The first week of September and all of Florida is on alert for approaching Category 5 Hurricane Irma. It's still too early to know where landfall will be but most of us have our plans in place should we need to move.
I wish I could report that the inventory situation is improving but it's not. Our for sale inventory in Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral stands this morning at a mere 194 existing condos and townhomes and 54 single family homes. At the August rate of 18 closed sales those 54 homes will be gone in three months. The 194 condo units for sale will last 81 days if we continue to close 74 units a month as happened in August. Of course, that assumes all 194 are fairly priced. That isn't the case. Many of the overpriced of the 194 will continue to linger while new, fairly priced listings sell around them.
Six direct ocean units sold for $300 per square foot or more during the month. All six were nicely remodeled and had garages and three were sold fully furnished. The other ten direct ocean east facing units brought between $226 and $270/sf with 1st floor units and those without garages bringing the lower prices. We're seeing more buyers using mortgages for condos than earlier this year with slightly more than half of the 74 condo sales financed.
Twenty one of the condos sold in the first week on the market and over half sold in a month or less. When I look at the units still for sale, over a third have been on the market for over four months, a sure sign of overpricing in this tight market. Thirty one units are asking over $300 per square foot. A few deserve it and will probably get it but the vast majority are hoping for a miracle that's not going to happen. Sellers need to realize that lack of inventory doesn't mean buyers are going to pay whatever dream number they hang on their property. Buyers should be familiar with the comparable units that have closed to come up with fair offering prices. Offers well below asking price better have justification from sold comps. A fair offer well below asking that can be justified with comps stands a chance at success as long as the seller is reasonable. Unfortunately, most of the overpriced listings are not being sold by reasonable people. The market may be tight but the units that are selling are, for the most part, selling for fair value. I still get a lot of calls and emails from people looking for "deals". In 2017, in this market, that is usually a fool's errand that goes unfulfilled. Finding a fairly priced property is task enough and, so far, in this rising market, is being rewarded.
I hope everyone fares well through the upcoming weather. LW out and hunkering down.
“If you face the choice between feeling guilt and resentment, choose the guilt every time. If a refusal saddles you with guilt, while consent leaves resentment in its wake, opt for the guilt. Resentment is soul suicide.” ~Gabor Maté, MD
