Ocala Real Estate Talk

It’s March and spring has sprung here in Ocala.  The grass has turned from winter brown to green. An azalea in my yard has a few flowers. The day time temperatures are in the low 80′s. The nights are in the mid 50′s. I don’t need any heat or air conditioning so this is a month of lower electric bills. It’s dry with no humidity. March is one of the best months of the year here in central Florida.

Actually things began to warm up in mid February after a cold January and record cold December. January was unusually wet for the dry season but we saw almost no rain at all in February. We had several hard frosts but not as bad as last year.

If it’s still the dead of winter where you live then think about coming to Ocala. We have the lowest median home prices in Florida. As I always like to say “The hot humid summers are a small price to pay for no winters”

Ocala area home sales for January 2011 were pretty good considering sales were based on contracts written during the holidays. Actually compared to January 2009 sales last month were great. In January 09 there were only 135 sales in Marion County as compared to this year with 282 sales. In January 2010 there were 233 sales: a 20% increase in sales compared to 2010. As has been the case for a couple of years now sales were driven by foreclosures. January 2011 had 119 foreclosures accounting for 42% of all residential sales. Active listings are gradually going down and I expect that they will go below the 5,000 mark in the next month or two. I think home sales will be good in 2011 do to the fact that the Ocala area has the lowest median homes prices in all of Florida.

February in Ocala is the last month of our winter. Average temperatures are in the low 70′s. We can still get a light frost until early March but as I write this in early February the grass is already getting a little green. So far this month we’ve had a exceptional amount of rain and that’s a good thing in the dry season.

January was actually warmer then December or so it seemed. It was also unusually wet. I think the winter of 2010-11 will down in the record books as colder than normal.

If you’re up north dreaming of spring then you need to move to Ocala. I plan to start working in my yard next week. Around Valentines day is the best time to prune Crape Myrtle. I’ll also prune some other bushes and start spreading some mulch. I try to get all my gardening done by mid May before the humidity really gets going.

Remember, no mater how hot or humid the summers get, it’s a small price to pay for no winters.

As I watch the news and see one storm after another dump snow on my home state of Massachussetts I’m just glad I don’t live there any more.  As a matter of fact, I don’t know why I didn’t move south sooner. One of the things that I looked for when I moved from Maine to Ocala was no snow. That’s no snow or ice ever. A recent blog on CNN states that Florida was the only state with no snow. So if you’re sick of the winter. I mean so sick of the winter that you want to move, then Ocala Florida is the place to be. We have the lowest median home prices in Florida. No where in Florida is 100% hurricane safe but Ocala is about as close as you can get. Property taxes and insurance are lower than in other parts of Florida too. The hot and humid summers are a small price to pay for no winters and if you’re worried about the hot summers, I can always find you a nice pool home.

Ocala 55+ Community HOA Fee Chart

Sometimes I think buyers want to shop for a 55+ homes here in Ocala by looking for the lowest HOA fees that they can find. Although I think that the wrong approach, I did create this HOA fees chart. Buyers have to look at what you get for your HOA fees and not just the fees themselves.

What do HOA fees cover? Maintaining the common areas such as the club house and pool. Mowing the drainage areas and along any roadways. Any buildings would need to be insured. Trash pick up is almost always included. Basic, and by that I mean very basic, cable TV is often included. Most communities have a management company to over see daily operations. Communities that are gated would need to pay the guard at the gate. Utilities for the clubhouse and entry. I’m sure that you can see that things can add up quickly in these types of communities.

The 55+ retirement communities are not condo’s. You maintain the home like any single family home. Lawn care is not included in HOA fees but every 55+ community has several lawn care companies and prices are cheap do to their volume. Exceptions are On Top of the World which offers total outside maintenance. Summerglen includes lawn mowing in their HOA fee. Oak Run has homes on maintained lots for a $216- per month HOA fee.

The quality of the amenities will vary from one community to another. Newer communities like Stone Creek boast an almost resort style pool, clubhouse and fitness center. While other communities might have more modest amenities do to the communities age or price point.

Statistics used for this blog post are from the Ocala Marion County MLS and are deemed to be accurate at the time this blog was written but are not guaranteed. All information is time sensitive and subject to change without notice.

Home sales in Ocala and surrounding Marion County were up in December.  Sales were up by about 10% over October and November. Although December sales appear to be during the holidays, contracts take 30 to 45 days on average to close, so December sales are based on contracts written in October into early November.

I’m not going to get into new years predictions BUT I’m pretty sure prices won’t be going up any time soon. I am concerned that interest rates will go up. The Fed is artificially keeping interest rates low and it can’t last forever. Higher rates will hurt buyers who need financing by wiping out gains from lower prices. However if interest rates go up enough to force prices even lower cash buyers could benefit.

Statistics used for this blog post are from the Ocala Marion County MLS and are deemed to be accurate at the time this blog was written but are not guaranteed. All information is time sensitive and subject to change without notice. Home sales are for Marion County only and do not include FSBO, homes sold by builders or by auction that were not  listed on the MLS, commercial properties or vacant land.

I always like to begin my weather reports with a look back at the previous month. December 2010 weather in Ocala was the coldest December on record, breaking the previous record that dated way back to 1917. If you read my December weather report you’ll see a link predicting a warmer and dryer than normal winter. Well I guess that report was about as accurate as the hurricane predictions. One thing that was correct was that it has been extremely dry here in Ocala. Since October we’ve only had a little over 2 inches of rain. The temperatures did get closer to normal from Christmas through New Years, back to the low 70′s.

January is traditionally our coldest month with a high of 70 and a low of 46. After December 2010 that will seem warm.

$10,000.00  to $100,000.00	213
$100,001.00 to $200,000.00	57
$200,001.00 to $300,000.00	13
$300,001.00 to $500,000.00	8
$500,000.00 plus	3
TOTAL HOME SALES FOR THE MONTH	299
Farm properties all price ranges
Foreclosures	106
Short Sales	36
Active Residential Listings	5,174

Ocala area home sales for the last few months have been down from the peak months of March through August when sales were around 375 per month. See all of 2010 Ocala Marion County homes sales reports. I don’t know the reason for this decline. It can’t be the first time buyers tax credit, which expired on April 30, as claimed by the Nation Association of  Realtors because sales were constant until August.

If you’re into market statistics like I am then check out the above link to all this years reports. There is an obvious decline in the  $100,000-  to $200,000- price range. This months sales in that range are about half of what it was in the spring of this year. Once again I have no explanation. I actually think the $100-200,000- price range is a real sweet spot. This is where you find a pretty nice house that doesn’t need much if any work.

If you’d like more info on Ocala or Marion County homes then call me, email me or use my Dream Home Finder on the right side of this page.

Statistics used for this blog post are from the Ocala Marion County MLS and are deemed to be accurate at the time this blog was written but are not guaranteed. All information is time sensitive and subject to change without notice. Home sales are for Marion County only and do not include FSBO, homes sold by builders or by auction that were not listed on the MLS, commercial properties or vacant land.

After a nice warm Thanksgiving with temperatures around 80, the first week of December begins with a cold front and temperatures in the lower 60′s. The 60′s might not seem bad if you’re some where up north but to me it seems pretty cold. Just last week I was eating my turkey dinner on the lanai by the pool.

Winter in Ocala, is a series of cold fronts with a warm up until the next front comes along. Sometimes the cold fronts are close together and other times weeks apart. December in Ocala has an average high of 72 and a low of 47. See my Ocala weather page, on my web site, for all the monthly average temperatures and precipitation here in Ocala.

The National Weather Service out of Jacksonville, which covers the Ocala area, is predicting a warmer than normal winter. Apparently an El Nina out in the Pacific will give the Ocala area a warmer and dryer than normal winter this year.

Once again, despite predictions, Florida escaped without a major hurricane. If you’re concerned about hurricanes, Ocala is one of the safest places in the state of Florida.

If you’re sick of winter up north, email me, call me or use my Dream Home Finder. Ocala real estate prices are the lowest in Florida!