Newsletter: Palm Coast Housing Market Still Recovering but Gradually

While locations around the country are reporting declines in housing market activity, Palm Coast and Flagler County continue to recover, albeit gradually.

Palm Coast, FL – October 10, 2014 – Home prices in some areas of the country have recovered to pre-recession levels. The medial home selling price in metro Palm Coast, which includes all of Flagler County, remains nearly 40 percent below peak prices of eight years ago.

While locations around the country are reporting some decline in housing market activity, Palm Coast and Flagler County continue to recover, albeit gradually. Fifty-six new home building permits were issued in September, the highest number since 2007.

Metro Palm Coast led the nation in population growth in the first half of the past decade. Our area’s home prices began to rise before national home prices began to edge up. Palm Coast’s home sales peaked (in June 2005) well before the top of the national market. Local prices dropped more precipitously and further than nearly all other markets.

The local median selling price bottomed out at $106,000 in both September 2011 and in January 2012, seven years after and 59 percent below the peak. More building permits were issued in 2005 than in the next eight years combined.

Palm Coast had a longer climb from the recession’s depth than the national market. Recovery has been steady though. Our housing market reflects many of the patterns seen nationally. Rising prices, fewer cash sales, fewer distressed home sales and fewer new foreclosure filings are all good signs.

The market has shifted. In the past, short sales dominated the segment of distressed home sales. Both locally and nationally, REO sales (foreclosures) now dominate the distressed segment. Only four short sales were reported in Flagler County during September, making that segment statistically insignificant.

The numbers:

**September Palm Coast Home Sales 2014 v 2013**
		2014	% of All	2013	% of All
All Flagler Homes
	Homes Sold	184	100.0%	154	100.0%
	Median Price	$150,000	100.0%	$149,900	100.0%
	Ave. $/SF	$95.49	100.0%	$89.08	100.0%
	Total Sales	$35,822,352	100.0%	$28,017,692	100.0%
Cash
	Homes Sold	86	46.7%	74	48.1%
	Median Price	$136,500	91.0%	$149,900	100.0%
	Ave. $.SF	$86.79	90.9%	$88.60	99.5%
	Total Sales	$15,022,041	41.9%	$13.176,775	47.0%
Short Sale
	Homes Sold	4	2.2%	15	9.7%
	Median Price	$126,000	84.0%	$150,000	100.0%
	Ave. $/SF	$62.15	65.1%	$73.98	83.0%
	Total Sales	$481,000	1.3%	$2,390,600	8.5%
REO
	Homes Sold	47	25.5%	33	21.4%
	Median Price	$117,000	78.0%	$120,000	80.0%
	Ave. $/SF	$70.10	73.4%	$65.30	73.3%
	Total Sales	$5.905,976	16.5%	$3,899,547	13.9%
Non–Distressed
	Homes Sold	133	72.3%	106	68.8%
	Median Price	$163,372	108.9%	$165,000	110.0%
	Ave. #/SF	$105.47	110.5%	$98.62	110.7%
	Total Sales	$29,435,376	82.2%	$21,727,495	77.5%

Condominiums
Metro Palm Coast’s condominium market continues to show its two sides. Condominiums in the Hammock (Hammock Dunes, Hammock Beach, Cinnamon Beach and Yacht Harbor Village) dominate the high-end of the market where the third quarter median selling price was $327,500. But Hammock condo sales are tailing off. Only 14 units were sold during the third quarter vs. the 2013 quarterly average of 26.75.

September Palm Coast 2014 Condo Sales - Hammock vs Non-Hammock

An person close to the Hammock market tells GoToby.com that the "short-term vacation rental" fueled lawsuits in Ocean Hammock and the uncertainty of the Cinnamon Beach Condominium Association’s structural defects lawsuit against the developer have dampened enthusiasm for that market. The same source believes that sale price increases in Hammock Dunes (private with only long-term rentals) encouraged sellers’ expectations beyond what buyers are willing to pay. Twelve Hammock Dunes condominium units are listed above $1,000,000, four of these above $2,000,000. Yet only two sales have closed above $1,000,000 so far this year, the highest being $1,300,000.

Condominium sales outside of the Hammock remain fairly consistent with slightly rising prices. The median selling price for the third quarter was $130,000. The median price for all of 2013 was $120,000. The stacked bar charts below illustrate the marked differences between the two markets.

Total Condo Sales Comoparison Hammock vs Non Hammock - Palm Coast