Tallahassee Real Estate Market Update: 05/01/2011-08/31/2011

Today I will be giving you an update on the current condition of Tallahassee's real estate market. Once again I have taken the liberty of doing some research, and using the Tallahassee Board of Realtors MLS statistics, I have pulled and analyzed some very useful data that I will be using here today to give you an idea of how Tallahassee's residential real estate market is doing. In my research I made year to year comparisons covering and comparing the time periods of May 1st 2010 through August 31st 2010 to May 1st 2011 through August 31st 2011. To make my data as meaningful as possible, I divided propeties by both price range and location. I divided the properties up into 5 different price ranges and 4 different areas of town. In my research I looked up the number of homes listed during those time periods, the number of homes sold in those time periods, the average sale price of the homes that sold in those time periods, the average number of days it took for a home to sell in those time periods, and the sale price to list price ratio (this is the average % of what a home sold for compared to what it was listed for sale at). I pulled all this data for all properties in each price range and each area of town. Below is a summary of the data that I found categorized by price range and for Tallahassee as a whole.





Year Over Year Market Statistics for Tallahassee As A Whole.

• 23% decrease in the number of homes listed for sale. (1,534)




• 5.9% decrease in the number of homes sold. (918)




• .3% increase in the average price of a home




• .31% decrease in the average sale price to list price ratio




• 17 day increase in the time it took to sell a home (146 days)

To sum up the state of Tallahassee's overall real estate market, I would say that our local real estate market has bottomed out and is going up in value and recovering very slowly. The worst of times for our local real estate market appears to be behind us though. The number of homes actively listed for sale has decreased by a very large margin. This is important, because the supply of homes for sale has to come down to normal levels before we will see home prices start to increase again. Also, home prices overall in Tallahassee are up. Even though prices have only risen by a very small amount, they have still risen. The number of properties sold did decrease by a small amount, but the number of homes sold compared to the number of properties listed for sale as a percentage increased by over 10%.

With home prices going up over last year, it appears that prices are going up again. I would say that to be safe though, we need to see prices continue to consistently go up year over year in order to be certain that our real estate market here in Tallahassee is completely out of the hole.

The average sale price to list price ratio has decreased very slightly from last year, but I don't think its gone down by a large enough percentage to say that buyers have any more power in the market than they did last year. In fact, they might have less power due to the fact that there are not nearly as many properties to choose from this year as there were last year.

Finally, the average number of days that it took to sell a property in Tallahassee has increased. However, I don't think this is indicative of a softening real estate market. I think this is due to the fact that foreclosure sales are taking longer to close than they were last year. With foreclosure sales taking up a large percentage of the overall sales in Tallahassee, these sales have increased the overall average time period it takes to close on a home in Tallahassee.

I just mentioned above the overall average trend for Tallahassee's real estate market as a whole. However, within certain price ranges and in certain areas of Tallahassee, there are deviations to this overall average trend. As you will see in the statistics below, there are some areas of Tallahassee where sales are up, prices are down, ect... To see the specific statistics for different price ranges and different areas, continue reading.

$0-$125,000 price range

Northeast Tallahassee

• 40.5% decrease in the number of homes listed for sale




• 10.3% increase in the number of properties sold.




• .8% decrease in the average sale price




• 242 day decrease in the average number of days it took to sell a home (168 days)




• 3.16% decrease in the average sale price to list price ratio (91.53%)

Northwest Tallahassee

• 22.5% decrease in the amount of properties listed for sale




• 7.6% increase in the number of properties sold




• 9.4% decrease in the average sale price




• 65 day increase in the average amount of time it took to sell a home (158 days)




• .66% decrease in the average sale price to list price ratio (93.16%)

Southeast Tallahassee

• 28.6% decrease in the number of properties listed for sale




• 30.7% increase in the number of properties sold




• 8.3% decrease in the average price of a property sold




• 32 day increase in the average time it took to sell a property (150 days)




• .49% decrease in the average sale price to list price ratio (92.93%)

Southwest Tallahassee

• 35.9% decrease in the number of properties listed for sale




• 16.1% decrease in the number of properties sold




• 16.2% decrease in the average sale price




• 1 day increase in the average amount of time it takes to sell a property (118 days)




• 4.57% decrease in the average sale price to list price ratio (93.42%)

Summary of the $0-$125,000 price range

Overall this price range is marked by a very large decrease in the number of properties listed for sale along with a modest overall increase in the number of properties sold. The southwest part of Tallahassee is the only area that has deviated from this trend. There was a decrease in the number of properties sold on that side of town. All areas of town except for the northeast side of town saw an increase in the average amount of time it took to sell a property. There was a decrease in the average sale price to list price ratio for all areas in this price range. Finally, all areas showed decreases in the average price that a property sold for.

Declining prices, a declining sale price to list price ratio, and an increase in the average amount of time it takes to sell a home all indicate that we are in a weak real estate market (a buyer's real estate market). However, the decreased number of properties available for sale and the increased number of properties sold, indicate that the market for homes in this price range is at least recovering and is better off than last year. It will take some time though for the market for homes in this price range to completely recover though.

$125,001-$250,000 price range

Northeast Tallahassee

• 13.96% decrease in the number of properties listed for sale




• 7.8% decrease in the number of properties sold




• 2.3% increase in the average sales price




• 35 day increase in the average amount of time it took to sell a property (139 days)




• .21% increase in the average sale price to list price ratio (96.56%)

Northwest Tallahassee

• 33.15% decrease in the number of properties listed for sale




• 24.4 % decrease in the number of properties sold




• 1.4 % increase in the average sale price




• 37 day increase in the average amount of time it took to sell a home (104 days)




• 1.6% decrease in the average sale price/list price ratio (96.35%)

Southeast Tallahassee

• 36.3% decrease in the number of properties listed for sale




• 43% decrease in the number of properties sold




• 1.7 increase in the average sales price




• 24 day increase in the number of days it took to sell a home




• 1.55% decrease in the average sale price to list price ratio

Southwest Tallahassee

• 32.4% decrease in the number of properties listed for sale




• 65% decrease in the number of properties sold




• 6.8% decrease in the price of the average property sold




• 286 day increase in the number of days it took to sell a home




• 6.63% decrease in the average sale price to list price ratio

Summary of the $125,001-$250,000 price range

Overall it seems that home sales in this price range are struggling compared to sales during the same time period in 2010. Property sales have decreased overall by a fairly large amount in this price range. Also, it is taking longer to sell properties in this price range than it did last year. With the exception of the northeast side of town, the average sale price to list price ratio has decreased indicating that people purchasing homes in this price range have more negotiating power compared to last year.

One positive thing that is happening with homes in this price range though is that prices are increasing. The exception is homes on the southwest side of town. Another positive thing about homes in this price range is that the number of properties listed for sale has decreased. With increasing prices and decreasing housing inventory, it looks like the market for homes in this price range is improving.

$250,001-$450,000 price range

Northeast Tallahassee

• 16.2% decrease in listings


• 8.9% increase in the number of properties sold


• 5% increase in the average sales price


• 1.03% decrease in the average list price to sale price ratio (95.22%)


• 7 day increase in the amount of days it took to sell an average home (121 days)

Northwest Tallahassee

• 17.24% decrease in the number of properties listed for sale


• 11.1% decrease in the number of properties sold


• 8.6% increase in the average price of a home sold


• 4.03% decrease in the average sale price to list price ratio (91.3%)


• 42 day increase in the average number of days it took to sell a home (220 days)

Southeast Tallahassee

• 26.7% decrease in the number of properties listed for sale


• 8.7% decrease in the number of properties sold


• 1% decrease in the average sales price


• .95% decrease in the average sale price to list price ratio (95.8%)


• 25 day increase in the average number of days it took to sell a home (100 days)

Southwest Tallahassee

• The number of properties listed for sale increased from 5 in 2010 to 9 in 2011.


• The number of properties sold stayed constant at 1


• The average sale price dropped from $375K in 2010 to $280K in 2011. (Keep in mind only 1 property sold each year)


• 6.5% increase in the average sale price to list price ratio (86.15%)


• 107 day increase in the average amount of time it took to sell a home (231 days)

Summary of the $250,001-$450,000 price range

It should be noted that the majority of sales and listings in this price range took place on the northeast side of Tallahassee. With the exception of the southwest side of Tallahassee, the number of properties listed for sale in this price range dropped sharply. On the northeast side of town we saw a small increase in the number of properties sold, and in other areas of town sales decreased or stayed the same. Homes in this price range saw a small increase in the average sales price. There was a decrease in the average sales price of homes on the southwest and the southeast side of town, but these two areas only accounted for a very small percentage of the total homes sold in this price range. The average sale price to list price ratio of homes in this price range declined. This does not appear to be due to a softening of the market for homes in this price range though. This appears to be due to the fact that people are listing their homes for a higher price. Finally, it is taking more days on average to sell a home in this price range as opposed a year earlier, but this is likely due to people increasing the listing price of their homes in this price range.

With properties values up, sales up on the northeast side of town (which accounts for most sales in this price range), and a decrease in the number of properties available for sale, it appears that the market for homes in this price range is getting stronger.

$450,001-$750,000 price range

Northeast Tallahassee

• 7.5% increase in the number of properties listed for sale


• 5.9% increase in the number of properties sold


• 3.5% increase in the average sale price


• 1.35% decrease in the average sale price to list price ratio (95.58%)


• 21 day decrease in the average amount of time it took to sell a property (70 days)

Northwest Tallahassee

• Total properties listed for sale increased from 3 properties to 5 properties


• Total sales stayed the same at 2 properties


• The average sales priced decreased from $625,000 to $562,500


• The average sale price to list price ratio increased by 47% (98%)


• 13 day decrease in the number of days it took sell a home (25 days)

Southeast Tallahassee

• 44% increase in the number of properties listed for sale


• sales stayed the same at 3 properties


• 1.5% increase in the average sale price


• 10.04% decrease in the average sale price to list price ratio (95.58%)


• 56 day increase in the average amount of time it took to sell a home (70 days)

Southwest Tallahassee

• No activity

Summary of the $450,001-$750,000 price range

In this price range we saw an increase in the number of homes listed for sale, and in all areas home sales either increased or stayed the same. The southeast part of Tallahassee saw a small increase in the average sale price, but the southeast only accounted for a very small percentage of the number of homes in this price range. As a whole, homes in this price range decreased in value. The southeast side of town saw decrease in the number of days it took to sell a home on average, but the northeast and the northwest side of town, which accounted for the majority of sales in this price range, saw a decrease in the average number of days it took to sell a home. Finally, the average sale price to list price ratio decreased in this price range.

The number of properties sold increased in this price range. However, with declining sales prices and an increased number of homes available for sale, the market for homes in this price range does not appear to be getting better at this point.

$750,000+ price range

Northeast Tallahassee

• 36.4 % decrease in the number of properties listed for sale.


• 20% decrease in the number of properties sold


• 7.4% increase in the average sale price


• 8.92% increase in the average sale price to list price ratio (89.99%)


• 4 day decrease in the average amount of time it took to sell a home (209 days)

Northwest Tallahassee

• The number of properties listed for sale increased from 1 to 4 listings


• The number of properties sold increased from 0 to 1 listing


• The property sold for $825,000


• 100% sale price to list price ratio

Southeast Tallahassee

• Properties listed for sale increased from 0 to 1 listing


• Properties sold increased from 1 property to 2 properties


• 6.8% decrease in the average sales price


• 7.94% increase in the average sale price to list price ratio (93.37%)


• 146 day increase in the average time it took to sell a property (206 days)

Southwest Tallahassee

• No activity

Summary of the $750,000 price range

Sale prices and the number of properties listed for sale increased in this price range, the average number of days it took to sell a home decreased, the number of properties sold increased, and the average sale price to list price ratio of homes in this price range increased. These are all signs that the market for homes in Tallahassee priced $750,000 and up is getting better.