I’ve been hearing a lot of opinions that go from one end of the spectrum to the other. In any given day, I’ll talk to two people who will tell me two different things … one is that homes here aren’t selling, and another is that we’re just about out of this “down market,” and the turnaround is right around the corner.
The stats show that neither of these statements is true.
Homes ARE selling in this market, by professional agents through hard work and aggressive strategies. In March, 6 percent of the inventory sold in Pensacola, 4 percent in Gulf Breeze, 8 percent in Navarre, and 10 percent in Fort Walton Beach. The insinuation that “no one is buying” and “homes aren’t selling” just is not true.
On the other hand, the statistics simply aren’t backing up the belief some have that the market has bottomed. We’re still not making a dent in the inventory. If another home were not listed in Pensacola, for example, it would take about 23 months to deplete the inventory. A healthy market has about a 6-month supply of homes. We also know that a good number of people have a desire to sell, but have pulled their homes from the market until the market heads upward again. These stats don’t even take those people into account. We also expect to see a large increase in bank-owned listings, which further pushes prices down.
I do believe that the long-term outlook for real estate in this area is wonderful. Baby boomers will be retiring in huge numbers in the next 20 years, and many of them will turn to sunny Florida for primary and vacation homes. Real estate, like life, runs in cycles.
