Into the Home Stretch

We began 2020 with a record low inventory in Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral. There were 185 existing condo and townhouse units listed for sale in our two cities on January 1, 2020. It seemed we couldn't go any lower at the time yet we've dropped by a third since then. The total this morning is 120. We have closed that many units in the last 52 days. Even with our depleted inventory, closed sales have not declined by any significant amount. This has only been possible by new inventory appearing at almost the rate of sales. At our current rate of decline, we will be below 100 total units for sale by the end of January. 

Single family home inventory is equally scarce. Someone looking to purchase a single-family home in Cocoa Beach or Cape Canaveral has 22 existing homes to consider. We have closed 199 homes since January 1 making current inventory enough to get us to about the middle of January.

The tight supply has continued to push prices higher with multiple offers being the norm for any new listing that is priced remotely close to fair value. Appraisals are a crap shoot. People are willing to pay more for desirable properties than appraisers are able to justify in many cases. Because of this, cash offers are even more attractive than ever. A contract contingent upon a mortgage could leave a seller faced with having to either cancel or renegotiate the contract price late in the process.

Those looking to purchase should keep in mind that there is competition for every property type and much of that competition has the advantage of having already lost out on a previous listing. Those one-strike buyers are being aggressive with their offers with both terms and price. A potential buyer hoping to find a "deal" is living in the past. The time to bottom fish was ten years ago. The 698 condo buyers who purchased already in 2020 paid fair or above market value. That is an unfortunate condition of the 2020 real estate market in our area but one that any prospective buyer needs to come to terms with. Best of luck to those looking. There are attractive properties available, just not as many as we have been used to in years past.

"Just because you lost me as a friend doesn't mean you gained me as an enemy. I'm bigger than that, I still wanna see you eat, just not at my table." —Tupac Shakur