Sales of Daytona Beach Homes and Condos Drop in July

After six months of steadily rising sales, sales of Daytona Beach homes and condos dropped significantly in July. Sales as reported in the Daytona Beach MLS dropped 30.6% against last month and 11% against July of last year. For the first seven months of the year, sales are still up 25.5% over 2009.

So what happened? I don’t know for sure, but several factors may be at play. First, we may be feeling the effect of the Home Buyers Tax Credit that some expect boosted sales earlier this year and would have still been seen in June numbers. It’s possible, but not enough for a 30% drop.

Second, I think national economic and real estate news is scaring away many buyers. There is little good news reported in the national media; not that the local media is any different. Let’s just say there is little positive news.

Third, we think that many of the buyers under $200,000 are not our traditional buyers who come in the late Spring and early Summer to close in July and August. They are a completely different group looking to take advantage of the super low prices and values. We don’t know what their buying cycle is because it’s new.

Take a look at the table below for a breakdown of sales in both July and June and where the drops were biggest.

As you can see sales dropped across every price range. The last column in the table shows the difference in sales. Sales in the lowest end of the market dropped the least, but the drop was still high. Sales under $200,000 are still 75.5% of the market and sales under $300,000 are 90.8% of all sales.

When sales were rising, we were very cautious and emphasized that one month does not make a trend. We are going to be cautious with the results from July as well. While the July results are troubling, one month, in either direction does not make a trend. We will need to see what August and September results bring before we can be certain of a turn in the market. For the year, we are well up from last year. Check back early next month to see what happens.

Sales of Daytona Beach Homes and Condos Up Again

And so it continues. Sales of Daytona Beach homes and condos were up 46.2% over last June and 12.9% over May.  Total sales for the first half of 2010 are up 33.4% over the first half of 2009. The uptrend continues, but…

There is a lot of speculation that sales have been driven by the Homebuyers Tax Credit. The date to close has been extended (see: Congress Approves Homebuyer Tax Credit Closing Extension for more). We won’t argue with that, however…

Daytona Beach area real estate is different than most other places in the country. To put it simply, most of our sales are driven from out of town money and buyers of second, rental and vacation homes. Those buyers are not eligible for the tax credit, so the affect of the credit is not as significant in Daytona Beach. See our article The Current Daytona Beach Homes Market in 142 Words for more details.

We will know the effects of the expiration of the homebuyers tax credit in July numbers. July and August are traditionally strong sales months in area, so if sales drop in the next couple of months, we might be able to say that the tax credit expiration was one of the causes.

The major trend continues…

The chart shows that 74% of all sales of homes and condos were under $200,000 and 88.1% were under $300,000. However, this is the first time in a long time that sales of properties over $300,000 were over 10%. At 11.9% of sales, this may be a signal that homes in higher price ranges may be becoming more attractive to buyers. One month does not make a trend, but this will bear watching.

If sales over $300,000 start to improve, that will add more strength to our market.

We are still receiving a lot of inquiries from this website, so activity does not seem to be declining at all. Most of our sales are from short sales and foreclosures. If you need more information, or just want to discuss the market and your options, please call me at 386-566-7503.

Live Display of Daytona Beach Foreclosures Listings Added

We just updated several pages related to Daytona Beach and Ormond Beach foreclosures today. Current listings of foreclosures have been added to the following pages:

Daytona Beach REO Properties – This page has all properties in Daytona Beach that have been listed as foreclosure or Bank Owned / REO.

Ormond Beach Foreclosure Listings – All Ormond Beach Florida foreclosures are listed from the Daytona Beach MLS.

Beachside Daytona Beach Real Estate Foreclosure Listings – This page shows all the beach side foreclosure listings for Daytona Beach, Daytona Beach Shores and Ormond Beach including homes and condos.

We will be publishing more pages of listings of foreclosure properties over the coming days and weeks. We are also in the process of adding more community pages. We published The Trails Homes for Sale in Ormond Beach yesterday.

Check back often for updates. If you don’t see what you’re looking for, please give me a call at  386-566-7503. I’m happy to talk about any specific property or to discuss the market in general to help you determine if now is the right time to buy or sell for you.

If you want to see all the foreclosure, bank owned / REO properties available in Daytona Beach, Daytona Beach Shores, Ormond Beach, Port Orange, Ponce Inlet, Ormond by the Sea, Holly Hill and South Daytona, just look at the list below.

Daytona Beach Area Foreclosed Homes and Condos

]]> http://www.lynnbyrne.com/articlesblog/real-estate-news/daytona-beach-foreclosures-pages-updated/feed/ 0 http://www.lynnbyrne.com/articlesblog/real-estate-news/upgraded-daytona-beach-mls-search-with-new-features/ http://www.lynnbyrne.com/articlesblog/real-estate-news/upgraded-daytona-beach-mls-search-with-new-features/#comments Mon, 12 Apr 2010 00:34:14 +0000 Lynn http://www.lynnbyrne.com/articlesblog/?p=252

Our MLS Search for Daytona Beach Has Been Upgraded

We have upgraded our search capabilities for our clients. New features include enhanced property information, advanced search with many more search options, and the ability to search using a map.

Unfortunately for existing clients and users, there is no practical way for us to move your saved properties and property lists. We apologize for the inconvenience, but we believe the new features and experience are worth it. If you would like us to set-up the new search for you, just give me a call at 386-566-7503.

As always, you can search without registration. If you want to save a search or a property, you will need to register and login. Once you login, the new features include a dashboard at the top of the search box. Here you can see your saved searches and properties. This is a big upgrade and will make keeping track of your searches much easier.

There’s also a new iPhone App (it will also work on the new iPad). It’s very useful. The same listing information that’s available on the website is available with the app, but the filters are not as advanced. It’s great if your driving around. You can check on listings and call me for more information. Enter my code – 6472 to get Daytona Beach MLS homes and condos.

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Happy searching. Click to Search Daytona Beach Real Estate including the communities listed below:

If you are having any problems at all with search, or have any questions, please call me at 386-566-7503 or David Byrne at 386-566-4169.

Our current search using the Daytona Beach MLS includes the following communities:

Daytona Beach
Ormond Beach
Port Orange
Ponce Inlet
Ormond by the Sea
Wilbur by the Sea
Holly Hill
South Daytona

Additional Listings display for:

Palm Coast
Flagler Beach
Bunnell
New Smyrna Beach
Deland
Edgewater

Beautiful Executive Pool Home in Ormond Beach Florida

This Ormond Beach executive home is simply beautiful. The owners have recently upgraded both inside and outside. The inside of the home has all those designer touches you would expect in an executive home. The exterior of the home is freshly painted with extensive new landscaping.

You have a lot of flexibility with this home. There are 4 bedrooms, but both the office and bonus rooms could easily be converted to bedrooms. Speaking of the bonus room, it’s very large. It could be a game room, media room, studio, large office. Heck, it’s so large it could be all of those at the same time. It’s on the second floor, so as an office or studio it would afford that privacy and peace and quiet you need.

The pool area is like an oasis from the go-go of daily life. The lanai is covered and protected from rain, while the pool is fully screened. Beautiful fountains, waterfalls and stone accents make for a tranquil scene.

The lot is a bit less than an acre making for a very large backyard. There’s room for games or practicing your golf chipping or anything else you like to do.

Ormond Beach is one of the most desirable addresses in the Daytona Beach area. Mallard’s Reach is a small quiet development of about 35 homes. 34 Manderley Lane sits in a quiet cul-de-sac and the backyard opens into a conservation area. This is a great location. The home is central to shopping, close to highways, and less than 10 minutes to the beach.

If you are looking for a newer modern executive home, you need to see this home.

Call Lynn at 386-566-7503 for more information.

More Ormond Beach Pool Homes

These listing are from our new service. If you want to save properties, you will need to register.

Please go to Daytona Beach Homes for Sale to see what’s available in Daytona Beach.

Spring Break Open House Visits South Daytona Condo

A South Daytona condo from this site, listed at $28,900, was showcased on MSNBC this morning in a feature on hot properties in Spring Break towns.

Last week when I was in Las Vegas on a mini-vacation, I got a call from Jennifer Alsever of MSNBC asking about a unit in the Bristol Bay Condos. We discussed the unit a little bit and it’s now on the MSNBC website. Check out the article –>Spring (break) fever!

There are a lot of great low priced Daytona Beach condos for sale. If you are looking for the best prices, a condo on the mainland is your best bet. Many condos have been built over the past 30 years and are in good locations. The beach is a short drive away, prices are much much lower.

These condos are great for your main residence or as a second home. They can also be a great source of rental income. Even though some units come with a price tag of under $30,000, they could be rented for over $500/month. Yes, positive cash flow.

Of course, there are condos available from the low-priced gems at the Bristol Bay and others to beautiful high-rise oceanfront condos on the beach. I have a designer decorated model listed in the Mediterranean Condo Building in Daytona Beach. At $499,000, it’s a great value for a true luxury condos in a newer building. The Mediterranean was the first really high end luxury building built in Daytona Beach. It’s a beautiful building and very well maintained. Check out the pictures. It looks like you are living right on the ocean.

Look around the site to see more of what’s available, or you can always call me at 386-566-7503 to talk about Daytona Beach area or Palm Coast/Flagler homes and condos.

Here’s all the condos available at Bristol Bay

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National Real Estate News Can Be Dangerous for Local Buyers

When the national media publishes real estate news it may be contrary to local conditions and may actually harm you when making buying or selling decisions.

In December, national news outlets reported that overall sales of existing homes fell 17% across the United States. That seems pretty bad. You might have any number of different reactions to that news. It might very well influence your home buying or selling decisions.  However, during the same period, sales of Daytona Beach condos and homes were up 3% over the previous month, but a whopping 84.9% over the previous December. For 2009 results, see: Daytona Beach Real Estate Sales Up 38.1%.

In December, the S&P Case-Shiller Housing Price Index showed that prices rose in 14 of 20 markets. OK, how does that affect you? When national news sources report that housing prices are up, are they up in your neighborhood? Are they up for the area you want to buy?

There’s an adage in the newspaper business that all news is local news. That seems to be going away as many local papers are littered with stories from AP and Reuters wire services. But, for real estate the adage can be translated into all home and condo prices are local. Yes, prices are influenced by national economic and political conditions, but in the end, it’s the local market that determines prices.

The point of this article is to go to local sources when it’s in your best interest. For real estate, no matter where you are, a well informed local real estate agent may give you more relevant information during a 10 minute phone call than you could ever pick up from national news.

Finding a Knowledgeable Local Real Estate Agent

How do you know if you’ve found a local agent who knows the market? Well, a good place to start is to look at their website. Does the website contain local news reports and analysis? If it doesn’t, move on. In every area, an agent is likely to be blogging and issuing market reports. That’s a good place to start.

Nigerian Rental Scam in Daytona Beach

Recently, I had a customer who was trying to rent a home in Daytona Beach or Ormond Beach, prior to making a purchase.  He found a listing on Craig’s List – WOW!  In one of our premiere, gated neighborhoods a 4 bedroom, 3 ½ bath pool home with a summer kitchen and fenced yard – also, pet friendly for $1000.00 per month.  So, he thought he had hit the “Mother Lode”.

He responded to the ad and was rewarded with an e-mail saying that by completing a simple application, and if he liked the home from the outside would give him an opportunity to rent this fabulous home.  Encouraged to drive by and check it out, he did, resulting in a fervor to rent this home.

He completed the application, which did not request any of the usual info, such as:  Driver’s License, References or Social Security Number and past addresses.  But, so be it, the application complete and emailed back to the owner – anxiously awaiting an approval.

Bam!  He got it!  All he had to do was send an $1100.00 security deposit via Western Union and the keys and documents would be sent by FedEx to him the next day.  Oh boy, are we smelling a rat yet?

The owner was in West Africa, and had no one here to represent him – so all would be completed via e-mail, phone and FedEx.  The next thing he did was look up rental scams and guess what he found?

Apparently, this is happening all over the US.  Unfortunately, Craig’s List is a source for fraud as well as a very worthwhile place to find goods and services, so beware and be careful.  When something seems to good to be true, it usually is…

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

I’m taking a break from cooking for our family Christmas dinner tonight to write a short message to all our clients and friends. At this special time of year, we wish you the best possible holiday season. We wish you joy, peace, comfort and prosperity for this season and in the coming years.

I’ve always loved this time of year. I think it’s because people seem to be kinder and friendlier. I believe in the Christmas spirit. As I grow older, gifts mean little and family and friendships mean much more. I am truly blessed with the opportunity to do what I love. I am also blessed with wonderful friends and close family relationships.

This is the time of year to enjoy each other and to eat and drink way too much. I raise my glass and toast all, “Merry Christmas and the Happiest of Holidays.”

The Byrne Family – Lynn, David and Michael

November New Home Sales Down 11.3% From October

November new home sales are down and I’m surprised at the surprise expressed in the media. I would have bet a dollar to a donut that sales would be down. Sales in the south were down more than 20% and that makes sense. An article at money.cnn.com starts out with:

“New home sales unexpectedly plunged in November, according to a dismal government report.”

Foreclosures and Short Sales Are Driving the Market

Unexpectedly plunged? Unless an area has a shortage of homes available for sale, foreclosures and short sales are driving market prices and new homes just cannot compare in bang for the buck. I don’t know how a developer could make money building new Daytona Beach homes. No prudent builder would build a home on speculation without a contract from a buyer. Only custom homes are being built in the area and very few of those.

Inventory in general, but more importantly inventory of distressed properties, needs to decline significantly before new home sales will rise in the south and southwest. These were the areas driving new home sales before the bubble burst. So if these areas are not building, the national numbers will be down.

I’m not a economist. I tend to look at things as simply as I can. I just can’t see new home sales rising until the last of the foreclosures and short sales work through the market. That won’t happen until after 2011 when the last wave of foreclosures occur.

Maybe I’m wrong, but why would people pay significantly more when magnificent homes are available at significantly lower prices. Time will tell, but I think the economists who are surprised this month are going to continue being surprised unless they take a different view of foreclosures and their affect on the market.