The number of homes for sale in North Port continues its recent historic lows, while both the number of pending home sales (under contract) and sold homes (closings) continue at a high and fairly strong pace.

• For Sale:                As of October 31, 2011, there were only 572 homes for sale, 37% less than the 909 homes for sale in November 2010.
• Pending: There were 170 homes under contract in November, the same as October, and 16% more than the 143 pending contracts for the same time last year.
• Sold:  There were 118 closings (sold homes), although less than last month, it still evidences continued strength, particularly considering the low inventory of homes for sale.

The overall median sale price is at its highest level since before the first of the year.  At $94,000 it was 6.4% higher than the $88,000 median price in September 2011, and 19.2% higher than November 2010’s $76,000 median price.

A 6 month inventory of homes is considered a balanced market between sellers and buyers. At a 4.8 month supply, inventory remains low, sales are brisk.

Distressed Properties vs. Non-Distressed Properties

The impact Distressed Properties (bank owned and short sales) have had on real estate values, the pace of sales activity and inventory levels in North Port is startling. Distressed Properties are selling at a deep discount to Non-Distressed Properties, and undoubtedly places downward pressure on Non-Distressed sales.  In November, 56% of all closed home sales were Distressed Properties, at a time when they represented only 36% of all homes for sale.

Bank Owned Properties

• Bank Owned Properties are literally flying off the shelf. In North Port, where both Distressed and Non-Distressed Properties sell quickly and inventory levels remain low, nothing sells faster, is in less supply or at a lower price than Bank Owned Properties.
• As of November 30, 2011, there was only a 1.2 month inventory of homes for sale based on closed sales.  And, it has remained relatively unchanged since the first of the year.
• There were 31 homes for sale in November, 26 closed sales, and 30 homes pending (under agreement) for closing.  That tight correlation has been a constant for most of this year.
• The median selling price for Bank Owned Properties in November was $74,000. Excepting the $83,000 median sale price in October, the median selling price for Bank Owned Properties has not veered from the $70,000 range since January.

Short Sale Properties

• There were 3 months of inventory of Short Sale Properties in November — extremely low, although not nearly as low as the 1.2 month supply of Bank Owned Properties.
• The number of homes for sale are as low as they have been for some time, 121 homes for sale in November, although relatively stable for the past 3 months.  Similarly, the number of closed sales has been fairly constant; there were 40 closed sales in November.
• The median sale price for Short Sale Properties, $90,000 in November, was 18% higher than the $74,000 median sale price for Bank Owned Properties.  It also reflects signs of increased pricing in this market segment; the prior 6 months averaged $79,000.

Non Distressed Properties

• Conventional sales are lingering longer, as sellers hold out for more money, competing with Distressed Properties.
• In November the median price for Non Distressed Properties was the same as in October, $108,000.  This was 31.5% higher than Bank Owned Properties and 17% higher than Short Sale Properties.
• There was an 8.1 month supply of inventory based on closed sales, far more than the supply for Distressed Properties, but still not too far afield from the 6 month supply which is considered a market in equilibrium.
• The number of homes for sale edged upward; there were 420 homes for sale in November, a 6.3% increase over the 395 for sale in October.  However, it was significantly less, 20.2%, than the 526 homes for sale for the same time last year.
• Pending sales have been similar, 57 in November vs. 59 in October; closed sales increased 18.2% from 44 in October to 52 in November.