Merritt Island, Florida has experienced a wide range of ups and downs in its real estate market over the last several years. Many factors have affected these trends, and some are local in nature, such as the wrapping up of NASA’s Space Shuttle program. The program inspired the nickname “Florida’s Space Coast,” and the region has been a significant source of job opportunities, both related to the space program and peripherally. The national economy also has direct effects on the real estate market in Merritt Island, and throughout the region.
As of the first quarter of 2011 and for the third time in the past six months, the median sales price of existing homes in the Merritt Island area is up from the same time a year earlier. These increases come after 53 consecutive months of prices being lower than their year-ago counterparts. For just the fourth time in the past year, the sale of existing single-family homes on the Space Coast topped 600. This is according to April data released recently by Florida Realtors, the group formerly known as the Florida Association of Realtors.
The median sales price of single-family homes sold in Brevard County last month was $109,200, up from $89,400 in March and $104,000 in April 2010. The 22-percent increase from March to April was the biggest one-month jump in prices in at least a decade. And the last time there was a bigger year-over-year increase than last month's 5 percent was in June 2005.
The sale of condominiums in Brevard County was also up when compared to the figures from the same time period in 2010: 194 condos were sold in Brevard in April, up from 137 a year earlier. The median sales price was $95,800, down from $107,00 in April 2010.
On the other hand, fewer people purchased previously occupied homes in April 2011. Sales of previously occupied homes fell 0.8 percent in April according to the National Association of Realtors. Purchases made by first-time homebuyers did increase but not so much as to signal a housing recovery in the Merritt Island area. The median sales price in April was $163,700, which is down 5 percent from the same month one year ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment