A Mass Exodus
I’ve found myself discussing numbers more than ever with clients to explain this evolving real estate landscape we are currently in. Numbers have always been a big part of real estate but when you see the types of shifts we’ve had in the market in the past few months, it can get even more complicated.
There’s no question as discussed in previous updates that we are in a sellers market that has reached an entirely new level.
In this update, my goal is to give you a more comprehensive breakdown of what’s happening and the motivations behind it.
But before we dive into the numbers, let’s take a good look at what’s happening. At the time of this update, states like California are still shutdown as a response to Covid-19. I’m not going to form an opinion on what is the appropriate response to the virus but I’m going to give you added perspective on the reaction to those government orders.
Florida, and especially Pinellas County has been a popular destination for many years for people to move to. It seems like every year that goes by, we just crank up the dial for people moving here. This has reached an even higher degree in the past few months in response to the Covid-19 corona virus.
Now we are finding businesses opening up to the idea of more permanent work-from-home positions. This kind of flexibility is allowing a lot of employees that previously couldn’t work from home to live anywhere where they have an internet connection.
This is a game changer for a place like Florida and more specifically Pinellas County. This isn’t Silicon Valley and we’re not really known for bringing in large tech companies, however, this shift has broken the seal and now we have professionals shopping the country for their next home. As an example, there are other cities including Austin, Texas that are popping up on the radar as well.
I haven’t personally been to Austin and I prefer living by the beautiful ocean so you’ll never find me living there, but to each their own, people are hungry for change.
Small Businesses
The U.S. Small Business Administration Office Of Advocacy is quoted as saying – “Small businesses are the lifeblood of the U.S. economy: they create two-thirds of net new jobs.’ As a small business owner, you may find that living in an area where your business has been restricted could be a death sentence.
Because big decisions like this are often polarized by politics, we now find that people are choosing to move away from other states because of local government policies they don’t agree with. Even if things change, it can leave a bad taste in people’s mouths and force them with the concept of rebuilding elsewhere. Add in low interest rates and low inventory and you have a mixture that creates the sellers market we are in currently.
Let’s talk a little bit more about the effects on small businesses and why this is so important. Even in our area, businesses have been effected as well even though the restrictions are lighter. We are entering a time where the small business owner is going to have to get even more creative to survive and thrive.
What’s so great about this area is there’s still plenty of opportunity for small businesses to come in and thrive.
Show Me The Stats!
Let’s go ahead and bridge the gap between the stats and what’s happening on the ground level. Let’s start with inventory. Below is an image of the number of residential active listings in Pinellas County over the past 10 years – in other words – Single Family Homes, Condos, Townhomes, Villas, etc.
To break it down, here’s an example of what it looks like using the month of July:
July 2010 – 14,637 listings
July 2011 – 10,762 listings
July 2012 – 8,401 listings
July 2013 – 7,192 listings
July 2014 – 7,940 listings
July 2015 – 7,516 listings
July 2016 – 6,834 listings
July 2017 – 5,775 listings
July 2018 – 5,621 listings
July 2019 – 5,454 listings
July 2020 – 3,766 listings
As you can see from the stats above, the inventory was slowly going down but there was a significant percentage drop difference between July 2019 and July 2020. It’s a 31% drop in 1 year!
Seller data is much easier to compute than buyer data. How many buyers are in the market is impossible to gauge exactly but we usually use average homes sales prices to give a representation of demand.
Take a look at the stats below:
This stat reflects the average residential sales price in Pinellas County over the past 10 years. Let’s take the month of July again and see what it shows us for the average sales price:
July 2010 – $193,603
July 2011 – $173,634
July 2012 – $185,428
July 2013 – $207,415
July 2014 – $214,795
July 2015 – $220,868
July 2016 – $251,963
July 2017 – $276,275
July 2018 – $279,622
July 2019 – $307,346
July 2020 – $351,812
Did you catch that big price jump between 2019 and 2020? On the ground level, many residential homes have been in multiple offer situations sometimes 10, 15, or 20+ offers going way above list price. We’ve had to get a lot more creative to help our clients compete in a short period of time.
In Conclusion
As you decide on the next chapter of your life, we want you to consider the appeal of Pinellas County. One of the best decisions Chris and I made was to leave our home states and start our lives here. Right now we are seeing a continued shift in prices as we open up to a new world of how people do business and work. If you have any questions, concerns, thoughts, or just want to have a candid chat on what’s happening in the real estate market in our area, don’t hesitate to reach out!
You can send Chris or I an email at:
I can also be reached by phone or text me (Ryan at 727-777-3797 )
Recommended Articles Of The Month:
For this update, we’ll highlight some must-reads we’ve written:
Top 8 Reasons To Move To Indian Rocks Beach – Looking for a laid-back beach town to live in? Check out this article I wrote on Indian Rocks Beach located in Pinellas County, Florida.
Why I Moved To Pinellas County – In this article I tell my personal story on why I moved to Pinellas County.
Local News:
Here are some news stories you may love!
Plan For Towers On St. Pete’s Central Avenue – Despite the pandemic, there’s a 300 million dollar project happening in downtown St. Pete.
Redevelopment Of Tropicana Field – The city of St. Pete is seeking submissions from developers to see the future of Tropicana Field.
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