July 25, 2018
For the 2nd year in a row, July has brought a market slowdown to Alachua county. As of this writing, roughly 30% fewer homes are forecast to sell in July, compared to May & June.
The question is - should we be concerned?
First, let's look at a few other markets to see if July is normally slower than May/June. Just to our south in Marion County, July has been about 20% slower over the past 2 years. The same is true of Citrus County (Homosassa/Inverness/Crystal River).
Oddly, in 2015, July saw an uptick in sales compared to May/June. It's important to remember that Alachua County is a small market, with only about 400 single family homes selling each month. So a 10% drop in activity just means about 40 fewer homes sold over the course of a month.
This is why it's important to look at the big picture, such as overall inventory:
Inventory shows us how much is on the market, compared to how many homes are selling. Any way you slice it, Alachua County is a full-blown seller's market under $300k. With fewer than 3 months inventory, we'd need several slow months in a row for that to appreciably change.
Graphic copyright: gyddik / 123RF Stock Photo
