Brevard County Market Watch 9

The Brevard County Real Estate Market has been picking up since the beginning of the year. Out of town and international buyers have been coming here and taking advantage of our attractive prices and low interest rates. They are purchasing second/vacation homes.  Some investors have jumped back into the market.  First time homebuyers are taking advantage of the $8000 First Time Homebuyer’s Tax Credit.  Many of the locals are finding some difficulty in selling, as they are competing with the low priced short sales and foreclosures on the market.  And most, can’t buy until they sell their home first.

According to the Florida Association of Realtors single family home sales increased by 25% in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008. There were 31,412 existing home sales in Florida from January to March.  In 2008 the number was 25,071.  The figures have continued to rise over the past three quarters.

In Florida, our existing median sale price was $141,000 from January through March. This is a 30% decrease from the same time in 2008, where the figure was $202,300. The National Association of Realtors has reported that these prices may be a bit deceptive, in that short sales and foreclosures are pulling the figures down. The median national price today is $169,000, down 14% over the past year.

According to Realtor Magazine, the nationwide estimate is that there is a 9.5 month supply of homes available for sale.  That indicates that without any additional properties being listed for sale, it could take up to 9.5 months to sell the current inventory of homes on the market.

Interest rates averaged 5.06% for the first quarter of the year, according to Freddie Mac, compared to 5.88% in 2008.