There was a story in this morning's Bloomberg Business Week that says that Home Prices Decline in Almost Three-Fourths of U.S. Metro Markets. It was not a suprise that Mobile was listed as one of the markets with declining home prices. Statiscal analysis done on Gulf Region Properties websites and blogs has reported the decline of home prices in Mobile County on a monthly basis. What is a suprise is that Mobile is listed in the Top 3 of Declining Home Prices in the U.S. Here is link to the Bloomberg Business Week news article - http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-10/home-prices-decline-in-almost-three-fourths-of-u-s-metro-areas.html.Click on this report link to see the National Association of Realtors Median Sales Price Quarterly Report for U.S. Metro Markets
The Bloomberg Business News story says that home prices in Mobile tumbled 18%. Data from the Mobile Association of Realtors includes all of Mobile County shows a median sales price drop of 14%. Median Sales prices of homes sold in Mobile County in the third quarter of 2010 was $115,000. For the same period this year, the median sales price was $99,900.
The new story talks about people not buying homes because of the uncertainity of the economy. That is probably true in Mobile. The Unemployement rate in Mobile County is close to 11%. Recent news that UPS distribution center leaving the Mobile area, the Carnival cruise ship leaving Mobile, and other similar stories have had negative effects on the local economy.
But the difference in the Mobile Real Estate Market is that the number of sales of existing homes actually increased 15% during this third quarter period. The news story talks about declining number of existing home sales as being a factor in declining prices. Declining sales numbers is not the factor in declining prices in Mobile. There was 917 homes sold in Mobile County during the July - September time period in 2011 comared to 798 last year. Insteadm the decline in prices in Mobile County could be do to the number of foreclosures that are being purchased in the area. There was a 25% increase in the number of sold foreclosures in the third quarter of 2011 compared to third quarter of 2010.
What does this news mean to you? Well if you are thinking of buying a home, it is a very good time to be in the market. Prices are at the year 2000 levels. Unfortunately what is good news for buyers is bad news for sellers. In order to increase the odds of their homes to sell, sellers are encouraged to make their homes as attractive as possible - painting, updating kitchens and bathrooms, declutter, etc. Sellers should also think about offering incentives to buyers such as paying closing costs to get those buyers to view their homes. Sellers should remember that homes are being sold in Mobile, in fact as stastistics show there was a 15% increase in the number of buyers this past third quarter.
Steve Shaw
Keller Williams Realty
http://www.gulfregionproperties.com/
http://www.mobilerealestatewebsite.com/
Mobile Alabama Home Search Gadget
(251) 215-9382
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