Detached Home Inventory Drops 25% in South Walton

by Murray Balkcom
South Walton, FL – August 2012 home sales in South Walton have resulted in a substantial drop in inventory of 25% compared to August 2011. We continue to see strong sales with less properties coming on the market within one year, we see drastic declines in inventories. In August 2011, there was an 18 month supply of inventory, and in August 2012, that decreased to 7.94 month supply. (7.94 months supply means that based on current number of home sales, if no more homes were listed, it would take 7.94 months to sell all the homes.)

Our peak inventory of homes for sale in South Walton came in September of 2007, when we had 2118 listings, with a 60 month supply of inventory (5 years worth!). August 2012 numbers show a 59.8% decrease in inventory compared to our peak inventory. What does this mean for the market? It likely means that as supply decreases, prices will increase accordingly as we see more and more buyers fight to buy properties. Currently, we see selling prices of homes in South Walton at 95% of list price, which is up from August 2011 when selling prices of homes were 89% of list price on average. This decrease in supply of homes will also likely mean that we will see more lot and home site sales, as buyers decide to build their homes.

September home sale results should be out soon, so it will be interesting to see what happens this Fall.

All data compiled in this report is courtesy of Emerald Coast Association of Realtors and is thought to be accurate, but not guaranteed.

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