Quick Review of January 2010 Daytona Beach Real Estate Sales

The final numbers are in, and in January, Daytona Beach home sales were up against last January and down against last month. This is a mixed bag of up and down, but in-line with historical data. January and the first quarter have been the weakest month and quarter over the past two years. The summer and fall are the strongest months over the same period.

December was the highest sales months in over three years, so we need to keep that in mind when we compare January against those numbers. We’ve put together two charts to show the differences.

January 2010 vs. January 2009 Daytona Beach Home Sales

Daytona Beach Home Sales January 2010 vs. January 2009

Year over year, we saw a big 37.7% overall sales increase last month. The chart is broken down by the categories from the Daytona MLS. Single family houses dominate total sales with a total of 75% of all sales. Daytona Beach condo sales are the next strongest category with 22.2% of all sales. This is a good sign that January is stronger than last year, but when compared against last month the news doesn’t appear as good.

January 2010 vs. December 2009 Daytona Beach Home Sales

January 2010 vs. December 2009 Daytona Beach Home Sales

December was a big big month. With 417 properties sold, it was the highest sales month since the bubble burst. January show a 30% drop from December. We are not taking this lightly. Although we can look at historic numbers for an explanation, we’ve learned in this market not to attempt to predict anything too boldly. January has been the lowest sales month for the past two years, but last year the drop was only 4.9%. However, in 2008, the drop was 28.7%.

So there is some historical support for a drop of this size, but we need to keep in mind the pressures against home sales from the economy and distressed properties.

Where Do We Go From Here?

I boldy stated last month that I thought that with last year’s sales of close to 4,000 units, we were about where we would be without the bubble burst. I believe we are within 10% of that number. The January sales are in line with that view. Last year, the average monthly sales were 333. With January, the weakest month of the year, coming in at 292 properties sold, we are in line with meeting a average of 333 properties. Of course, there are no guarantees and we will need to watch as the year progresses. Make sure to visit here for regular updates.