A couple of days ago I was talking with a fellow agent at Preferred Properties Key West. She told me she was up at 5:00 AM and was looking at sales statistics. She said not much has sold and there aren't all that many houses under contract. We shared our concern about over-priced market. I stated I watch the MLS like a hawk and primarily see new listings and price reductions. They seem to go hand in hand. Some agents will take any listing and put it out there simply to let the market tell the seller that your ego is too big for your britches. If you are a fan of the Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles you will have seen each of the agents try to educate sellers about not over-pricing. I've had the same discussions with potential sellers.
Shortly after Hurricane Irma I met with the owners of a house I had sold. They wanted to sell it. They remodeled a bedroom, updated a bath, and painted the house. They wanted to sell the place for about $400,000 more than they paid for it. I told them I did not want to waste my money on advertising and my life on holding open houses on a property that would not sell at that or anywhere near that price. They found somebody who would. When and if it sells, I will report back to you to see who was right and who was wrong.
Let's look at the numbers of what sold in January 2018 and contrast or compare to 2017 and 2016.
January 2018 SOLDS
There were 23 single family home sales on the island of Key West. The least expensive home was $350,000. The most expensive home was located on Sunset Key. It sold for $5,900,000. The median home sale was $732,500.
January 2017 SOLDS
I am doing the research as I write. This is interesting. There were 23 single family home sales in this same time period compared to 2018. The least expensive home sold for $350,000 and the most expensive, located again on Sunset Key, sold for $5,000,000. Three of the 23 sales were on Sunset Key. They sold for $2,775,000, $4,650,000, and $5,000,000. That really screws up comparisons but that is a factor of our market in both Old Town and Casa Marina as well. The median home was $670,000.
January 2016 SOLDS
This is interesting! There were just 17 single family home sales in January 2016 or seven less than in 2017 and 2018. The least expensive home sold for $370,000. The most expensive home for just $1,450,000. The median home sale was $630,000.
January 2015 SOLDS
As I started to write today's blog my intention was to go back to 2015. The results bothered me so I took the search back one more year. There were 25 single family homes sales in January 2015. The least expensive house sold for $360,000. The most expensive home sold for $1.425.000. It was located at 1212 Georgia in the "Arts District" just east of White Street. The median home sale in 2015 was $651.000.
As of today, February 4, 2018, there are 193 ACTIVE single family homes on the market in Key West. I took out the three most expensive because they really mess up the numbers when discussing prices. The least expensive home is offered at $389,000. The most expensive (not really) is located on Sunset Key and is offered at $6,950,000. The asking price on the median home is $1,294,500. There are 27 single family homes priced between $2,000,000 to $3,000,000. There are nine priced between $3,000,000 and $4,000,000. There are 14 priced over $4,000,000. Where in the world are all of the buyers for these ego homes going to come from?
There are a total of 53 single family homes in the mls showing as contingent or pending. Fifteen of those are priced over $1,000,000. Three of the fifteen are priced over $2,000,000. I repeat the last sentence of the above paragraph, wherein the world are all of he buyers of these ego homes going to come from? I am glad a saved my money and my time and told my former customers to take a hike.
I share the frustration with my fellow agent about the current lack of sales. Our January sales for 2018 actually look a bit better than the prior years, but the inventory of available homes is way over-priced.
5 comments:
Gary, I'll give you a personal example of how your post today sums up the current real estate market in Key West. I very recently put an offer in on a house listed between $1,750,000-$2,000,000. It was on the market for less than a month. Both the seller's agent and my agent agreed it was a fair offer. Everyone expected the seller to counter, where we would eventually meet somewhere in the middle at around 95% of the listing price.
Here was the seller's counter offer, in writing: "Listing price. A and a cash deal only!" Even the seller's agent was shocked. The owner feels the house is worth the asking price and will accept nothing less.
Perhaps a few months of inactivity on the house will help the seller keep his ego in check.
You were in the right range. Most houses in Old Town and Casa Marina tend to sell at a discount of 4 to 5 per cent of asking.
I get exasperated of dealing with people like this. The worst are the guys who buy cheap. They become like King Midas when it comes time to sell their homes.
Gary
$1,329/ft on Frances Street. I rest my case.
I get upset with myself every time I think back to when the real estate bubble burst around 2009. I could have bought a rehab project in Old Town and I am a man of modest means. Unfortunately I did not. I don't know if that will ever happen again in my lifetime but I will be ready if it does. What goes up usually comes down.
"Be fearful when the majority are greedy"..."Be greedy when the majority are fearful"
-Warren Buffett
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