First half of 2010 was great ... but now what?\

Home sales on the Eastern Shore of Mobile, Ala., in the first half of 2010 posted their best numbers since 2007.

And the 2nd quarter home sales between Spanish Fort and Point Clear helped put the numbers over the top with 294 sales, compared with just 157 this time last year and 227 in 2008.

Finally, all the factors seemed to work together:

• the home buyer tax credit

• low interest rates, which continue today

• plenty of homes to choose from

• realistic sellers who corrected prices in tune with the market

• pent-up buyer demand, which burst as either time or economic fortunes eased buyers' anxieties

So, we no sooner get to the point that finally things appear to be turning around and the BP Deep Water Horizon explodes, killing 11 and unleashing a toxic and uncontrollable spill into the Gulf. Meanwhile, the stock market starts gyrating again. Everyone starts talking double-dip recession. And hurricane season starts.

Now everybody's sniffling and coughing and wondering if it's the oil spill dispersants ... or maybe just hysterical allergies. Will a hurricane pick up said oil and/or dispersants and deposit them over the Southeast, killing our crops? 

We've got worries! (Hey, my homeowners insurance was cancelled and the new premiums are going to cost me a cool $2K more a year.)

If you're developing a nervous tic, raise your hand.

The solution to all this is, of course: football. Just focus on the upcoming season because there's little to be done about everything else except to hold on for the ride. Oh, and please buy a house from me and buy a newspaper from my husband ... we have to pay our homeowner's insurance.

 On to the numbers for the 2nd quarter:

Eastern Shore: 294 homes sold. Average price was $223,353, down from $230,261 in the 1st quarter. Foreclosures and short sales represented 8% of sales; 24% were new homes. Average time it took to sell: 167 days. Sellers trimmed an average of 4.5% off list to sell.

Daphne: 133 homes sold, up from 101 in the 1st quarter. Average price was $180,884. Average days on market: 167 days. Sellers took a little more than 4% off their list prices to sell. (Note: The separate MLS area of Lake Forest was incorporated into Daphne so those statistics will no longer be broken out. Because this change happened this quarter, I cannot retrieve valid sales price statistics for comparison.)

Fairhope: 114 homes sold, up from 54 in the 1st quarter. Average price was $259,943, down from $266,308 in the 1st quarter. On average it took 168 days to sell. Sellers sliced an average 5.5% off list price.

Spanish Fort: 47 homes sold, up from 29 in the 1st quarter. Average price was $254,780, up from $235,173. It took on average 168 days to sell and sellers took on average 2.63% off their list price.