Gulf front condos are moving at live auctions in Baldwin County’s depressed market. Just recently, Buyers snatched up 31 units in less than and hour in Orange Beach. Prices have faltered along the Alabama coast, influenced by a drop in home sales and rising insurance costs. Auctions are a way for property owners to shed inventory and this helps to determine the market’s bottom.
As of July 2009, sales are off and inventory continues to climb. Sales declined by 14% from June. Prior to this, we had seen 5 months of activity increasing but thru July, we can attribute this pattern as seasonal. There are signs of a bottom as the 12 month moving average line of total dollar sales has flattened and is no longer heading down. The coast is the only area of Baldwin County to show this flattening of the downward spiral.
Total number of active home listings has stopped climbing although inventory of used homes is still headed upwards and remains at a high level. There were 5,046 used active houses in July, a 6% decrease from June and an absorption rate of 21 months vs. 23 in June.
Average price for a single-family home sold in July was $206,928 down 23.9% from July 2008. Average price for condominium units inclusive of Gulf front units south of the intra-coastal waterway was $268,120 down 26.0% from July 2008.
Today’s buyers are typically end-users who do not plan to sell for 4-5 years, and most are looking for a deal, whether it’s a foreclosure property or a motivated seller. An $8,000 tax credit is available for first time homebuyers who purchase and close on a home before December 1, 2009. You must not have owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase. A single taxpayer with income up to $75,000 and married couples with incomes up to $150,000 qualify for the full tax credit.
Georgia Bankston, gbagent@gulftel.com
www.stewardre.com