Joy: a feeling of great pleasure and happiness
Have you noticed there is a lot of hope for a joy filled 2022? It seems like the word “joy” was on display everywhere during the holiday season from Christmas cards to store windows, even more so this year than previously. I think we are all feeling a strong desire for the pure emotion that is JOY. That desire has reminded me of when I began my Florida real estate career and I began it full of joy and excitement.
It has been nearly a decade since Ray and I moved to Florida and as soon as we arrived I enrolled in the real estate program, took my state test, visited several brokerages and selected Coldwell Banker. As I think back to those early days Ray was pretty much the only person I knew in the area. I moved to Florida from the Texas panhandle and all I knew of the Gulf was the area around Galveston, TX. Turns out, there is quite the difference between the gulf coast beaches in Florida versus Texas! My knowledge of Florida was very limited, and I must say what a diverse and amazing state it is. I quickly learned that golf as well as the gulf are very important in Florida. And I didn’t know much about either when I got here. I didn’t know the difference between a davit and a divot. (If you don’t either –text me, I will explain.) But I took the bull by the horns, and I dove in. I studied the neighborhoods, the waterways and yes, the golf courses. I researched the market trends and history, I toured properties and I held Open Houses for other agents in our Coldwell Banker Realty office. In fact, I became the go-to person when other agents needed an Open House held open.
Now that’s not to say I learned everything from scratch when we moved here. I learned my real estate ethics and strategies from my mom. She had been a top producing Realtor out west and my goal was to be the kind of Realtor that would have made my mom proud. Her go to quote was, “Good, better, best, never let it rest till your good is better than your best.” I can hear her voice as I type those words. She would say it when I came home from track practice, when I was doing my homework or when she was teaching me to cook and sew. I had the pleasure of working for Mom in my younger adult years and I watched and admired the relationships she built with her customers. She built her business on integrity, honesty, and respect and those are the pillars Ray and I built our business on. Ray often tells customers, “We’re here for you. We are not going to hound you; you know your timing.” Then he follows that with, “Your timing is our timing“. Our mission statement is, “Making real estate dreams a reality.” and doing that brings us great joy.
Click here to read these folks journey to finding their Florida fun: "Said, Yes to the Address"
Market News for January 2022
If you are here in Florida right now you probably have noticed the traffic has picked up, the wait time at your favorite restaurants is a bit longer, the beaches are blanketed with umbrellas and people soaking up their vitamin D. Even though I expect it to take me a longer to get anywhere right now, I see it all as a good thing. Why do I see it as a good thing, well people are still wanting to have fun. And they want what southwest Florida has to offer; the Beautiful Gulf of Mexico, outdoor fun like golf, and lots of sunshine. The real estate market reflects that fact with more people in the market to buy homes then people wanting to sell. Look at this months infographic (below) provided by our Stellar MLS (which covers most of the state). The stats that jumped out at me are the number of new listings (second column top) compared to the number that went pending (3rd column top) . You know the line in the classic U2 song , "Nothing Changes on New Years Day" , well that fits the real estate market. It did not change on January 1, 2022. The new norm of a sellers market is still strong.
Let's look at real estate by county. There really is a huge variety of homes on the market, just not a huge number of homes.
Sarasota County: 719 homes for sale
Price Point: $135,000 for 1 bed & 1 bath condo to $22,000,000 7.5 acres overlooking Sarasota Bay
Manatee County: 468 homes for sale
Price Point :$90,000 for 1 bed/1bath 568 sq ft condo to $20,000,000 12.5 acres overlooking Palma Sol Bay
Charlotte County: 480 homes for sale
Price Point $106,000 condo to $13,450,000 home in Boca Grande
Digging a bit deeper. Let's look for "The average HOME",3 beds/ 2baths/pool/ 1300-2200 square feet, now what do we find...
Sarasota County:32 on the market priced from $315,000 to $9,995,000.
SOLD in last 30 days: 109 for an average price of $534.600 in 18 days
Manatee County: 24 on the market priced from $390,000 to $2,600,000.
SOLD in last 30 days: 59 for an average price of $551,000 in 10 days
Charlotte County: 65 on the market priced from $329,000 to $1,097,000.
SOLD in last 30 days: 114 for an average price of $489,400 in 18 days
Here are a few articles you might find interesting...
The Experts Thoughts on the 2022 Market
Mortgage Delinquencies Improve
iBuyers and what they do to the market
#MaryRayWestbrook