Pending Home Sales Rising in Much of Florida

Palm Coast’s positive trend in residential home sales is mirrored in several other Florida real estate markets. The indicators are truly impressive.

• The number of Realtor-assisted sales pending for single-family homes in Lee County was 1,088 on Feb. 14, up 33 percent from 821 a month earlier.
• The Realtor® Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beach (Lee County) had an 85.4 percent upswing in pending single family home sales in the last 10 weeks. The number of months it takes to sell all residential properties has dropped to 12 months from a high of 22.98 months in December 2007.
• In Martin County, there were 182 pending sales on January 1. Today, there are 345 pending sales, representing an increase of 90 percent.
• The Emerald Coast Association of Realtors® (Okaloosa County) reports their pending home sales were 383 in January and rose to 473 for February, representing a 23 percent increase. 
• Pinellas County reported 600 single family units under contract in February, up 23 percent from 489 a month earlier.
• Marco Island (Collier County) reports pending sales numbers on March 1, 2008 at 135 while a year ago (March 1, 2007) this number was 104. Their pending sales on January 1, 2008 were 77 and in March 1, 2008, pending home sales were 135, up 75 percent.
• The Realtor® Association of Greater Ft Lauderdale (Broward County) has a forecast of pending sales that is quite impressive. Their single family pending sales (which includes condos and town homes) totaled 529 in January but their pending inventory forecast for the month of February is 871. That is an increase of 65 percent.
• Palm Beach County has seen a drastic increase in single family homes sold between January and March this year. Between January 14 and February 14, 2008, 672 homes were sold. Between February 15 and March 10, 2008, 827 homes sold for an increase of nearly 30 percent month to month.
• The Pensacola Association of Realtors® (Escambia County) reported pending sales at 297 (includes single family homes and condos) in January 2008. In March 2008, this number rose to 345, an increase of 16 percent.
• The Heartland Association of Realtors® (Highlands County) had 10 pending home sales in January 2008 and 43 in February 2008. This is an increase of over 300 percent.
• The Venice Area Board of Realtors® (Sarasota County) reported 110 pending sales in February 2008 compared to 85 in January 2008. This is an increase of 29 percent.
• Naples Area Board of Realtors® (Collier County) had 513 pending sales in February 2008 compared to 413 pending sales in January 2008, an increase of 24 percent. Also, the pending sales for February 2008 are 10 percent higher than pending sales in February 2007 (464).
• The West Volusia Association of Realtors® MLS (Volusia County) shows a 34 percent increase in home sales in February 2008 over January 2008.
• The Orlando Regional Realtor® Association reports an increase in pending sales in both Orange and Seminole Counties. In Orange County, pending home sales increased by 29 percent from February to March and in Seminole County, pending home sales went up from 331 to 404, a 22 percent increase.
• The Tallahassee Board of Realtors® (Leon County) reports an increase in their pending sales both from a year ago and from January 2008. Today, the pending home sales in Leon County are 410 compared to 325 in January 2008, an increase of 26 percent. A year ago, pending home sales in Leon County was 283.
• Amelia Island-Nassau County Association of Realtors® (Nassau County) MLS reports 150 pending home sales in March 2008, up 83 percent from 82 pending sales in January 2008.
• The Sarasota Association of Realtors® MLS (Sarasota County) reported 654 sales pending (single-family and condo) in February 2008, an increase of 27 percent over the 516 sales reported pending in January 2008. In addition, Sarasota had 418 closed sales in February 2008, up 28 percent from the 327 closed sales in January 2008.