March real estate sales Summary - by Shanna Lalley

While our ski season wasnt exactly epic, real estate sales for the first quarter were surprisingly strong. The number of sales and the current number of pending sales of condos and single-family/townhomes are both up. See the first quarter stats and chartsfor more detailed information. In the Winter Park Area... Single-family homes and townhomes are off to a particularly good start this year. Total sales volume is up 77% to $18,241,126. This is above 2008 sales volume of $17,005,677 but below the record years of 2006 & 2007. Average sales prices are up about 10% to $493,003. This is the first time weve seen an increase in average sales price during the first quarter of the year since 2008. Inventory is down about 10% which may be contributing to the increasing sales prices. While prices are up, we are still down about $100k on average from the highs of the mid-2000s. The best news in the condo market is that the number of sales are up which means that there are buyers in the market who are purchasing and who are getting loans. What this has NOT translated into yet is increasing sales prices. Inventory is still at a level that gives buyers a good selection of competitively priced units. Overtime, and with the pressure of low priced, bank owned condos, condo sellers are finding that they need to keep reducing their prices to get their condo sold. This has just continued to drive prices down. In some complexes buyers have 10+ condos that are very similar (or basically identical) and therefore they can be aggressive with their offers or they opt for the cheapest unit. Until inventory tightens up it will continue to be a buyers market for condos. If you are a seller in this market, hang in there inventory is down by about 25% from the highs of 2008 & 2009. Check outmore sales statistics.