I did a quick search of real estate solds in Key West for the month of August 2010. There were 14 single family homes that sold during that time period. Three of those sales (21.4%) were bank owned homes; six (42.8%) were short sales. Five of the fourteen sales were priced over $500,000 which means that 64% of the sales were for homes priced under the $500,000 price point. Only one house sold in August above one million dollars. It sold for quite a bit more: $2,100,000. The average per sq ft sales price for a single family home in Key West in August 2010 was $319.
There were 26 single family home sales in 2009 compared to the 14 this year. Four of the 2009 sales (15%) were bank owned properties. Six (23%) were short sales. Interestingly, 9 (34.6%) of the single family sales in 2009 were for homes priced above $500,000 and two of those sales were for homes priced above $1,000,000. The average per sq ft sales price for a single family home in Key West in August 2009 was $315.
I then checked out the condo and townhome sales for August 2010. There were a total of 12 sales with an average sales price of $256 per sq ft. Seven (7) were bank owned units (58.3%) and 4 were short sales (33%). Only one low priced unit was neither a short sale nor bank owned. Just one property in Truman Annex sold over the $500,000 price point. The other 11 were below that mark.
During the same period in 2009 there were 13 sales (one more than in 2010). The average price per sq ft in 2009 was $264 or $8 per sq ft higher than this year. Eight (8) bank owned condos (61.5%) and only 1 unit identified as a short sale (7.6%) were sold in August 2009.
It is obvious that the 2010 sales compared to 2009 are fewer in number. Prices are up on a per sq ft basis for single family homes, but prices are down for condos compared to 2009. We are not seeing actual closed sales for higher end properties. There are still buyers for the nicer and more expensive homes. They are using restraint and not rushing to buy. Some higher priced properties have recently gone under contract and are awaiting closing. This is a Buyers’ Market and sellers better understand that they need to meet the market or their properties will not sell.
The photo at the top of today's blog shows a over-turned building in Key West after a hurricane in October 1910. The world must have seemed pretty upside down at that moment. I'll bet that the building got up-righted and that the perplexed fellow in the photograph got to live a decent life after that sad event. We've got a lot of unpleasantness in our economy right how. Things will work out and the things that are upside down will improve.
3 comments:
"This is a Buyers’ Market and sellers better understand that they need to meet the market or their properties will not sell."
Thank you for reminding sellers of this!
Which home sold for $2.45? The only high-end sale I saw was on Eagle for $2.1, which was far less than the previous owners paid.
Loved the hamburger joint entry yesterday, too.
You are correct. I fixed it.
Gary
"Prices are up on a square foot basis..." Well, up by $2, but that's just statistical static.
Major take-away: big drop in single family homes, Aug year over year.
If you combine those two things, it raises a couple of questions: would there have been more single family home sales if sellers had dropped their sq ft price considerably below $315? Or, on the other hand, is the glass half full, and is it a good sign that even though there were fewer single family home sales in Aug '10, the sq ft price held steady? I'd say yes to the first question. In any case, probably not worth reading too much into one month's worth of tea leaves.
Thank you for continuing to track these year over year sales figures.
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