It has been six years since the housing market bottomed out on the Emerald Coast in 2008. Pensacola property sales have been climbing ever since, and 2014 residential sales were reached 6930 units, exceeding 2013 sales by 12 percent.
One way to determine how a real estate market is doing is to look at the average number of days on the market; the fewer the days on the market, the more active the market is. In January 2013, the average number of days on the market for residential properties in the Greater Pensacola Area was 133 days. Today that number has decreased to 94 days, which represents a 45 percent decrease.
The real estate market here is heating up. Clear evidence of this is the reduced number of days on the market as well as the rise of multiple offers on properties for sale. As always, correctly prices homes sell quickly.
You can see from the chart below 2014 was the strongest year since 2006. Many people that have been waiting to buy are finally ready and further encouraged by low interest rates. 2014 is the fifth best year ever for sales in the history of real estate sales here, and 2015 is even looking better.
These residential sales numbers represent all homes, condos and townhomes that have sold in Escambia County and Santa Rosa County, Florida since January 1999.
Buyer categories in 2014 consisted mainly of primary homes, first -time buyers, military family relocation, retirees, second homes, beach resort buyers and investors looking to turn a profit. We saw an abundance of people investing towards long-term wealth as well as more people looking to flip properties for quick profit.
The outlook for 2015 is bright. Residential sales prices are up and are moving in a positive direction. The average price increase from January 2014 to January 2015 is up 15 percent while the median price is up 17 percent.
The number of “upside-down loans” are decreasing dramatically; this declining trend is continuing as property prices increase. More sellers and buyers are being attracted to the current real estate market since prices are rising and distressed properties are on the decline.
The amount of Internet traffic from buyers seeking property has increased. Statistics show that the Internet is where most homebuyers start their search.
For more market information and charts is "Pensacola Market Sales Trends" or contact Emerald Coast Realty.
