Hello Everyone and thank you for watching. This is Gia with Palm Beach Premier Real Estate here in Boca Raton Florida with your 2-minute local market report for FEBRUARY 2017.
So here’s a quick take on the numbers that came out from the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches
The message from your team here at Palm Beach Premier Real Estate this month is:
Days On Market Sharply Higher
So in taking a closer look at the internal numbers…. What we’re seeing is the following:
- FIRST – The SUPPLY of Listings continues to increase with Active Inventory UP another 3%
- SECOND – We are now 5.4 months supply of Inventory for SFH’s (UP 8%) and 6.2 months for Townhouses & Condos (UP 6.9%) – 6 months supply is generally considered to be a balanced market
- THIRD… The number of closed sales in February compared to the prior year showed only a marginal improvement. It is no coincidence that February’s closed sales units represented the second lowest monthly number in the last 12 months.
- FOURTH – The numbers here in Palm Beach County continue to indicate a market in transition…One of the most surprising statistics to jump out this month is that Sellers are going under contract in approximately 64 days (SFH’s) and 54 days (THS & Condos) ..if priced correctly of course….Up 14% and 12.5% respectively!!!
- Median Prices (while they appear UP on a year over year basis) … they are actually lower in February compared to last summer!
- FINALLY – Rising Interest rates continue to be part of the discussion coming from The Federal Reserve– with an INCREASE in rates that we discussed the likelihood of last month finally materializing with the most recent Federal Reserve meeting. Additional Comments from Janet Yellen (the Fed Chairperson) indicated that several additional rate increases are to be anticipated this year.
So while the association and TV/Print media talk about the positives year-over-year, we are analyzing the data on a month-to-month basis and looking for clear trends and market changes….For Example:
- More Inventory continues to come to market and has done for some time…
- Demand is waning particularly at the upper end of the market
- And third, prices are likely to trend to downwards as we mentioned earlier
So we clearly have some economic fundamentals playing themselves out that further illustrate the transitioning marketplace that we’ve been talking about for several months now.
Specifically – we are watching inventory levels very closely as we have now seen 13 consecutive months where supply has increased versus the same month in the prior year.
So anticipate a continuing transition ahead to a buyers market.