In our first report, we wanted to separate fact from all the hype and doomsday proselytizing we’ve been hearing to truly reveal how the home market on St. George Island has been trending since the historical anomaly of 2020 that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic. As the adage goes, “All real estate is local”. What happens in Las Vegas or Miami or Tampa or even Tallahassee for that matter, doesn’t reflect the market here on the island. Numbers tell the story: we’ll look at a history on sales prices, at the time properties remain on the market for sale, and how close to the listing price do properties sell.
This island has always had a strong second home market that has resulted from a strong rental demand. With the pandemic, this demand has increased even more due to the desire for vacationers to get away from the maddening crowds of other vacationers piled on top of each other at the more popular vacation destinations. Now, with many of the vacation destinations damaged or destroyed along the Ft. Myers coast, it’s not much of a stretch to see another bump in demand in the coming years…
One housing market indicator is the number of days on the market (DOM) before it sells. So far this year, the average DOM has been 77 days – approximately the same as last year, 2021. Graph 1 shows a recent tendency of shorter time on the market; this is an indicator of a robust market.
Another indicator is the sale price of homes relative to the original listing price. As shown in Graph 2, tracking data from the RAFGC MLS over the course of the past nine months, the sale price of homes on St. George Island has remained at a healthy 95%. This average tracks well with last year’s average of 96%.
Another meaningful market indicator is the progression of home sale prices since the COVID-19 pandemic. Local MLS data reveals that, despite increasing interest rates and the fear of an impending recession nationwide, home values remain strong here on St. George Island. Overall, home values went up 50% from 2021-Q1 to 2022-Q3. A better analysis of this data requires comparing the same quarter from successive years to account for seasonal variations in the home market.
In comparing the first quarters of 2021 and 2022, we see home prices increasing by 30% whereas in comparing Q2 and Q3 of the same two years, we see home prices increasing by 11% and 13%, respectively, proving that the home market here on St. George Island remains strong and vital coming behind the pandemic.
What are the takeaways from all this data?
- The housing market on St. George Island continues to be strong despite increasing interest rates and fear of recession.
- Sellers should expect their property to be on the market for 9-10 weeks on average if competitively marketed.
- Unlike the stock market, homes are considered a real asset and as such, as inflation continues an upward trend, so does the value of your home.
If you are interested in selling, or mildly curious as to the value of your home, please contact us for a comparative market analysis of your home’s value. We will also provide tips on how to market your home as competitively as possible to get the most value out of your home. It’s all FREE!
