NORTHWEST FLORIDA REAL ESTATE MARKET IS ON THE RISE

Local real estate sales up in July

Median prices rose in Walton, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa counties

By DUSTY RICKETTS

 315-4448 | @DustyRnwfdn dricketts@nwfdailynews.com  

 It’s been a tough five years, but the local real estate market showed signs of improvement in July. Florida Realtors, the largest real estate organization in the state, recently released its market updates for July sales in Okaloosa, Walton and Santa Rosa counties. Median sales prices for single-family homes and townhomes and condominiums increased in all three counties compared to July 2011. “What it means when the prices start going up is the inventory that was created by the recession has basically been foreclosed on, resold or taken out of the market in some way,” said David Goetsch, a local economist and chairman of the Okaloosa County Economic Development Council. “What’s happening now is you’re actually beginning to see new houses be built and get sold. That’s the little trigger; that’s how you know that prices are going to go up when that inventory is gone.” In Okaloosa County, 231 single-family home sales closed in July at a median price of $188,000. That was 5.6 percent more than July 2011, when the median sales price was $178,000.  The median sales price of the county’s townhomes and condos increased 5.8 percent, from $198,450 in July 2011 to $210,000 in July of this year. Median prices jumped even more in Walton and Santa Rosa counties.  Walton County’s median sales price for single-family homes in July was $320,000, an 8.8 percent increase from July 2011, when the median price was $294,000. The median price of each townhome and condo increased 21.2 percent, from $195,000 in July 2011 to $236,250 last July. In Santa Rosa County, the median sales price of single-family homes in July was $193,500, a 17.3 percent jump from July of last year, when the median price was $165,000. The median sales price of a condo and townhome increased 43.4 percent, going from $198,750 in July 2011 to $285,000 last July. “I think the prices will continue to go up just slightly, but very, very slowly because our economic recovery is not strong enough to make them go up very much,” Goetsch said. “What you’re seeing right now is good news. It’s not going to level off where it is, but it’s not going to go up that much more, either.”