Posts Tagged ‘Trendgraphix’
Posted by Michael Saunders & Company on May 21, 2010
Our market’s recovery continued moving forward in April. Inventories of available properties continued to decline throughout Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte Counties; while sales were up by more than 27% in Manatee County, 19% in Sarasota County and 17% in Charlotte County. Pending sales, a strong harbinger of closed sales to come in the next 30 to 60 days, were also up significantly. Pendings were up 52% in Manatee County, 27% in Sarasota County and nearly 10% in Charlotte County.
*Data courtesy of Trendgraphix
Posted by Michael Saunders & Company on May 5, 2010
A consumer survey released in April by a large nationwide real estate firm—combined with recent trends in local sales—helps explain why home buyers continue to flood into our market, anxious to buy; not at all deterred from doing so by having missed the April 30th deadline for the first time home buyer tax credit. Nearly two-thirds of the current home shoppers questioned in the survey said that the expiration of the tax credit will have little or no effect on their determination to move forward with an eventual housing purchase.
To be sure, the tax credit helped re-ignite the real estate market; even as it benefited quite a few buyers with added savings or the ability to bid-up on desired properties. Locally, it helped unleash a backlog of pent-up demand that not only chewed-up a sizeable portion of our swollen inventory of properties priced below $300,000, but also helped stabilize free-falling prices. The inventory of available properties is now at its lowest level since late summer 2005.
All these benefits were what the government had in mind when it first launched—then extended—the popular tax credit. But let’s face it. No incentive on earth, however well-intentioned, is going to motivate people to buy overpriced properties; or ones they don’t really want or need. The tax credit simply sped-up purchases of desired, well-priced properties that probably would have sold anyway. For this reason, we should not be surprised to see a dip in sales in the months immediately following the end of the tax credit. Buyers who absolutely needed the credit in order to move forward are gone. But the absence of the tax credit—in and of itself—won’t stall our market’s recovery the way an unusually large glut of new foreclosures might.
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Posted by Michael Saunders & Company on April 29, 2010
courtesy of mignatti.com
David Ramsey, the noted financial author, radio host and TV personality who guests on such programs as The Oprah Winfrey Show, 60 Minutes and The Early Show believes that a good broker or financial advisor must possess the heart of an educator. Not a salesman.
That sentiment applies to real estate agents as well. For ours is the moral and fiduciary obligation to keep our clients and customers as well-informed as possible regarding trends in the market that will likely impact their decision to buy, sell or wait.
We were reminded of our role as educators recently when a local debate broke out involving the frustratingly slow market for properties priced above $1 million. Does the upper tier need a downward price correction like the one that helped re-ignite sales of properties priced below $300,000? Or is the luxury market, as the other side contends, largely immune to the depth of correction that was needed to breathe new life into the lower tiers of the market.
The best way to settle this argument is by referencing Trendgraphix, whose unbiased reports reveal actual market trends based on actual market sales. Among other useful data, each new Trendgraphix report furnishes the most up-to-date snapshot we have of exactly what is selling in our market; and how much buyers are willing to pay relative to what sellers are hoping to net.
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Posted by Michael Saunders & Company on April 19, 2010
The red and green arrows are pointing in all the right directions; signaling a sustained recovery in progress throughout Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte Counties. Inventories of available homes were down significantly in March thanks to sales and pending sales that are up by as much as 50% versus last March.
Posted by Michael Saunders & Company on April 8, 2010
Image courtesy of floridarealtors.org
Look for balloons flying in neighborhoods all across the region this Sunday to signify one of the biggest open house parties Florida will ever see. To offer home buyers the convenience of touring dozens of different homes in a single timesaving weekend, the Florida Association of Realtors is hosting this weekend’s first-ever Florida Open House Weekend.
Tens of thousands of homes across the state are open for viewing this Sunday, April 11th with at least 175 of them listed locally by agents of Michael Saunders & Company. Many of the homes are pictured here. The rest can be previewed by visiting michaelsaunders.com. All are open Sunday—from 1:00 until 4:00 p.m—and marked by blue balloons.
Anyone interested in purchasing a home in the near future—perhaps even before the first time home buyer tax credit expires—should not miss this opportunity to preview and compare many different properties on a single day.
With less than three weeks remaining to earn the tax credit, you will find yourself in something of a sprint to cross the finish line. But getting in under the wire is still do-able if you place a home under contract by April 30th; and have cash or financing in place to meet the June 30th deadline for closing. To learn if you qualify for the tax credit, visit Realtor.org.
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Posted by Michael Saunders & Company on March 17, 2010
In Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte Counties, sales and pending sales for the month of February continued to paint a picture of sustained recovery across all three areas. The number of homes for sale declined by as much as 24% (in Sarasota County) versus last year, while sales were up by as much as 27.2% ( in Manatee County); and pendings up by as much as 57.3% in Charlotte County.
*Data courtesy of Trendgraphix
Posted by Michael Saunders & Company on February 15, 2010
Recent trends in the Southwest Florida real estate market—as reported by TRENDGRAPHIX—continue to show encouraging signs of a market in recovery. Year-over-year inventories of existing homes for sale are down by nearly a fifth to a quarter across all three counties of Southwest Florida; while both closed and pending sales in Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte Counties remain steady and dramatic.
*Data courtesy of Trendgraphix
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Posted by Michael Saunders & Company on January 29, 2010
If selling your home or condominium is high on your agenda in 2010 here are some important facts you should know.
Any licensed brokerage is capable of listing your property. But only one is the undisputed leader in finding buyers for homes on Longboat Key. Michael Saunders & Company.
The proof is in the performance. Based on dollar volume sales over the past 12 months—as recorded by the Mid Florida MLS and published by the leading independent real estate tracking firm TRENDGRAPHIX—agents from Michael Saunders & Company bring buyers to Longboat Key property sales nearly twice as often as their next closest competitor.
As the below bar graphs depict, this phenomenon holds true across all price ranges; but becomes noticeably more dramatic as the price range increases. For properties $1 million and up, our agents furnish buyers more often than our next four closest competitors combined.
Before you list your Longboat Key property, contact an agent from Michael Saunders & Company. Find out how the region’s largest network of top-producing agents, its most heavily-frequented Web site and unparalleled network of international brokerage affiliations will help you succeed in finding a buyer faster. After all, isn’t that what selling your home is all about?
Posted by Michael Saunders & Company on December 16, 2009
Sarasota’s real estate market traveled light years in 2009, compared with where it was this time last year; and where other Florida markets still are today. Even as ours is being recommended as the #1 best-priced housing market in the U.S.— by such real estate gurus as Barbara Corcoran for NBC’s Today Show and the market analysts at zillow.com—other major Florida markets, including Jacksonville, Orlando and Miami, are being dismissed as the nation’s most overpriced.
Last May, when Michael Saunders invited noted real estate expert Steve Harney to Sarasota to headline a company-wide assembly of our agents, he was very clear in his takeaway message. The only way to re-enervate our market is to educate sellers to back down from unrealistic price expectations born of an unrealistic boom. Using actual statistics culled from the Sarasota MLS, Harney showed the enormous gap between what homes are listed for and what buyers are actually willing to pay. He then challenged our agents to close the gap. “If not you,’ he boomed to the back row, “Then who? If agents from one of the most respected firms in the nation won’t take the lead, who will?”
Harney’s words had a seismic impact. By mid-June—some six weeks later—agents from Michael Saunders & Company had achieved more than $110.7 million in overall price reductions; with more happening every day since then. Moreover, they didn’t simply petition their sellers to lower prices, but came fortified with fresh market statistics to help their clients understand why such a move was vital to their best interests.
After that, the proverbial dam broke; unleashing months—even years—of pent-up buyer demand. Buyers in droves jumped eagerly off the fence to take advantage of these best-priced opportunities, while many also queued-up to take advantage of the first-time homebuyer tax credit that had recently been enacted into law. This past week the Sarasota Association of Realtors announced that overall sales for November 2009 were nearly 86 percent higher than last November. What a difference a year makes.
Asked by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune last week to identify which of our agents turned in the most impressive performances of 2009, the answer was a no-brainer. As shown on the graphs below, it was through the combined efforts of every one of our agents working diligently in a tough market that led Michael Saunders & Company to increase its commanding share of the Sarasota market among the five best-performing brokers. This holds true across all price ranges; but becomes particularly dramatic as the price range goes up. (Source: TRENDGRAPHIX: November 2009). As well, the agents in our Manatee County and Englewood offices have achieved similar across-the-board dominance of their respective markets. Call any of our agents to share additional in-depth information from TRENDGRAPHIX—an independent source for the latest in local market trends and information.
If you’re planning to sell your home in 2010 you should pay particular attention to the graph that depicts the percentage of “buyer sales by dollar volume.” It shows that agents from Michael Saunders & Company furnish the buyer for closed transactions as often as the next two competitors combined.
For the foreseeable future Southwest Florida will remain firmly entrenched in a buyers’ market where the best-priced properties will continue to sell, while the rest sit. Pricing as correctly and aggressively as possible is the best way to ensure your home attracts the most buyers. With the market’s largest share of buyers coming to us through every available portal—including michaelsaunders.com, our international brokerage affiliations and our referral division—the best resolution you can make if you’re planning to sell in the New Year is to contact an agent from Michael Saunders & Company.
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Posted by Michael Saunders & Company on September 16, 2009
Photo Credit: Heinz Kluetmeier/SI
Even though the area’s real estate market is at long last exhibiting true signs of a gradual but sustained recovery, it continues to favor buyers in search of the best-priced buying opportunities. Improvements in the market notwithstanding, the pool of available homes in Southwest Florida—although shrinking—remains much larger during any given month than the corresponding pool of available buyers. In true “supply-and-demand” fashion, the region remains in a solid buyers’ market. Nevertheless, if you’re planning to sell your home in the not-too-distant future, you can significantly improve the odds of obtaining better results faster by taking two important steps now that will deepen your own pool of potential buyers.
First, commit to pricing your home at least as aggressively as other homes in its competitive set, if not more so. We repeat this mantra time after time—week after week—because price remains the single most important catalyst for luring buyers away from indecision on the sidelines to confidence at the closing table.
Second, list your home where it is absolutely assured of being noticed by the most buyers. It’s a proven fact. For homes in virtually every price range, Michael Saunders & Company engages more buyers and brings them to the closing table—by far—than any other company in Southwest Florida. A bold statement, to be sure; but one for which we proudly offer independent verification based on actual sales data obtained from the Sarasota MLS—and reported monthly by the California-based, independent research firm TRENDGRAPHIX.
For homes priced from $150,000 and up, agents of Michael Saunders & Company brought buyers to the closing table 68% more often in the past 12 months than the market’s next leading competitor. For homes priced $250,000 and above, we are apt to furnish the buyer 87% more often. Moreover, the spread between Michael Saunders & Company and the next leading competitor in the market is equally dramatic for attracting buyers to higher priced homes. This is a most vital consideration if your home falls into this category; since the recovery has yet to work its way into the upper tiers of the market. Versus a year ago, nationwide sales of homes priced upwards from $500,000 are down 8.9%, those priced from $1 million and up are down 23.3%; and homes priced from $2 million and up are down 32.4%.
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