January closings so far are extremely sluggish.  While we usually have a lot of closings in the last week of the month we have only had half of the closings so far in January as we had month to date last year.  So far this month there have only been 156 real estate closings in Jacksonville.  To give you some perspective, last year from January 1st-18th we had 309.  In 2007 this number was 413, 2006 had 487 and 2005 saw 471 closings in the same period.

The very interesting thing is that out of the 156 real estate closings, only 42% have been straight resale while over 46% have been distress sales consisting of foreclosures and short sales.

Of active listings currently on the market, 64% are straight resale while only 32% of pendings are straight resale.  As of today only 25% of actives are short sales and foreclosures but a remarkable 52% of pendings are fall into the distressed property category.  As the prices have dropped in recent months, straight resales are having a harder time competing as these numbers show.

We've seen 9,749 single family homes and townhomes (non-condo sales) sold in the past 12 months in the greater Jacksonville area.  This remains in line with what we've seen for the past 5 or 6 months.  For condo sales the number is 1,327 which has also remained fairly steady for the past half year.  We will continue to monitor this number closely as it seems we could be at or near a bottom in the number of transactions.

The Jacksonville real estate market (single family and townhomes) is sitting on a 13 month inventory level currently.  For condos we have an 18 month inventory.  In March of 2006 we were below 4 months for non-condo sales.

With interest rates at a ridiculously low level, high inventories and incredible values out there this is the best real estate market for buyers that I've ever seen.

Let us know if you would like to get started.