Real Estate Prices and Values: Gap Widening Between Listing & Sales Price

So far, 2012 has provided countless signs of an enhanced real estate market. We are constantly being reminded of the historically low mortgage rates, median sales prices rising, and buyers’ confidence higher than the last several years. What we may be missing out on are the real life examples of how this impacts an agent and buyer relationship. Here are some valuable bullet points that will give you a real estate reality recap!

Listing price: - Usually properties do not sell for this amount. - Listing prices are most often a tool to trigger showings and offers. - Average listing price in Tampa is: $308,425 / Median Sales Price: $114,505, an impressive 14% increase from last yr. (updated mid-July) - Here is an example of a real life Tampa transaction: Recently one of our brokers sold a condo at $172K. Listing price was $155. Multiple offers were submitted. Read more about this trend here.

Comparative Listings: - Investors decisions based on ROI - Homes that were purchased at the beginning of 2012 will not yield the same return rate if you were to purchase it now. A townhome an investor client purchased last year at $80,000 are now selling for $126K. Be sure that the bottom of this real estate market was quite some time ago. - Median sales price last year in July were $99,000. July 2012 prices are now upward to the $115,000 range, and climbing as supply is diminished.

Other factors leading to a more stable real estate market: - Building permits for new homes has hit the highest number in 4 years - Lowest supply of homes for sale since 1963 (144K in June 2012) - Fewer foreclosures are making up the bulk of the real estate sales.. Excellent news. - All 20 cities that the S & P home price index tracks are seeing increases, including Tampa!