So how did the local market do for 2011?  Very well, and here's just a few highlishgts on the Residential Housing sales in the area:

• A total of 1,665 houses closed from January 1st to December 31, 2011
• The total number of sales was up 14% compared to 2010 when 1,460 houses closed
• 82% of all houses sold were in the price range up to $199,999
• The luxury market ($500k+) also saw a slight uptick as well making up 3% of the area houses sold compared to 2% for 2010
• 3 bedroom homes were the most popular making up 62% of all houses sold, and 30% were 4 or more bedrooms

We're through October and the local real estate market has been another year of some real positives.  It's also been a year of interesting devlopments too. 

Highlights through October (Click here for a full market report):

• Inventory levels remain lower.  
• As of 11/14/2011 there are 1024 houses for sale in Flagler County and 762 in Palm Coast.  Palm Coast alone has typically remained above 900 for the last few years.
• The number of house sales has increased 10% compared to this period last year.  
• There have been 1,345 houses that have closed through October 31st.  Palm Coast has contributed 1,170 of those.  This is an average of 134 closings per month for the area which has typically been about 100/month over the last few years.
• The percentage of Short Sale houses for sale has dropped to about 26% for Flagler County and 30% for Palm Coast as of 11/14.  
• This has averaged about 36% pretty consistently 
• What about price?  
• Median and Average sale prices are slightly below last year.  
• Taking into account lower inventory levels and increased demand, next year will be one to watch.  We could see positive gains next year.  
• Foreclosures ("Lender Owned", "REO", "Government Owned") all remain at low levels for sale in the area and move at very quick paces.  
• There are currently 55 houses for sale that are "Foreclosures".  
• Average days on the market for this category this year has been 80 days compared to 188 days for all house sales.

Can you believe it's Fall already and the end of the year is fast approaching?  I know I can't.  "How's the market?  " is the common question I hear, and there really are some some things about our local market.  Here's just a few from the residential housing portion:

Inventory levels at their lowest in recent years

The number of houses for sale over the last few years in Flagler County has rarely dipped below 1,100 (and 900 for Palm Coast) at any given point in time.  As of today, there are 986 homes for sale in Flagler County and 739 in Palm Coast.  Of those for sale in the County, only 39 fall under "foreclosure" status and 245 are "Short Sale" designated.  All positive numbers in my opinion.

Sales

Sales are one of the most important things obviously, and over the last few years we are seeing great year-over-year trends.  Take a look at the comparison of the same period from 2008 to present:

We've seen increases each year to the tune of 7% to 10% during this period.  This year 1219 houses have sold for Flagler County through September.  The highest at $1.8M and the lowest at $13,400 for a median price of $120,000 and an average price of $158,275.  

The most active price brackets really haven't changed much either.  Here's a chart showing housing sales by price bracket in Flagler County through September of this year:

We typically see an uptick in activity in November and December in the area as well.  So it will be interesting to see the outcome over the next couple of months of the year.  If you are looking to sell, now is a good time to list.  If you are looking to buy, now is a good time to start looking.  Either contact me today or visit PalmCoastHomeShow.com to get started.  

* Disclaimer: Information based upon the Flagler County Association of Realtors MLS as of 10/17/2011 for Residential Houses. Information may be deemed reliable, but is not guaranteed

By now you've probably heard about Google's latest entry into the social networking arena with Google+.  This is Google's latest entrance into the social networking arena.  And they have done a stellar job.  The service is far 'cleaner' with a more common sense type of approach than Facebook.  The design allows users to overcome some of the challenges Facebook has for Realtors and users such as:

1. Circles - This feature allows you to easily group people.  Unlike the lists in Facebook, the circles feature allows you to choose what you share and to whom.  Plus it allows you to view posts by a circle of people. 
   
2. Huddles - This feature allows you to group message with video for up to 10 people.  This offers teams and brokerages a great way to meet, collaborate, and discuss business.  It could also be used as a more personal way to communicate with a customer if you and them wanted to. 
   
3. Sparks - This is a nice feature in which you can target multiple topics taking adavtange of seeing news from Google's news agrregator and easily share it out on the Google+ service.

As the age old question goes in Real Estate, "How's the market doing?"  In Flagler County and Palm Coast, FL . . . very postive.  You can get a full break down of Residential Home Market Statistics for the area at PalmCoastHomeShow.com.  But here's an overview of the market as of today:

1. There are 1196 homes for sale in Flagler County and 887 in Palm Coast.  Both are some of the lowest levels of inventory in the last few years.
2. Of the homes for sale 27% are 'short sales' in Flagler County and 32% in Palm Coast.
3. Foreclosures represent 2% of all homes for sale in both areas.

At the beginning of 2010 I had said it was going to be a very interesting year.  The tax credit was showing some promise to help boost home sales, but it remained to be seen as to what the effect would be once that credit ended.  Initially contracts had to closed by June 30th.  This spurred sales to perform very well in the first half of the year with the area running about 15% above the year before in terms of the number of sales and then fell off in July and the proceeding months.  The year ended basically even with 2009 in terms of the number of residential home sales for Flagler County as follows with 1,408 versus 1,411 in 2009.  Median selling price dipped 5% coming in at $130,000 compared to 2009 at $137,000 which was to be expected as the market continues to correct itself.  

As you look at the graph of the number of home sale by month below you see that we had another good year in the area with sales "pushed" up in the year due to the tax credit deadline.  What do I anticipate for 2011?  If the phone calls and the messages I have been receiving during the holiday are any indicator, it should be another great year for the area.  I expect us to see a return to a consistent trend in terms of the number of closes each month throughout the year with another year that either meets or exceeds 2010.  

Disclaimer: Information based upon the Flagler County Association of Realtors MLS as of 1/3/2011 for Residential Houses.  Information may be deemed reliable, but is not guaranteed

The 'For Sale' sign on the lawn of a property is still alive and well and continues to serve a purpose . . . letting others know the property is for sale.  In fact, buyers still continue to find properties of interest by these signs and continue to take drives to look for them in an area of interest.  But the sign has always had a huge barrier . . . the lack of information.  You basically get 3 bits of information from the sign:

1. That the property is for sale
2. The company and agent the property is listed with
3. A phone number to call

So if the buyer does want to know more about the property they can either call the number on the sign or jot down the property address and look it up when they get home.  The buyer has really never been able to get any more information immediately other than maybe 'clunky' text message or 800-number requests . . . until now.

At PalmCoastHomeShow.com we just launched scannable signs.  The lawn sign has a scannable QR Code (quick response code) which can be scanned with a smartphone and a scanning app such as Shop Savvy.  Once the code is scanned, the person is directed automatically to a site that contains the property information plus photos, local information such as schools, satellite maps, and more.  If the buyer wishes to schedule a showing or has more questions, simple click the 'Request More Information' button or touch the phone number on the screen to dial.  It's that easy. 

An example of the rider is below and scan the QR code to see the result at 13 Pinelark Ln in Palm Coast, FL:

We're always exploring new options and services that are out there and particularly like the word 'FREE' in any advertising.  Over the last few weeks we've found two newer options that you might have missed. 

The first is www.Paper.Li This service takes Twitter feeds (i.e. a member, hastag, or a list) and creates a custom automated online newspaper-looking site.  The paper provides vistors with a very rich reading experience that can be updated daily, weekley, or twice per day.  It also adds in automated announcements on Twitter that your new edition is available.  Check out two I created this week:

• Kathleen West's Palm Coast Daily
• Kathleen West's Real Estate Daily

The other is a great tie-in with Postlets (an already very powerful service) called vyoo.it. This powerful service takes your Postlets property advertisement and turns it into a mobile site complete with a QR code that is automatically generated.  We've been exploring using QR codes recently and focused alot on adding them to property signs to direct 'window shoppers' to more information on the property from the comfort of their car.  We're thinking vyoo.it is defintely the solution.  Once the barcode is scanned with a smartphone, the shopper is directed to a great looking version of the Postlets ad complete with photos.  Plus they can simply tap the phone number at the bottom to make the call to schedule an appointment.  Scan the QR code below to see what I am talking about:

Have fun and let me know what you think.

The national average interest rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage is an astonshing 4.29%.  Many buyers were obviously motivated by the tax credits last year and unfortunately the record-low interest rates get overshadowed.  Are these rates a better benefit to make the decision to buy now if you are considering purchasing a home?  Well let's do the math and you'll see that the truth is that these rates are the better benefit.

Let's take a $100,000 loan at 30 years fixed today at 4.50%.

• Payment would be $506.69 (principal and interest)
• Total interest over the life of the loan would be $82,406.71 or $2,746.89 per year

That same loan of $100,000 at 30 years fixed just 1% higher at 5.50% would be:

• Payment of $567.79 (principal and interest) or $733.20 more per year
• Total interest over the life of the loan would be $104,404.04 or $3,480.13 per year

The difference in the cost of the two loans year over year would be $4,213.33 combining the additional payment amount and interest.  Over the life of the loan the savings in interest is an whopping $21,997.33!  So are these interest rates a better benefit to buyers today?  Absolutely.

Start your Palm Coast or Flagler County, FL home search today at PalmCoastHomeShow.com or contact me so we can get your custom plan today.

Like the rest of the country, Flagler County and Palm Coast saw a dip in the number of home sale closing in July to the tune of about 28%.  103 homes closed in July of this year compared to 142 in July of 2009.  Year to date, the area still remains 7% above last year through August 25th in terms of the number of home sales.  August through 8/25/10 has seen 82 closings and is slightly below the same period in August last year when 94 homes closed.  

The dip in the number of closings in July this year was actually to be expected.  The motivation of the homebuyer tax credit naturally shifted the selling season a bit.  Most will tell you in the area, that July was quieter than normal inlcuding me.  August on the other hand is looking strong and traffic in the area has definitely picked up.  

What about price?  Median price in the area for home sales is slightly under last year at $137,500 last year through 8/25 compared to $131,000 this year for the same period.  This is about a 5% decline. 

All in all, sales remain strong in the area.  The expiration of the home buyer tax credit at this point seems to have caused more of a shift in the natural trends of the selling seasons in the area rather than to have impacted overall demand in a negative way.  This is a very postive because it shows that people are very interested in the area and are continuing to buy here, but many were obviously motivated to buy earlier than usual due to the benefit of the tax credit.  Then when you look outside of the tax credit, there are other great benefits such as amazing interest rates right now.  Buyers are often able to get into a mortgage under 5% right now.  Definitely a rate to take advantage of. 

Looking to buy a home in the area, start your search at PalmCoastHomeShow.com.  The most powerful and easy property search in the area!