Take a look at this two bedroom West corner unit at Royal Palms condominium on East Beach Blvd. in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Royal Palms is situated next to the Gulf State Park public beach area and just a short cast from the new Gulf State Park Fishing Pier. This condo in Gulf Shores will sleep 6 people comfortably and has room to build extra bunk beds.

Please feel free to call me at 251-978-7118 or email me for more information!

If you would like further information on this property or any other Gulf Shores area real estate listing, give me a call at 251-978-7118 or e-mail me.

The 2009 numbers reflect a 36% increase over 2008 while the average Days on Market remained almost identical. You will notice that I included two Average Sold Price entries. One for all of the Gulf front listings and another figure in which I backed out the Phoenix West sales. Phoenix West is an upscale Gulf front complex that completed construction in 2008. The developer began closing units in 2008 and has continued into 2009. While these are certainly legitimate sales, most are pre-construction transactions that were agreed upon 3 years ago. There were 7 Phoenix West sales listed in MLS in 2008 and 25 in 2009.

I found it interesting that the Average Sold Price of Gulf Front Condos (without Phoenix West) has only dropped about $31,000 in the period. Gulf front condos have closed at about 93% of list so far in 2009.  It is anybody’s guess if prices will continue to go down in the condo market in the Gulf Shores area.  When I look at the prices in which some of the properties have been closing lately, it is hard to imagine that they can go much lower.

If you would like to discuss these figures or get specific information regarding properties in the Gulf Shores area, please give me a call at 251-978-7118 or shoot me an e-mail.

While foreclosures are a significant part of the market, I always try to remind prospective buyers that they are not the entire market.  In fact, contrary to what you may think, traditional sales still make up the majority of the transactions in Gulf Shores real estate.

Here is how it breaks down as of September 15, 2009 for the Pleasure Island area:

So here’s the point.  Our real estate market does not totally consist of foreclosure listings in Baldwin County.  In fact, there are many sellers that are motivated enough price their properties aggressively enough to compete with the foreclosures.

If you, as a buyer, limit yourself to looking at foreclosures alone, I think you may miss some good buys.

If you would like to learn more about foreclosures or the real estate market in general, I hope you will give me a call at 251-978-7118 or shoot me an e-mail.

Yesterday when my neighbor asked what the market was doing at The Peninsula, I thought “Duh, why don’t you blog about it?”  So here goes!

The Peninsula, like most real estate in Baldwin County and the rest of the country for that matter, has been affected by slower sales and falling prices.

Pretty interesting, huh?  One note to keep in mind is that these figures do not include the many custom homes that were built and closed that never hit the Multiple Listings.

2009 seems to be shaping up to be a better year for sales but the prices are still dropping.

Four closed sales as of today March 12, 2009 but the average price per square foot is $138.  There are currently 23 homes listed in The Peninsula ranging in price from $299,900 to $1,225,000.

As I said earlier, I think this is indicative of Baldwin County real estate as a whole and if you are interested in a golf course property in the Gulf Shores area, 2009 is the year to buy.

If you would like to learn more about The Peninsula Golf and Tennis community, visit this link or give me a call at 251-978-7118.  It’s a wonderful place to live!

The auction company’s web site reports that 62 properties were sold on auction day with a sales volume of $20,405,000.  Fifteen of those units actually closed on auction day.  You know what that means, right?  That means at least 15 people (24 percent) showed up that day with the conviction and the wherewithal to pay cash for a $265,000 plus condominium.

Now, back to what has happened since February 7th.  There were eleven units that were not sold on auction day.  All eleven units were three bedroom interior units that were either 1407 or 1419 square feet.  The seller subsequently decided to list the remaining units at a price of $330,000.  They came onto our MLS on Tuesday February 24th.  I took a look at the MLS yesterday and 10 of the 11 units that were listed a week ago are showing that they are under contract.  Wow!!  Ten units in which offers were written and accepted.  That’s pretty strong in this market.

I reported in my January Market Watch page that only 14 Gulf front condominiums closed in the month of January.  While I don’t have all of the information to post last months numbers yet, I can say that at least 26 Gulf front units closed in the month of February.  Quite a change in a months time!

While one month does not a market make, you must admit that it is encouraging.  If you have any questions about the auction at San Carlos that I haven’t addressed here or if you are interested in getting further market information, e-mail me or give me a call at 1-866-978-7118 and we’ll talk about real estate!

The first graph you see is a 2007 / 2008 comparison of the number of condominium / multifamily (duplex) units sold.

Notice that the total number of units sold was down about 7.5 percent or 55 units.*  A couple of things caught my eye.  Sales of the less expensive units (less than $250,000) were almost identical.

The $250,000 to $450,000 price range showed a significant 27 increase over 2007.  The next three price categories posted significant decreases as the purchase prices got more expensive.  This drove the average sold price down nearly $50,000 from $392,685 to $343,310.

I would have bet you money that the average Days on Market (the number of days a property is listed) would have gone up but it didn’t.  Both years figures were between 6 and 7 months.

The next graph contains Single Family Homes in Gulf Shores’ area real estate.

I thought it was significant that in 12 months of sales in the Gulf Shores area that the number of transactions in 2007 and 2008 were almost identical. Days on Market was very similar to the condo numbers – between 6 and 7 months.  Average sold price dropped on Single Family Residences also but not as sharply as condos.  This number went from $425,887 in 2007 to $397,253 in 2008.

*  One thing to note – the MLS actually shows that there were 767 not 660 condominiums sold in 2008.  The difference in this number comes from one thing.  One developer has posted the closings of 107 pre-construction units in 2008.  I believe this skews sales figures because although these were closed in 2008, they were actually “sold” approximately 3 years ago.

If you are interested in taking advantage of this buyer’s market, call me today at 251-948-1234 or email me at John@JohnRicks.com.

1. A comparative market analysis. Your agent should complete a comparative market analysis (CMA) to determine a price range for your home. The CMA compares your home with similar homes that have recently sold. This report gives you an idea of what other people were willing to pay for a home like yours so you can set a realistic asking price.
2. Suggestions for improving your home. Your agent is a Gulf Shores real estate specialist who knows what buyers look for in homes. You should expect them to offer suggestions to make your home more appealing to buyer. This may involve repainting rooms, installing new carpet, or completing minor repairs to make your home look as good as possible.
3. A marketing plan. Your agent’s primary responsibility is to market your home, and you should know beforehand exactly how they plan to do that. This should include a “for sale” sign in your front yard, a listing in the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS), advertising in newspapers and home magazines, professionally designed fliers and brochures and internet exposure on multiple web sites.
4. Negotiation assistance. Your agent should deal directly with buyers and their Gulf Shores real estate agents to discuss the sale price and terms of the sale. They should also coordinate the closing for you by working directly with the title company to process the necessary documents.

Don’t let an amateur sell your most valuable asset. Work with me to sell your home faster and easier. Call me today at 251-978-7118 or email me at John@JohnRicks.com.