From January 1 through February 25 last year, a total of 98 condo and townhome units were closed in Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral. In the same period this year, we have closed 67. That's a surprising slowdown considering that we began 2018 with an inventory of just 173 existing condo units for sale in our two cities but are sitting on 263 units for sale this morning, an increase of more than 50% in a year's time.
What happened? My best guess is that sellers' expectations have gotten ahead of buyers' appetites. I've commented often in the last few years about the prevalence of overpriced listings and it appears that trend is dampening sales. Over a quarter of the current inventory has been for sale for over 180 days, many of them cancelled and relisted multiple times to appear fresh. If a listing agent is doing this, there's a good chance the property is overpriced. In fact, it's probably prudent for buyers to approach all listings as likely to be overpriced.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, buyers need to know the range of fair value of the properties that they are targeting for purchase. Neither the Zillow Zestimate nor the Property Appraiser's "market value" can be trusted to be close to accurate. Only a comparison of recent sales of comparable properties, adjusted for differences can be trusted to indicate the neighborhood of current value. As a side note, there is no trustworthy way to determine exact value, only a range. Any good buyer's agent can determine the fair range. If you can't trust your agent's opinion of fair value, you have the wrong agent.
Hope everyone has been enjoying the early summer weather while most of the nation has been experiencing crazy low temps and heavy snowfalls. Our trees and flowers like the hibiscus pictured have begun blooming early in response to the early warming. Some trees are sprouting new leaves even as last years old leaves continue to fall. No complaints here.
During the same time that sales were lagging here on the Space Coast, the little engine that could, the Mars Opportunity rover, received its last command from Earth. It was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in 2003. NASA engineers had sent over 1000 commands trying to reestablish contact after a major Martian sandstorm broke Earth contact with Opportunity last June. Designed to last just 90 Martian days and travel 1,100 yards (1,000 meters), Opportunity vastly surpassed all expectations in its endurance, scientific value and longevity. In addition to exceeding its life expectancy by 60 times, the rover traveled more than 28 miles (45 kilometers) by the time it reached its most appropriate final resting spot on Mars – Perseverance Valley.
"My battery is low and it's getting dark." __last message received from Opportunity as the sandstorm moved in and covered the solar panels
