This week, the market actually took a turn for the better by a reduction of the overall inventory from 31,500 homes to 31,100.  This is a welcomed occurrence. We hope this will continue in the future and the market will stabilize.  Because of the increase in unemployment numbers, we are going to see a reduction in the mortgage rates.  This will bring buyers back into the market. Hopefully, the FEDS are not going to tighten the credit rules too much to prevent more buyers from being eligible for mortgages.   The unsold inventory throughout the various counties we are tracking is still at very high numbers.  Osceola County leads the pack with 38 months.   Seminole County is the best with 14 months.   

Since the 1st of January 2007, unsold inventory has a net increase of 8100 homes.
 
The number of sold homes, compared to last year for the same period, is 34 % lower, which reflects the  start of last year's decline in home sales.  In comparison to the same period in 2005, sales are 53% lower. Sales for the 4-county region are 37% below last year. As we continue into the Fall, the gap between last year and 2005 is going to narrow.  In the fall of 2005/6, we started to see home sales tapering off.  The market continues to show a lot of weakness. Buyers are sitting on the fence or sidelines wondering when the next shoe is going to drop. 

· Market Indicator - 100% buyer market

· Sales Demand Activities - Slow/Unchanged

· Sales last year (August) to this year (August) - 37% lower

· Resale Inventory - decreased by 400 homes - this is great news.

· Trend Indicator - flat to downwards

· Cumulative Market Time - Volusia County (125 days), Seminole County (101 days), Lake County (137 days)

· Unsold Inventory Supply - Orange County (21.4 months), Seminole County (14.0 months), Lake County (26.0 months), Volusia County (20.1 months), Osceola County (38 months)