Sales of Daytona Beach Homes and Condos Drop in July

After six months of steadily rising sales, sales of Daytona Beach homes and condos dropped significantly in July. Sales as reported in the Daytona Beach MLS dropped 30.6% against last month and 11% against July of last year. For the first seven months of the year, sales are still up 25.5% over 2009.

So what happened? I don’t know for sure, but several factors may be at play. First, we may be feeling the effect of the Home Buyers Tax Credit that some expect boosted sales earlier this year and would have still been seen in June numbers. It’s possible, but not enough for a 30% drop.

Second, I think national economic and real estate news is scaring away many buyers. There is little good news reported in the national media; not that the local media is any different. Let’s just say there is little positive news.

Third, we think that many of the buyers under $200,000 are not our traditional buyers who come in the late Spring and early Summer to close in July and August. They are a completely different group looking to take advantage of the super low prices and values. We don’t know what their buying cycle is because it’s new.

Take a look at the table below for a breakdown of sales in both July and June and where the drops were biggest.

As you can see sales dropped across every price range. The last column in the table shows the difference in sales. Sales in the lowest end of the market dropped the least, but the drop was still high. Sales under $200,000 are still 75.5% of the market and sales under $300,000 are 90.8% of all sales.

When sales were rising, we were very cautious and emphasized that one month does not make a trend. We are going to be cautious with the results from July as well. While the July results are troubling, one month, in either direction does not make a trend. We will need to see what August and September results bring before we can be certain of a turn in the market. For the year, we are well up from last year. Check back early next month to see what happens.