Under the Hood of the MLS

As of this morning, January 28, we've had a total of 16 MLS-listed condos and townhomes closed since Jan. 1 in Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral. Prompted by the national and Florida housing sales numbers for 2006 that were reported this week, I decided to dig a little deeper into our data for numbers that I don't usually track. Since many sold listings are not the original listing, I had to get under the hood of the system to get original asking price and date. These numbers are more accurate than those pulled straight from the surface of the MLS.

Average Days on Market__247
( longest, 495 days and shortest, 1 day)

Average Percentage of Original Asking Price__83%
( lowest, 70% and highest, 100%)

Median Price__$274,900
Average Price__$324,000 (skewed high by one $867,000 sale)

Active For Sale
single family homes_____153 ( 59 over $500,000)
condos & townhomes___1050 (200 over $500,000)

Using sales from the last 90 days, our selling rate for condos is just under one per day for all prices. Selling rate for over $500,000 condos is three per month and single-family homes are moving at a rate equal to 28 per year. I noticed in the data that a few sales were for less than the previous purchase price, in one case below the 2004 purchase price. I would suggest that you question everything you hear about the real estate market and distrust all reported statistics. Mine are somewhat more reliable than the mainstream media because I scrub the numbers but my conclusions are only as accurate as the data I have to work with, the MLS. My object is to provide as much information as possible so that those of you making real estate decisions in Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral can better understand our market dynamics. The market continues to change and I hear lots of misguided opinions being stated as fact, especially from within the real estate industry. I'll repeat; Knowledge is power. Email me with any questions or comments on our market.