Getting Meaning From The Statistics

As realtors in the Tampa Bay area, we find it critical in today's market to keep a close eye on the statistics. The PURTEE Team has just posted August stats on our website and they are available here: August 2009 Tampa Bay Real Estate Statistics. There is an abundance of information to review and we plan to start posting the month end statistics as soon as they are out. In the meantime, I pulled some additional information worth noting...

Strictly along the beaches I did a comparison of the last 30 days (Aug. 21 - Sept. 21) over the last 4 years.

In 2006, when real estate in this area was at its peak, there were 62 properties sold. Of those sales, the average list price was $720,036 and selling price was $671,492 or 94% of asking price. This represented an average selling price of $425/sq ft.

By 2007, things had shifted. There were 65 properties sold; average list price of $691,364 and selling price of $619,586 or 91% of asking price and average selling price of $360/sq ft.

Well... 2008 had more in store. There were 74 properties sold; but the average list price was now $641,834 and selling price of $563,768 or 90% of asking price and average selling price of $299/sq ft.

So, want to hazzard a guess about this year and this past month's statistics? For 2009, 92 properties have sold. Would you like to know why? How about an average list price of $441,588 and selling price of $394,755 again at 91% of asking price and average selling price of $239/sq ft!!!

Now does this seem like an incentive to take advantage of sales at over 40% off their 2006 high? We are watching closely... average properties sold, average selling price and ratio to list price, as well as the selling price per square foot. If you are watching this market as well to know when to make a purchase, keep up with the news that we offer.