I would like to take a few minutes to disect the latest data for May.
First here is a link to an article published in Tampa Tribune this week. The title is: Local home sales dip in May. No surprise there, but…
Here are my findings from Greater Tampa Association of Realtors( GTAR) and MFRMLS – our MLS:
May 2009 Residential Home Sales: 1,032 comparing to May 2008: 942.
May 2009 Residential Sales- includes: Single Family Home, Townhomes, Condos: 1,310 comparing to May 2008: 1,204.
May 2009 Average Residential Sales Price: 177,540 comparing to May 2008: 232,981, but significantly higher than last reported month of April, 2009: 167,348.
May 2009 Total Residential Contracts: 4,496 comparing to May 2008: 2,555. This is good indication of where the market is going in the near future. As you can see there are almost twice as many homes under contract in May this year than there were in May last year.
Another interesting number to watch is ‘Months of Inventory’. Well, for May 2009 we are at 10.61 comparing to 15.01 in May 2008, even lower than last month’s number of 11.29. Just an FYI a balanced market is around 6 months worth of inventory. If the number is lower than 6 months, it is considered a Seller’s Market, or more than 6 months a Buyer’s Market. Another two reference numbers for you: June 2005: 1.20 – do you remember the frenzy?- and January 2008: 25.58 – buyer’s market @ its peak.
So, those are my findings without any spin. You can obtain the data for free from: www.gtar.org. Just click here.
Is the market improving? Yes. Are we at the bottom? I don’t know. Did we have a dip in the number of sales in Tampa last month? No.
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