I don't know about you, but I say give it a break. I'm talking about all the news reports pertaining to new and/or existing home sales reports. Some reports state that home sales are down but prices are up, sales are up but prices are down, etc., etc.
The reports are regional in nature. Ex: Southeast, Northeast, Mid-west, etc. Unfortunately, the reports are somewhat misleading. As Atlanta and Tampa are in the same region, there are different factors that affect these markets and therefore while the Atlanta market may be up, the Tampa market is not. Another area of these reports I don't understand is supply and price. My understanding of economics is when a product is in short supply; the price goes up and vice versa. So tell me, if home sales - new and existing - are down 5 percent to 7 percent from last year, how can prices be up 13 percent to 17 percent? It makes no economic sense. I know in our market, sales AND prices are down from last year as a whole.
As I have previously stated in this column, there is a glut of property for sale in our area and the asking price reflects as much. When you read or hear about these housing reports, don't put a lot of stock in the findings. After all, we know that what you put into an analysis is what you get out. Lemons to lemonade.
On a lighter note, some good news. All homeowners are expecting a 20 percent surcharge on our homeowner's insurance bill to bail out Citizens Insurance. That surcharge has now been reduced to 3.5 percent. A substantial savings but not the cure all.
Ric Cornelius is the Broker/Manager of Sand Key Realty Sales and Rentals, Inc. Sand Key Realty has three offices with 40 agents. One office is at 740 S. Gulfview Blvd., Clearwater Beach, 727-443-0032; the second office is at 2701 Gulf Blvd., Indian Rocks Beach, 727-595-5441; and the third office is at 309 Belleview Blvd., Belleair, 727-461-4200.