Winding Down

Man, it's been hot. Despite no crowds and cheap summer rates it just hasn't been worth risking heat stroke to play a few holes at the Cocoa Beach Country Club. On a more positive note, with school back in session the streets and beach are fairly deserted most of the time. Yen Yens is closed for their annual post-summer vacation. The mullet run has begun. Big breeder redfish are schooled up in the lagoon and river providing lifetime catch and release opportunities. Snook season is here and fishing from or just off the beach is as good as it gets. Giant tarpon are there for those crafty or lucky enough to hook up. We'll have several more weeks of it and hopefully a good swell or two from distant passing storms to take the edge off the wave-starved population of Cocoa Beach.

Not much has changed with the dried-up inventory situation. We are stuck in the same range with just 173 condos for sale this morning in Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral and 53 houses. Of those 226 residential properties for sale, eight are bank-owned and one is a short sale. Despite the low inventory 77 properties closed in August.

Single family home sales were robust with 18 closing in the month. Two open river Snug Harbor Cocoa Beach homes topped the price list at $592,000 and $630,000. At the other end of the scale, five houses closed for under $300,000, a couple in Harbor Heights Cape Canaveral and the other three in Cocoa Beach.

Activity at the upper end of the price range in condos was slow in August with only one condo selling for more than $400,000, a 5th floor fully furnished, direct ocean Palmas Majorca 3/2 that closed for $470,000 after almost a year on the market. Three quarters of all closed condo sales in August were under $250,000. The proportion of condo buyers financing their purchase continues to increase. Two out of five buyers used a mortgage to purchase their unit.

Days on market continues to drop with any decent unit priced close to fair value selling almost immediately. Of the 59 condo sales, 26 sold in less than a month and 11 of them the first week. It is more important than ever for prospective buyers to know what they want and to be prepared to move quickly when it sticks its snout out of the mix. Those planning to use a mortgage to purchase a condo need to talk to a knowledgeable local agent before compiling a list of units and then talk to a local lender to figure out what conditions might exist. There are buildings that no lender will touch and there are buildings that will only work with limited review mortgages. Sellers also need to understand the mortgage dynamics and qualifications of their buildings so they aren't tempted to accept an offer contingent upon a mortgage that will never happen. It doesn't matter how attractive the offer price is from that 10% down buyer if the building won't qualify. I'm here if you have questions. 

And then one day you find ten years have got behind you.

No one told you when to run. You missed the starting gun.
_________________Pink Floyd