Market Update - July Real Estate Sales

Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - By Gate Arty

The MidFlorida MLS reports that the Lakeland Association of Realtors closed 164 homes & the East Polk board reported 120 sales in June. Overall there were 284 homes sold in Polk, up from 282 homes last month. A year ago in June 2007 there were 275 homes sold, so the news should be reported that Polk sales are up from last year!

The average list price in Lakeland decreased to $180,303 from $183,672 last month, and the average sales price decreased to $169,351 from $171,773 last month. The average days on the market increased to 134 from 124 last month. In East Polk, the average list price decreased to $147,019 from $165,987 last month. The average sales price dropped to $136,876 from $153,489 last month. The average days on market decreased to 151 from 155 a month earlier.

What price categories sold last month? In Lakeland the majority of sales occurred in the $140,000-$159,999 price range, which represented 11.59% of all sales (19 units). Both the ranges of $120,000 - $139,9999 price range and $160,000 - $179,999 represented 10.37% of sales, or 17 units sold.  The upper end market remained sluggish, with only one home selling for over $800,000 and 13 homes selling for over $350,000 (last month 11 homes sold for more than $350k).

In East Polk there were 18 sales in the $120,000 - $139,999 price range, which represented 15.00% of total sales. The second most popular category was $140,000-$159,999, which represented 12.50% of the market (15 sales). The upper end also was sluggish, with only 2 homes selling for over $350,000, down from 6 last month.

Foreclosures continued to dominate Polk County and we haven't seen much sign of a significant slow down.  In July there were 755 foreclosures, down from the record setting number of 888 foreclosures in June.  If you consider that all of Polk County sold 284 homes last month, and there were 4,706 Lis Pendens filed so far for the year . . . . WOW! Just to put things in a bit of perspective, however, Hillsborough County  had 1,767 Lis Pendens filed. This was up from 1,659 the prior month. Short Sales (Pre-Foreclosures) & other distressed sales will continue to dominate this market for some time.

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