The data would seem to support a continuation of a trend of the past several months, indicating that the market has stabilized.  Certainly, prices are much lower that they used to be and sales are still off from the wild ride of a few years ago.  But, in terms of stability, prices have not had any huge spikes, up or down, for the past several months.  And sales volume has continued to be significantly higher than it was for the same month last year or even the year before.  Here are some highlights:

New Listings in Sept: 2,518.  Down from 2,779 in Sept 08 and from 3,139 in Sept 07.

Active Listings at end of Sept: 12,773.  Down from 20,053 in Sept 08 and from 22,807 in Sept 07.

Pending Sales at end of Sept: 1,540.  Up dramatically from 837 in Sept 08 and from 712 in Sept 07.

Avg Days on Market Until Sale: 94.  Down from 102 in Sept 08 and from 100 in Sept 07.

Supply/Demand Ratio: 4.85 houses available per active buyer.  Down very strongly from 12.78 houses per buyer  in Sept 08        and 17.05 houses per buyer in Sept 07.

 Inventory Supply at Current Rate of Sales: 8 months inventory.  Down from 24 months in Sept 08 and from 32 months in Sept 07.

So, as you can see, the market is definitely healthier than it has been for quite some time in Pinellas.  If you’re interested in buying a new home, there are still very good prices and there is still a fair amount of inventory.  But houses are, indeed selling, and if inventory continues to go down, logic and history tell us that prices will begin to move up.  So if you’re a potential buyer, you might consider putting things in motion!  And if you’re a seller, note the data and be of good cheer – houses are selling, and in a reasonable amount of time.  There are just two critical conditions for a successful sale – your house needs to be in good condition and you need to have it priced at today’s market prices.  If you do that, you have a very good chance of selling if you want to…

If you’d like more detail on any of the items that I posted, please feel free to contact me – my contact phone number and email are always available near the top of the right column of this page.  And if you’re interested in buying or selling a home, please call or email.  I know St. Petersburg inside and out and I work happily with both buyers and sellers.

[All data referenced in this post is courtesy of the Pinellas Realtor Organization and is believed to be accurate, but is not guaranteed.]

This is a good day to post some statistical information, because the June statistics have just been compiled and they were released on Friday by PRO – the Pinellas Realtor Organization. And the news is actually pretty upbeat.  No, I’m not going to tell you that everything’s rosy – there are still lots of houses for sale and prices are still lower than what sellers want and people are still being foreclosed on.

But, in relative terms, things are definitely moving in a positive direction.  So, enough of my prelude – here are some of the basic statistics for the month of June…

First, let’s talk about single family listings – houses that are currently listed for sale in Pinellas County.  At the end of June, there were 6,702 single family homes for sale.  Compare that to June of last year, when there were 8,176 listings, and June 0f 2007, when there were 9,000 listings.  That’s pretty noteworthy – the number of  houses for sale is down 22% from the same time last year and down 25% from 2007!

What about price?  That’s good news, too – the median sale price for Pinellas single family homes hit the low point of $125,000 in January, but since then, it’s been in the $140,000s every month.  For June, the median sale price was $147,000.  And that includes foreclosures and short sales.  If you look at numbers of ‘normal’, or non-distressed sales, the median price was $171,750 in June – definitely recovering from where it’s been for quite awhile.

One more interesting fact about single family home sales in June – for the first time in quite awhile, the houses that actually sold were not  the least expensive houses.  Homes selling at under $100,000 had been the leader in home sales for many months, but in June, that turned around.  Homes under $100,000 made up about 26% of all home sales.  Homes in the $100,000 to $250,000 range made up about 53% of all home sales.

There’s a great deal of additional data available, but I don’t want to turn this into some dry statistical post – just want to give you an idea of how things are going.  If you  have questions or would like to see any specific sort of information, either one time, or on a regular basis, please give me some feedback via a comment.  I’ll do everything I can to accommodate.  And if you’re interested in June statistics for condominium listings and sales, I’ll post that information next week.

[All data referenced in this post is courtesy of the Pinellas Realtor Organization and is believed to be accurate, but is not guaranteed.]