.

Hmmm, median prices are starting to rise, sales are way up both for condos and houses, there are buyers out there. What a difference a year makes.

Inventory is at acceptable levels. It is still a buyers market but under 250k for single family homes that situation is changing quickly.

This means sellers who have equity in their homes, have the motivation to sell now, can come away OK.

The distress sales, foreclosure and short sale, continue to keep market prices down.

All the best
Greg Owens P.A.
Keller Williams On The Water
941.932.6343
greg@teamworksfla.com
www.teamworksfla.com

Bucking the national trend

Single family home sales were up 43 percent in Bradenton/Sarasota in December over last year.

Nationally they were down 17 percent.

December of 2009, 872 homes sold compared to 610 the previous year.

The median sale price rose 5 percent from $16ok to just over $167k year over year according to the Sarasota Herald Tribune.

It was a 4.6 percent increase from November when the median home price was $160k.

Condo sales were up 144 percent in December with 310 units sold compared to 127 the previous year. The median price was up compared to November by 5.3 percent to $148,600 compared to $141,000.

All the best
Greg Owens P.A.
Keller Williams On The Water
941.932.6343
greg@teamworksfla.com
www.teamworksfla.com

Thanks for a great year

Selling and listing over the past year in Sarasota and Manatee has been great.

It has everything to do with the clients we have here and clients coming in to our community.

Our team's business for instance almost doubled from the previous year and our office saw outstanding growth.

Not every real estate firm was as fortunate but many not only survived but thrived. Here's why.

Listing clients who wanted their homes to sell realized they needed to drop their prices and compete the distress sales.

Buying clients realized there where once in a lifetime opportunities to pick homes at bargain basement prices.

The business of real estate didn't stop, it evolved to match the market condition.

The combination made for a lot of real estate business.

All the best
Greg Owens P.A.
Keller Williams On The Water
greg@teamworksfla.com
www.teamworksfla.com

All hope is not lost

Real estate prices for single family homes in Manatee and Sarasota counties continue to remain flat or slight lower.

The inventory is dropping and there is market demand.

All this means that all hope is not lost.

We're not dropping like a rock in prices as we did a year ago.

We're seeing buyers, well buying. They are out there, they do have cash or financing and they are willing to pay market value for homes that are desirable.

The real estate market is not dead, it is crawling along and should get back to a walking pace later this year.

All this means of course is the direction is positive.

All the best
Greg Owens P.A.
Keller Williams On The Water
941.932.6343
greg@teamworksfla.com
www.teamworksfla.com

Looking into the future

As I gaze once again into the local real estate market crystal ball I see... more of the same.

We are still going to be going through a market where prices are driven by foreclosures and short sales in Manatee and Sarasota counties.

For equity sellers, those who have equity in their homes, it means the competition with distress sales will continue to hold the prices down.

The are still a number of foreclosures coming on the market and the short sales are continuing to dominate the market.

The market prices appear to be headed to remain flat or slightly lower over the next couple of months.

Greg Owens P.A.
Keller Williams On The Water
941.932.6343
greg@teamworksfla.com
www.teamworkfla.com

Making it real

On a recent trip to Edmonton, Alberta I noticed something interesting in the downtown shopping areas and enclosed walkways.

Wherever I walked I saw indoor palm trees, something that looked like beach sand and a lot of effort put in to making it look like a tropical paradise.

Outside, there was snow, a bit of ice fog and a lot of people bundled up against the cold.

Now with the Canadian dollar fairly close to the U.S. there is an opportunity to make that surreal tropical look a reality.

With the median home price in Manatee and Sarasota counties still below 200k there is more than an ample opportunity to get the winter home where the palm trees are outdoors and the beach sand is in front of the Gulf of Mexico.

All the best
Greg Owens P.A.
Keller Williams On The Water
941.932.6343
greg@teamworksfla.com
www.teamworksfla.com

Right place, right time

I recently arrived back from a trip to Canada.

Arriving at the Orlando International Airport a child exclaimed, "this must be the right place there are palm trees."

Oh, how right she is.

Florida for my northern brethren is the right place right now. It has palm trees, it has beaches, it has everything you want when you are in a deep freeze up north.

On top of all that the prices for homes or condos are at the lowest levels they have been in a decade.

So more than ever there is an opportunity to see those palm trees over and over.

All the best
Greg Owens P.A.
Keller Williams On The Water
941.932.6343
greg@teamworksfla.com
www.teamworksfla.com

Now is the time to sell

A little bit chilly in our neck of the woods in Sarasota and Manatee counties.

But it is a whole lot chillier up in the northern states which will get a lot of people thinking about that Florida dream home.

Each shovel full of snow or bone freezing walk down the sidewalk could spark those dreams of beaches and relaxation along the warm gulf waters.

What that means for the locals is, yes, it is time now to put your home on the market if you thinking of selling this year.

The holidays are over, the arctic cold has set in and the motivated buyers shovelling snow are looking again.

All the best
Greg Owens P.A.
Keller Williams On The Water
941.932.6343
greg@teamworksfla.com
www.teamworksfla.com