Market News
The Englewood Market (updated 7/21/2007) by Randy McLendon
Sales are still very slow in our area and prices are continuing to drop. Homes that were selling quickly for $250,000 two and three years ago are now sitting on the market at the $150,000 range. This is especially true of the vastly overbuilt North Port market. In Englewood, single family homes were not overbuilt that much. You can get a brand new three bedroom, two bath home in the $170,000 to $190,000 range. I am not sure how much lower prices may go, but we are definately at a place where buying makes sense - not for quick-turn-around investing, but certainly for home ownership. The condo market is really down as it was and is being overbuilt, especially in the Placida area. Good deals are definately to be had there.
The market is still being driven by desparate sellers. As long as there are people on the verge of bankruptcy, the price pressure will be downward. However, we are getting to the place where short sales are common; i.e. selling for less than is owed on the property. When this happens, prices can't go much lower and once foreclosure happens, the banks do not usually go much further down on their prices. So, the bottom may be near.
Unfortunately for older homes, insurance is still an issue. We have some places were insurance companies have pulled out altogether or are not writing for homes built in the 1970s. The key date seems to be 1996. In that year building codes changed and homes built prior to 1996 can face substantially higher insurance costs than those built since 1996. The good news is a recent example where a 3/2 1986 built home saw insurance cost drop from about $3700 per year to about $2600 per year.
Please e-mail me with your questions and comments.
The following chart gives information for the Englewood area zip codes of 34223 and 34224. For an e-mailed report of any other area, just e-mail me.
Read an interesting article by James Crumbaugh from the July 29, 2007 Sun-Herald on his market predictions.
