February Home Sales: How Did We Do vs. U.S. and Florida?

National Association of Realtors and Florida Realtors have released their February statistics. GoToby.com analyzes.

PALM COAST, FL – March 21, 2016 – The National Association of Realtors® and Florida Realtors® released their February home sales numbers today. They were not sizzling, but neither were Flagler County’s results. Locally, we are still feeling the effects of delayed sales closing due to TILA-RESPA. Having said that, the local market is really in fine shape.

Single-family Homes

During February, the Flagler County MLS registered 153 home sales closing. (GoToby.com reports only Flagler County homes). This compares to 157 homes sold in February 2015, a decline of 2.6%. Nationally, home sales rose 2.0% year-over-year. Florida home sales were up 0.4%.

Flagler homes sold in February at a median price of $175,000, up 8.7% from $161,000 last year. Nationally, median prices rose 4.3% over the same period while Florida median prices rose 11.1%.

All cash sales represented 41.8% of Flagler sales, only 25% nationally and 36.6% in Florida.

Distresses properties continue to decline as a percentage of all home sales. In Flagler County, 16.3% of home sales were distressed: 2.6% short sales and 13.7% REO (foreclosed sales). Nationally, 15% of all sales were distressed. Florida, was in line with Flagler results with a total of 17.6% distressed; 3.3% short sales and 14.3% REO.

It’s barely a seller’s market locally, with the listing inventory at 5.8 month’s sales. Nationally, the inventory level for all housing types is 4.4 months of sales. Florida’s single-family residential inventory represents 4.5 months of sales.

GoToby.com believes that the sale closing delays caused by TILA-RESPA have affected REO sales more than non-distressed sales; perhaps because the selling banks are not integrating will with the lending banks. REO sales have declined gradually over the past year, but the rate of decline has increased since November. Of 103 homes reported sold to date in March, only five are REO. Only one is a short sale.

The median price for March (month-to-date) Flagler home sales is healthy at $205,000. The March 2015 median selling price was $160,000.

Although February home sales were off slightly, the total dollar value of homes sold increased 12.8%. The total dollar value of non-distressed sales rose 24.2%. February non-distressed sales made up 85.6% of total home sales dollars.