Sunday, May 14, 2006

Wanna Buy a House or Condo?

Dont!

The real estate market in Sarasota sucks. So it says in Harold Bubil's latest article, an article that analyzes the recent sales and listings data.
When asked to describe the market, one Realtor said "shucks." Or something that rhymes with that. He called the market's malaise a "perfect storm" -- climbing mortgage rates, investors leaving the market, and long-time owners who don't want to give up their Save Our Homes property-tax protection. It all equals fewer buyers.

According to the numbers, the supply of houses, at the current rate of sales, averaged 21 months for the last 3 months data.

Likewise, the supply of condos is about 18 months.

And the trend is not down.

It certainly looks like buyers have come to their senses (probably mostly speculators that have kept bidding prices up over the last few years) and are sitting tight waiting until prices return to a more reasonable level.

People that buy a home to live in, because this is where they live and work, are a bit more cautious than an "invester" that is looking to make a quick buck on a rising market.

Heck, we may even see some reasonable rentals as the speculators scramble to get or keep some cash flow.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Don't bet on reasonable rentals. I'm a landlord. Because of hurricanes and homestead exemptions, my costs are up about 45% over last year. Landlords were willing to absorb some negative cash flow when appreciation was running 25%+ a year. No longer. Rents are going to escalate rapidly unless someone finds a way to slow down the insane increases in insurance premiums and property taxes.