Property sales up 8.2 percent for full year 2011

• For the full year 2011, property sales of members of the Sarasota Association of Realtors® jumped by 8.2 percent to 8,224, achieving the highest level since 2005.
• Once again, the market has demonstrated that Sarasota is a destination of choice for many homebuyers. For the overall year of 2011, the resurgence in sales was dramatic, and represents a 44 percent increase over the low point of the downturn in 2008, when only 5,820 properties changed hands.
• Property transactions in the Sarasota real estate market jumped 7.3 percent in December 2011, compared to the November totals. Combined sales stood at 648, up from last month's figure of 602 and the October 2011 sales of 577. This sales resurgence has paralleled the drop in the available inventory. 
• The inventory of available properties for sale in Sarasota was at 4,567 in December, down slightly from the 4,672 in November. The inventory fell to a 10-year low of 4,408 in August 2011. As the inventory has declined, so has the estimated amount of time it takes to sell a home, which now stands at 6.3 months for single family homes and 9.2 months for condos. A figure of 6 months is considered equilibrium between a buyer's and a seller's market. 
• The December 2011 median sale price for condos recovered strongly to $150,000 from November's figure of $127,000. This was the highest level since August 2011. Condo prices have been fluctuating for several months, with the year-to-date median sale price at $156,800.
• For single family homes, the median sale price dropped slightly in December to $160,000 from $162,000 in November 2011. For the overall year, the figures have remained remarkably steady, indicating a stabilizing market.
• Open houses have been bustling with energy and interest. Recent news of new home sales doubling in one community and setting records for annual sales in another are clear signs of the strength of the current market.
• Pending sales were at 694 in December 2011, down slightly from the November 2011 number of 782. Last month, 504 single family homes and 190 condos went under contract.
• Distressed property sales continued to represent a higher percentage than normal in the local market for the fourth quarter of 2011. In total, 41.7 percent of sales in the fourth quarter were distressed property sales (foreclosures and short sales). This was somewhat higher than the third quarter, when the overall percentage was 38.8 percent, but well below the market high of over 50 percent in the second quarter of 2010
• Median sale prices continued to show three distinct markets, with normal market transaction sales prices more than double those for bank-owned transactions. But the price gap has narrowed somewhat, particularly during the past two quarters. For the second quarter of 2011, foreclosed condos sold for a median price of $62,250, while market condo transactions saw a $270,000 median. For the quarter just ended, those prices were at $73,500 and $193,500, respectively.

Mortgage Rates Continue Record-Breaking Trend of Lows

Freddie Mac recently released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey®, showing mortgage rates easing to new all-time record lows for all products covered in the survey helping to keep homebuyer affordability high. The average for the 30-year fixed mortgage rate has been below 4.00 percent for six consecutive weeks. The survey concluded that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.89 percent, with an average 0.7 point for the week ending January 12, 2012, down from last week when it averaged 3.91 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.71 percent.

Sunnyside Up:

• CONSUMER CONFIDENCE IS UP
• SALES ARE UP
• INVENTORY IS DOWN
• INTEREST RATES ARE REALLY DOWN
• PROPERTIES ARE SELLING:  Florida is now the third-fastest growing state, with people from across the country looking for homes here . . .  and seniors are leading the pack