Tallahassee Housing Market Overview - 05/31/10 11:25 AM
When conducting a simple housing market overview, we like to look at the “big 4″ trend lines to determine what is happening in the Tallahassee real estate market. Of course, by the “big 4,” we mean daily new sales, daily new pendings, daily new failures, and daily new listings.

In the real estate graph above, the blue line shows that the one-year trend on new listings has flattened out around 15, which is still significantly lower than the 21 new listings per day the market was seeing at the end of 2008.
The daily new failures trend (red line) continues … (2 comments)

Memorial Day Thanks To Our Soldiers - 05/31/10 10:20 AM
Happy Memorial Day Tallahassee!
Memorial Day is our Nation’s holiday which was created for those of us fortunate enough to be around to enjoy the benefits of the sacrifices made by those who have fallen in service to this great nation. Today reminds us that we should never forget that freedom isn’t free and that many men and women have given their lives to preserve our way of life.
Turn on any tv anywhere, open up any newspaper or magazine, or log in to any web site and you will find non-Americans and Americans who wish to threaten those very freedoms. … (4 comments)

Are You Selling Any Homes? - 05/28/10 08:17 AM
Are you having any success in selling a home in Tallahassee? I get this question from prospective home sellers in Tallahassee, as well as from REALTORS from all over the internet. I think it is one of the more important issues defining our housing market nationwide.
Most real estate professionals define a “good housing market” as one where when somebody wants to move, they can sell their home. Simple. Concise. Understandable. There is a market for homes and somebody will want to purchase mine if my family needs to move. Unfortunately, that has not been the case for the past few … (6 comments)

Depreciation Has Brought Buyers Back - 05/27/10 07:34 AM
I have received a lot of feedback from my recent blog about how buyers are getting excited about the great deals on homes in Summerbrooke. While everybody knows that real estate depreciation continues and that values have dropped over 25% since the peak of the market, sometimes it takes specific examples for the scope of the adjustment to really hit home.
One reader was going through the list of home sales in Summerbrooke and found a foreclosure sale that really stood out.
Hi Joe,
Just a couple of minutes was all it took for me to see that 933 Summerbrooke sold … (0 comments)

Carolyn Capalbo Is A REALTOR In Northern Virginia That Needs Your Help - 05/27/10 06:30 AM
Ouch!
Via Lisa Udy Realtor Utah Real Estate Specialist (Logan Utah Real Estate The Platinum Real Estate Group):
Carolyn Capalbo Is A REALTOR In Northern Virginia That Needs Your Help
 
Carolyn Capalbo is a real estate agent in Northern Virgina that is being punished for having the wrong name. In 2008 a women with the same name as Carolyn Capalbo broke into the news, and it wasn't pretty. The "other" Carolyn had a daughter that was involved with a New York governor in a promiscuous way. Long story short, it was ugly, and now when you google Carolyn Capalbo, you get the results … (0 comments)

How Productive Is The Average REALTOR? - 05/26/10 09:34 AM
 
With the real estate market still sluggish, it should come as no great surprise to see that the average production levels of Tallahassee REALTORS is dropping. As part of our total scrutiny of the Tallahassee real estate market, we have combined some long-term measurements to see how productive the average REALTOR in Tallahassee is performing.
So, before we get into the “nitty gritty” of the measurements, ponder this question to yourself real quickly:
How many homes does the average Tallahassee REALTOR sell in a year?
Was your first thought “less than two!” If so, you are spot on.
Tallahassee REALTOR … (12 comments)

NAR Spin On Existing Home Sales Report Damages REALTOR Image - 05/25/10 07:25 AM
Every month on the 25th, the National Association of REALTORS® releases the Existing Home Sales Report which includes single family detached homes, condominiums, townhouses and co-ops. Of all the real estate reports that the NAR produces, this one best identifies the strength and direction of the national housing market.
The April Existing Home Sales Report was positive, showing a 7.6% increase over April of the previous year. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the gain was widely anticipated.
“The upswing in April existing-home sales was expected because of the tax credit inducement, and no doubt there will be some temporary fallback … (6 comments)

Home Sales In Summerbrooke Taking Off - 05/24/10 10:41 AM
 
All over the Tallahassee real estate market, home buyers are finding some excellent deals as prices have dropped roughly 25% since the peak of the market several years ago. Summerbrooke is a great example of a northeast Tallahassee neighborhood that is seeing a rebound in buyer activity due to some exceptional values that are now on the market.
When we look at the real estate graph below, the blue vertical bars measure the average monthly number of sales that occurred each month, while the red line measures the average home value trend in Summerbrooke. As we predicted in previous articles … (0 comments)

Tallahassee's Southwood Sees Increased Home Buyer Activity - 05/21/10 10:18 AM
Southwood home values continue to decline, but increased activity shows that buyers are starting to like what they see. While the current trend shows that monthly home sales are down nearly 40% from the peak of the market, Southwood is now up to averaging roughly seven arms length existing home sales per month.
When we compare the average number of monthly home sales in Southwood to its trend of home values, we see an interesting correlation between falling prices and increased buyer activity. Unfortunately, the buyer activity is not sufficient to reduce the existing inventory of homes in Southwood, so we … (0 comments)

788 Subdivisions In Tallahassee - Complete Report - 05/20/10 09:48 AM
A lot of people use our Tallahassee Neighborhoods page as a resource to find out what is going on and what is for sale in each subdivision in the Tallahassee real estate market. By tracking the traffic, we know that we have stumbled across a great feature for our site that our home buyers and home sellers are using quite a bit.
In order to continuously update the information on Tallahassee neighborhoods, I access the Leon County Tax Appraisers tax records, the MLS, and reports from Metro Market Trends to pull together the best information regarding arms-length home sales in our … (0 comments)

How To Analyze Home Sales Success Rates - 05/19/10 08:52 AM
Do you ever wonder how hard it is to get a home sold in today’s real estate market? I always do, so I measure two key real estate statistics that I refer to as the home sales success rate and the home sales failure rate. By looking at success versus failure in real estate, I always have a current opinion on the relative difficulty in getting a home sold in today’s market conditions.
This information is vital for both home buyers and home sellers. We think it gives our clients an advantage in the market. For buyers, they will have a … (4 comments)

What Decides Who Pays For Title Insurance In Real Estate? - 05/18/10 08:26 AM
 
Every so often, I get a question about title insurance in Florida and it usually comes from somebody selling a home. Recently, I received such a question so I thought I would use it to remind everybody of “how it all works” in the Sunshine State.
Jim K. of St. Petersburg asked:
I am hopefully selling my home in St. Petersburg, FL. Why is the title company charging me (the seller) title insurance. I paid it when I bought the home 4 years ago. Is this required for me to pay?
Thank You
Jim K.
I see this so often … (1 comments)

Tell Our Politicians To Back Off of Real Estate - 05/17/10 09:05 AM
Congress is considering new tax proposals that would place additional burdens on owners and investors in residential and commercial real estate. While this might not seem like a big deal to the average citizen, I can tell you the last thing our economy needs is a further collapse of the housing market. Read this blog, get the word out, then tell your Senators and Congressperson to back off of the real estate market!
Reminder: The current edition of the Tallahassee Real Estate Newsletter was published today. If you did not receive this information-packed newsletter by email, all you have to do … (6 comments)

Downtown Tallahassee Condo Market Is Growing - 05/14/10 09:56 AM
 
Real estate in downtown Tallahassee has been dominated by the commercial sector since forever, but residential opportunities are starting to take traction. While there have always been a scattered presence of townhouses, condominiums and apartments, the luxury condo market is finally taking shape.
The following is a quick list I produced by pulling some of the more active condominium developments in downtown Tallahassee. There are many condominium developments now compared to the relative few just ten years ago.
Due to the current market conditions in Tallahassee (and Florida and the entire US), there are some great values available. Many units … (0 comments)

How To Calculate Risk Versus Reward When Selling A Home - 05/13/10 08:10 AM
If you have to sell a home, you need to understand that a fundamental change in the real estate market has occurred. With this change, the way that you address risk versus reward will need to be modified. No longer will you have the luxury of trying to get the top dollar for your home and suffer no negative consequence should you fail.
For most people in the real estate industry, prices have always been going up. Real estate appreciation was the rule, so pricing a home to sell, and all the various other elements in the home sales process, were … (4 comments)

Components Of A Comprehensive Housing Report - 05/12/10 08:25 AM
 
Whether you own a home or lease home, want to sell a home or buy a home, the most important thing that you can do is to educate yourself on what is going in the current real estate market. A comprehensive housing report for your local area is more critical today than it has ever been in the past.
There are changes coming that can be clearly seen if you are looking at the correct information. Housing markets do not move so quickly, so recognizing change trends might be easier than doing the same type of analysis in the stock … (4 comments)

Has The Housing Market Bottom Been Reached? - 05/12/10 05:55 AM
Home Buyers have been increasing their activity in the Tallahassee real estate market, but the ending of the Homebuyer Tax Credit could slow them down. The peak of the market back in 2006 saw sales of nearly 16 homes per day, but by the time the market bottomed, we were seeing just  6 home sales per day.
Home buyers were clearly speaking their opinions of home values in the Tallahassee real estate market. The following real estate graph shows a great recovery has begun in mid August of last year.

When we zoom in on the recovery, we can actually … (4 comments)

What Happens When Homes Fail To Sell? - 05/12/10 05:52 AM
The rate at which home sellers “failed to sell” has been dropping since August 2009, when the rate hit 85%. We measure the total number of listing failures (homes that expired, canceled, or were withdrawn) in the Tallahassee MLS, and divide that number by the total number of new listings over the same period of time. Currently, the trend is at 72%, which while better than before, still isn’t very good if you want to sell a home.

Even though the failed to sell rate continues to improve for home sellers, the fact is that nearly 3 out of every … (5 comments)

Year Over Year Home Sales Finally Moving Higher - 05/11/10 09:19 AM
Tallahassee year over year home sales improved for a wonderful 6 out of the past 7 months, according to the newest real estate market data that I reviewed this morning. This report gives us a great perspective on the relative movement of the housing market over time.

The real estate graph above is very simple. As each month is computed, it is compared with its corresponding month from the previous year (this April was compared to April 2009). If there were more home sales during the month this April than last, it will be reflected with a percentage growth above … (0 comments)

Should You Sell Or Hold Your Real Estate Now? - 05/11/10 05:42 AM
Recently, a long-time reader from out of State (Robert) contacted me to ask for help. Robert had purchased a residential lot in Tallahassee with the intent of relocating to Tallahassee and building a home. With the turn of the economy, Robert believes that he might not be able to move here for another 3 to 5 years, so he asked me if he should sell or hold his real estate.
My initial reaction was to ask if he thought he would ever move here. Robert indicated that with family in the area, he would still like to move here, but will … (2 comments)

Measuring Absorption Rate In Real Estate - 05/07/10 07:14 AM

Many people have opinions on the state of the housing market, but the easiest way to understand current and future conditions is to monitor the movements in the real estate absorption rate. Mathematically, this is the measurement of current housing supply divided by the current rate of sales, expressed in months of supply.
A simpler way to express the definition of the real estate absorption rate is to say it is the number of months that the market will need for the foreseeable future. Thus, 17 months of supply would mean that at our current rate of sales, we have … (12 comments)

Home Sellers - Don't Do This! - 05/06/10 08:25 AM
Choosing to sell a home “For Sale By Owner” is not working very well these days. I certainly understand wanting to save money. This is a very tough economy and every dollar matters to most families, so don’t for a second think that I don’t understand why somebody would try to sell a home without having to pay for a REALTOR. I get it. I understand.
Trying to save money is wise, knowing how to do it might be a whole bunch tougher than some people might think. For our regular visitors here at the Tallahassee Real Estate Web Site, it … (2 comments)

Golden Eagle Home Sales In Tallahassee - 05/05/10 08:36 AM
 
Golden Eagle Plantation is one of the Tallahassee neighborhoods that we review from time to time to get a feel of the movement of the higher end housing market in Tallahassee. Much like the other neighborhoods that we have reviewed, home values have fallen in Golden Eagle.
With nearly 18 months of supply of homes for sale in Golden Eagle, you might think that this is a neighborhood that is really struggling to get by. Ironically, that is not the case. Compared with many other high value neighborhoods, Golden Eagle is doing pretty much the same, maybe even “less poorly.”
… (2 comments)

Analyzing Real Estate Supply And Demand - 05/04/10 09:11 AM

We must always remember that real estate is ruled by supply and demand, just as is every other commodity that is market driven.
If one keeps a vigilant eye on the relationship between the supply and demand of homes for sale, then one should be able to clearly identify the near future movements of the the housing market.
When I wrote an article on the supply and demand for housing in Tallahassee back in 2008, I forecast-ed dropping prices due to oversupply. This was not rocket science, just a simple study of housing inventories.
Today’s post is somewhat more complex, … (4 comments)

Killearn Lakes Unit 1 Home Sales Report - 05/03/10 07:22 AM
Killearn Lakes Unit 1 home values appear to be somewhat more stable than many of the homes in other Tallahassee neighborhoods. Home values are still dropping in KLP1, but they are no where near the levels that we have seen elsewhere.
In the real estate graph below, we have plotted all of the monthly average home values in Killearn Lakes Unit 1 and then determined the 1 year (red line), the 5 year (green line), and the 10 year trend (blue line) of average home values. By studying these “moving averages” we can get a feel for where the housing market … (0 comments)

Killearn Lakes Unit 1 Home Sales Report - 05/03/10 07:21 AM
Killearn Lakes Unit 1 home values appear to be somewhat more stable than many of the homes in other Tallahassee neighborhoods. Home values are still dropping in KLP1, but they are no where near the levels that we have seen elsewhere.
In the real estate graph below, we have plotted all of the monthly average home values in Killearn Lakes Unit 1 and then determined the 1 year (red line), the 5 year (green line), and the 10 year trend (blue line) of average home values. By studying these “moving averages” we can get a feel for where the housing market … (0 comments)

Some Good Signs For Tallahassee Housing - 05/03/10 04:16 AM
I like seeing the steady growth in the number of home sales, as we inch higher and higher towards historical norms. And there are some other positive signs in the Tallahassee real estate market that are evidenced in the real estate graph below.

This one graph measures four very important one-year trends for home sales in the Tallahassee housing market. Remember, a one-year trend measurement removes the effects of seasonality as each point on the graph represents a 365 day rolling average.
What we see now is four trends that are all moving in a direction that is beneficial to … (0 comments)

Some Good Signs For Tallahassee Housing - 05/03/10 04:15 AM
I like seeing the steady growth in the number of home sales, as we inch higher and higher towards historical norms. And there are some other positive signs in the Tallahassee real estate market that are evidenced in the real estate graph below.

This one graph measures four very important one-year trends for home sales in the Tallahassee housing market. Remember, a one-year trend measurement removes the effects of seasonality as each point on the graph represents a 365 day rolling average.
What we see now is four trends that are all moving in a direction that is beneficial to … (0 comments)

Short Term Housing Inventory Levels Drop - 05/02/10 03:51 PM
By closely monitoring the short term inventory trends in the Tallahassee housing market, we see evidence that the number of homes for sale in Tallahassee has stopped growing, as the annual seasonal growth trend has finished its course.
What this means is that over the past 30 days, more homes have left the market than have entered. Real estate inventory levels have stopped rising. The short term inventory trends help identify current seasonal changes, if any.
The graph below shows new inventory in red, departing (homes that sold, expired, canceled, etc.) in green, and the difference is shown in yellow.

… (0 comments)

Single Family Detached Home Prices Falling - 05/02/10 03:46 PM
Tallahassee single family detached home prices have been trending down since their values peaked at $222K in April of 2007. Today, the one-year trend of average single family detached home prices in Leon County has fallen to $191K, but we still are much higher than historic sales levels indicate where we should be.
In the real estate graph below, we can see how significant the rise in prices were starting in 2003. The orange line in the graph below shows the pace of growth in the average price of a single family detached home during the 1990s, yet we blew way … (0 comments)

"Failed To Sell" Homes Feeding Shadow Inventory - 05/02/10 03:30 PM
The rate at which homes “failed to sell” has been dropping since August 2009, when the rate hit 85%. We measure the total number of listing failures (homes that expired, canceled, or were withdrawn) in the Tallahassee MLS, and divide that number by the total number of new listings over the same period of time. Currently, the trend is at 72%, which while better than before, still isn’t very good if you want to sell a home.

The “failed to sell” trend is something that we find very disturbing, as the shadow inventory of homes is growing larger and larger … (0 comments)

 
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Joe Manausa - Tallahassee Real Estate

Tallahassee, FL

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Century 21 Manausa and Associates

Address: 1140 Capital Circle SE #12A, Tallahassee, FL, 32301

Office Phone: (850) 386-2001

Cell Phone: (850) 508-1544

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