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The Case for Shadow Inventory - What has Sold?

By
Real Estate Agent with Florida Supreme Realty SL514814

These three charts show the number of closed units in Collier County, Florida.  A previous post is quite similar but shows the available "For Sale" inventory instead.  Here we have single family homes in chart one, condominiums in chart two and the past three years of the bulk residential combined sold activity appearing in the bottom chart.  The shaded lower portion of each column is representative of the Bank owned product.  We hear a lot about the "Shadow" inventory affecting the markets everywhere and it is sometimes hard to grasp.  Although the view depicted here is not as distinct as in the available home charting it does show a somewhat controlled flow in each of the following month's ratio of Bank owned to the total sales.  Maybe I am just seeing things?  Maybe it's something I want to believe exists and reporting this is only to convince myself it's there?  Either train of thought at this point may be only thought of as conjecture.  Time will tell!

chart showing Sold Single Family Homes in Collier County Florida

When viewed in combination with the "For Sale" chart the reality of this Shadow Inventory begins to set in.  Whereas availability remained virtually flat the activity shown above visibly fluctuates to widely varying degrees each month.  In keeping to the theory that this is an orchestrated process observe how each following month here appears to correct the previous one's positioning relative to the full sold market.  The picture remains somewhat obscured but there's a certain degree of clarity which is coming into focus.  

chart showing sold condominiums in Collier County, FL Dec.'09 - Dec. '10   

Above is the Condominium display, which, being a much harder hit target cannot absorb the potential losses of the 45% to 55% share that single family homes can.  Their popularity exists because we mainly entertain a second home market and our seasonality reaches population extremes of under 300,000 permanent residents to estimates of over 1,000,000 on a temporary basis.  Maintenance becomes the priority of the property manager up to 9 months of the year while units are left unoccupied.  

 

chart showing all property types soldin Collier County Florida

According to the chart above, foreclosures may have begun but the result of that did not begin to become identifiable until the second quarter of 2008.  Exclusive of the First Time Home Buyer Credit the relative equilibrium is seen once again from the middle of '09 onward.  Manufactured or not this depiction does not look or feel right to me.  Let me know your thoughts and confirm mine if you agree with what you've found here?

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Joshua Zargari
MJ Decorators Workshop LI staging and home decorating - Lynbrook, NY
MJ Decorators Workshop

Kevin,thank you!

Jan 30, 2011 05:36 AM
Coldwell Banker Camelot Realty
Coldwell Banker Camelot Realty - Mount Dora, FL
Homes for Sale Mount Dora Realtor

Kevin,

Does this mean there is still plenty of inventory in sunny Florida?

:)

Jan 30, 2011 11:25 AM
Kevin J. May
Florida Supreme Realty - Hobe Sound, FL
Serving the Treasure & Paradise Coasts of Florida

You are welcome, Joshua!

Our busy season is upon us Ray & Karen.  Tuesday will be the telltale whether we have more to offer in the short term. 

Jan 30, 2011 02:33 PM
Renée Donohue~Home Photography
Savvy Home Pix - Allegan, MI
Western Michigan Real Estate Photographer

Very interesting insight!  They say that 20% of our entire valley is in default.  Some people call that shadow inventory.  Only 1% stays in the hands of the banks and some people call that shadow inventory. 

Very interesting perspective & insight of your market and area Kevin!

Jan 31, 2011 09:54 AM
Kevin J. May
Florida Supreme Realty - Hobe Sound, FL
Serving the Treasure & Paradise Coasts of Florida

Renee, the saying "Something's rotten in Denmark" applies here.  After running through some stats for a customer this literally jumped out.  Your posts played a large part too, thanks!

Feb 01, 2011 12:20 PM