May was a great month for home sales in Ocala. However May is usually our biggest month. We sold 639 homes in May 17 compared to 541 in April 17 and 621 in May 16. The big news is that the median home price was $153,000 compared to $129,000- in May 2016. That is a 17.8% increase ! Active listings are down 10.3% compared to 1 year ago. Months of inventory is 5.0. The bench mark for a neutral market is 5.5 months. We are slipping into a sellers market. The good news is that as prices go up more people are looking to sell.  New listings this month are up 18.3% over May 2016. As you might expect in a borderline sellers market buyers are paying close to list price with the median % of original list price at 96.2%.

As a buyers agent who works mostly in 55+ communities I am finding it very difficult to find 55+ homes under $100K. Those that I do see need a lot of updating. There is a decent selection of 55+ homes in the $100-$150K range but they also will need some updating. A real sweet spot is the $150-$250K range where is a really nice selection of 55+ homes for sale.