30A Real Estate Advice RSS Feed

While home inspections are common in the home-buying process, there is sometimes confusion about what exactly takes place and what a buyer or a seller should expect. 

Home inspections allow a buyer to identify any significant issues with a home before the closing and helps support the valuation of the property. But hiring a certified professional is critical. Not only are they experts trained in what to look for, but many lenders require licensed inspectors to evaluate the property's condition to ensure the loan they originate isn't risky. If a buyer makes an all-cash purchase, the same reasons still apply. Having the home or condo inspected by a professional provides peace of mind regarding the home's safety and helps ensure you get what you pay…

By Grant Blackwell of Coastal Insurance Company in Santa Rosa Beach, FL.  The Florida property insurance industry has been nearly collapsing for a few years. 2021 brought homeowner premium increases of 30% to 50%, frustrating and surprising residents. Most folks chalked it up to the collective results of Hurricane Michael in 2018 and just another increased price of admission for living here at the beach.

The reality was that the Florida property insurance industry was in a crisis. About 40 Florida smaller domiciled insurance companies insure 75% of all the homes in Florida. These companies were very profitable until 2017 but have struggled to recover from the hurricane seasons of 2017 and 2018, when Florida suffered over $100 Billion in insured…

Many are surprised to learn that Spring, not Summer, is typically the peak Selling Season at the beach. Historically, more properties are sold in the second quarter (April-June) than any other, as illustrated below (except for the anomolous 2020):

While Spring may be the best time to sell, Fall is usually the best time to buy. For one, homes and condos rented during the height of vacation season are more accessible in the Fall. Now that our overheated market is slowing down, we're beginning to see regular seasonal trends pick back up in our market.

Here are a few reasons why Fall is the best time to buy: 

• More inventory: Although availability is not yet back to pre-pandemic levels, inventory has increased 20% since last year.
• …

On this day last year, we shared the Top 30A Beach Towns that were the most popular with Buyers. One year later we decided to look at what the trends show now. 

Drum roll please . . .

Coming in at first place again!

#1 Seagrove Beach

We think Seagrove Beach stays at the top of the list for a few reasons:

• Diversity of selection among homes and condos -- from upscale, luxury, and modern to elegant, Old Florida and beach bungalow-style.
• Seagrove is largely comprised of several small pockets of neighborhoods, many of which allow owners more freedom with design and fewer community restrictions.
• Plenty of ways to get to the beach, with 22 neighborhood access points, one regional access at Santa Clara, and another regional access is…

The median sales price for homes along 30A rose 21.5% in June, signaling that the market is still hot for sellers, even though sales are declining, and inventory significantly jumped compared to last year.

Median sales prices for a home are $1,525,000, compared to $1,255,000 this time last year. In a previous couple of months, inventory was up; by 30% in May and 39% in June.

Why are some sellers reducing their listing price?

We've grown accustomed to homes selling as quickly as they hit the market. For example, median-priced homes last on average just 23 days on the market. While the pace is still at record levels, how quickly a home sells largely depends on how well-priced a property is when it hits the market. 

Price reductions along 30A…

As we reported last week, there are signs that the real estate market along 30A is cooling. Some of the big questions for the remainder of the year are, will mortgage rates keep going up? Are residential prices continuing to climb - or are they going to go down soon? 

Locally, existing home sales have dropped significantly over the last 6 months compared to last year. But inventory still has some catching up to do to keep up with the demand in our area. It's been reported nationally that inventory has risen as much as 25% during April and May, but available properties along 30A are still declining compared to this same time last year. Seasonality trends conclude that sales will drop further in the fall and winter months, but it's too soon to tell if a…

While sales prices on 30A have risen as much as 35% year-to-date, the number of sales has dropped by as much as 28% year-to-date. It would appear our market has finally turned a corner, which in no way means disaster is waiting around that corner. We all recognized the housing frenzy brought on by the pandemic would eventually fade. And thanks, in part, to new lending regulations, our market and that of the nation are in far better health today than what precipitated the crash in 2008.

A few key factors impacting our market locally:

• Available inventory is still at record lows
• Prices continue to rise
• Mortgage rates surged from 3% to 6% within just a week

Several national headlines are reporting record-setting price reductions…

Ever heard the phrase absorption rate in real estate? Put simply, the absorption rate is a measure of supply and demand. By taking the number of properties sold in a month and dividing it by the number of properties for sale, we can gauge how long it might take to sell ALL available properties on the market.

Along Scenic 30A, the current estimate to sell all available properties is just 2.08 months compared to just 1.04 months this same time last year. Could this be a sign that sales are starting to slow down?

This week we looked at available inventory a bit differently for a fresh perspective on where our market is headed. We normally report on the number of new listings entering the market, but what about the other active listings, the ones…

You've probably seen several news articles and headlines predicting a price correction for most real estate markets across the country in the coming months. There are already reports of month-over-month waning sales in some parts of the country for 2022. But despite what national markets do, real estate is always local by nature. While we don't have a crystal ball to predict the future, we can tell you what we're seeing here along 30A and South Walton.

By this time last year, the number of homes sold on Scenic 30A was 635. This year - so far there have been 509 home sales representing a 19% decrease over 2021 year to date.  While this may make all the predictions appear true, we dug a little deeper to compare how inventory and sales…

Strong buyer demand in our South Walton real estate market continues to have a significant impact on the prevailing "Sellers’ Market".  These impacts include

• A continued lack of available properties to purchase.   
• A substantial overall market appreciation when compared with previous years.
• A significant increase in more buyers coming to the table with cash. 

Market Fact:  During the last three years roughly 40% of all sales in South Walton were cash transactions!

Is the time right for selling YOUR property right now?  The short answer is - maybe!  Just because we continue to remain in a "Seller's Market" along 30A and South Walton, those conditions don’t automatically translate to good timing for everyone’s situation.  There are…