Jacksonville Florida Real Estate

10-29-2008 Jacksonville Real Estate Market Update

I just ran the statistics and our real estate market is definitely in better shape currently than last year at this time.   It is still a very strong buyers market, but the numbers look better overall.  We have a 14.61% pending to active ratio.  Remember, the lower this number is, the stronger the market is weighted towards buyers.  The higher the number is, the more favorable it is towards sellers.  A nice balanced number is around 50%.  It is definitely the time to buy that house in Jacksonville if you are on the fence.  Get in now, and get your bargain.

There are still over 11,000 single family home listings in the Jacksonville market to chose from.  Compared to the end of March 2006 that number is almost double.  Why the end of March 06?  Because that is the last time we saw the pending to active ratio over 50%.  At that point it was at 53.44%, we had just over 6,000 active listings and over 3,000 pendings.  Currently we only have 1,669 pendings...but it is definitely better than the 1,410 last year this time.

Let us know if you are ready to buy.  We are ready to help.  It's a great time.  And remember, there will be no newsflash informing us that we are at the "bottom".  Only history will show us when that is and the bottom could already be gone...only time will tell.

Reminder...it does not matter what price tag your neighbor has stuck on their house

Public service announcement.  If your neighbor has their home listed for sale it is irrelevant to you what price is "on it"  if it is overpriced.  It is not unusual for us to talk to homeowners who are interested in selling their home, and give them a market price, only to be told their neighbor has a smaller home, "with no upgrades" for 50,000 more...so that's what the seller wants to go by when pricing their home.

Has the neighbor's home sold?  Is it under contract?  How long has it been on the market?  Is the home getting showings?  What HAS been selling?  What IS under contract?

As a seller you should not be shopping for the highest price that an agent will recommend.  If you are shopping agents, you will be given prices that are too high.  You should be shopping for honesty and integrity with solid numbers and statistics to back up the market analysis.  In a strong buyers market you have to put your pride away, along with the desire to overprice your home in line with your neighbor's overpriced home.

If you overprice your home, you are wasting everyone's time.  Your time.  Your agent's time.  The buyer's time who may come to look at it, only to discover it is way out of line.  If you are not willing to price your home in line with the market, you should wait until the market once again becomes a seller's market, which it will.