Positive economic news continues

For December the national unemployment rate dropped to 8.5% from 8.9% in November and Year over year dropped from 10%. The last time we had a three month decline in unemployment was the first quarter of last year. If we get one more month of a decline in unemployment it will be the second time in one year which IMO is very positive. While not a sign of a robust economy it is still a positive sign, that we are moving in the right direction, dare I say convincingly.

Locally the unemployment rate in Palm Beach County dropped to 10.1 in November from 12% one year ago, December figures will be out Jan. 20. While the monthly numbers reported may not all have moved in the same direction, it important to see the longer term bigger picture which is the positive 2% year over year decline.

According to Workforce Alliance of Palm Beach County, those industries reflecting the most job openings nationally, health care, leisure and hospitality, with retail sales strong locally. There were 14,400 advertised jobs on line in December through the agency - up 14 percent from the same month last year - and the top three categories were registered nurses, retail salespersons and retail sales supervisors. Once again a positive outcome for our local economy.


So how do these stats relate to the real estate industry on both a national and local level.
Take a look at this chart from Jparsons.net

 

This chart shows the 40 years history of home prices in both inflation and nominal numbers and that homes prices have since reverted to the mean, meaning back to the long term trend line. You can clearly see the housing bubble years ( peaked in 2006) which since then have completely given back the bubble year gains and are once again following the normal trend line.

Lets take a look at the West Palm Beach Condo numbers as provided by the movoto.com

Palm Beach, FL Market Snapshots * All Homes Single Fam. Homes Condos Today 1 Month Ago 6 Months Ago 1 Year Ago 2 Years Ago Total Inventory 499 491 -2% 469 -6% 568 14% - Median List Price $399,999 $429,000 7% $399,000 $398,000 -   % Distressed  1% 1% 3% 3% - Median Days on Market 144 159 10% 184 28% 171 19% - Median House Size 1618 1600 -1% 1570 -3% 1568 -3% - Median Price Per Sq. Ft. $247 $250 1% $247 $251 2% -

From the above chart you can see the exclusive Palm Beach housing market has been relatively stable for the past year. Once again the trend is your friend, improving metrics in inventory, median list price, number of distressed properties, days on market, median size and median price per sq ft have all shown improvement and or stabilization.
 
To add credence to our positive local housing trend, consider the Miami market which has been equally crushed by the collapse of its housing market. According to The department of Numbers website " As of January 02 2012 there were about 28,978 single family and condo homes listed for sale in Miami Florida. The median asking price of these homes was approximately $224,500. Since this time last year, the inventory of homes for sale has decreased by 36.3% and the median price has increased by 25.1%."

For anybody looking to sell their home in this market the stats are very encouraging, homes properly valued and supported by actual stats will sell faster and for a higher price especially when the seller properly motivates Realtors to sell up in price instead of down.