News that effects the Ocala Marion County area real estate market
Hurricane Michael had very little effect here in Ocala. At me house in the SW near the SR 200 retirement communities all we got was a little wind and very little rain. It was breezy at my house and I got maybe a 1/4 inch of rain.
September in Ocala was very hot and humid. Even hot and humid beyond the normal hot and humid here in Ocala. Fortunately we were hurricane free in a month that is the peak of the hurricane season.
October is a sort of transition month. The first half is summer like hot and humid and by mid to late month it begins to get dryer and a little cooler. By cooler I mean the mid 80’s instead of 90’s. We can still get a hurricane through November but the odds decease as the ocean water begins to cool down.
I am looking forward to the winter this year. I am used to the hot summers but this year I’m ready for some cool dry weather.
August was a continuation of our extra wet summer of 2018. It seemed to rain most afternoons. I had to drain my swimming pool several times to keep it from flowing over.
September is the height of hurricane season. I think the peak is about the 15th of the month. This season has been the quietest I have seen since moving to Ocala in 2004. I hope it continues this way.
I like to say that Ocala is the safest place in Florida for hurricanes. They seem to either hit South Florida or go up the Atlantic coast and hit the Carolina’s or into the Gulf and hit the Panhandle, Louisiana or Texas. In 2004 a hurricane in the Gulf made a hard right turn and hit Orlando so there are exceptions and Ocala getting hit isn’t impossible. Irma hit us last year but as a tropical storm knocking down trees, causing some flooding and power outages.
| CLOSED SALES | 664 |
|---|---|
| MEDIAN SOLD PRICE | $169,900 |
| AVERAGE SOLD PRICE | $196,573 |
| MEDIAN % ORIGINAL LIST PRICE | 96.8 % |
| MEDIAN TIME TO CONTRACT | 41 days |
| MEDIAN TIME TO SALE | 91 days |
| NEW PENDING SALES | 639 |
| NEW LISTINGS | 805 |
| ACTIVE LISTINGS | 2473 |
| MONTHS SUPPLY OF INVENTORY | 4.4 months |
Sales for July 2018 were up 26.5% from July 2017. The median price was up 11.8% over the same month last year. Active Listing are down 5.4%. Current months of inventory is 4.4 months. We are in a total sellers market. The good news is that compared to northern states and south Florida Ocala home prices are much lower. There is a good selection in all but the lower price ranges.
So far this summer it has been very rainy even for the rainy season. I saw on the TV weather it had rained 17 days on a row in July. Of course it depends where you are because these are thunderstorms and can be isolated. A good thunderstorm can dump 2-3 inches in just an hour on two. I had to lower the water in my pool twice last month.
August will be hot humid and wet just like every summer month. August is also the month when hurricanes start getting going. Technically hurricane season begins in June but the ocean water doesn’t really warm up enough until August to get them going. September is the big month though for hurricanes.
| CLOSED SALES | 625 |
|---|---|
| MEDIAN SOLD PRICE | $165,000 |
| AVERAGE SOLD PRICE | $189,545 |
| MEDIAN % ORIGINAL LIST PRICE | 96.3 % |
| MEDIAN TIME TO CONTRACT | 50 days |
| MEDIAN TIME TO SALE | 93 days |
| NEW PENDING SALES | 728 |
| NEW LISTINGS | 857 |
| ACTIVE LISTINGS | 2443 |
| MONTHS SUPPLY OF INVENTORY | 4.4 months |
Home sales here in Ocala were very good in June. Sales volume was almost exactly the same as 2017 but the medium price was up 7.1 % and the average sale price was up 6.7 %. Active listing are down 6.7 %. The months of inventory is only 4.4 months. This is a fill fledged sellers market. There is still a good selection of homes. We are not seeing a lot of multiple offer situations yet but homes are selling very close to list prices.
June was very rainy even for the rainy season. It seemed to rain 4 or more days a week all month. It was typically hot and humid around 90 every day.
July is pretty predictable. You don’t even need to look at a weather report. It will be hot and humid every day with a 40-60% chance of afternoon thunderstorms.
A lot of people are concerned about the heat and humidity. For one thing you just get used to it.It is consistently hot and humid. For me one week of extreme heat in the summer was hard to take when I lived up north but here in Ocala you get used to it. You also have to realize every where is air conditioned, your house, car, work, stores every where. It’s like saying it’s cold up north but you have heat don’t you ? I can tell you the heat of our summer is a small price to pay for no winter. Actually we have great winters in the 70’s !
| CLOSED SALES | 709 |
|---|---|
| MEDIAN SOLD PRICE | $159,000 |
| AVERAGE SOLD PRICE | $204,508 |
| MEDIAN % ORIGINAL LIST PRICE | 96.2 % |
| MEDIAN TIME TO CONTRACT | 45 days |
| MEDIAN TIME TO SALE | 92 days |
| NEW PENDING SALES | 686 |
| NEW LISTINGS | 949 |
| ACTIVE LISTINGS | 2538 |
| MONTHS SUPPLY OF INVENTORY | 4.6 months |
There were 709 sales in May. That is a huge number for our MLS. Closings were up 11% from May of last year. The average sold price was up 16.5% over this month last year. Fortunately the number of new listings are about the same as a year ago. We are in a full fledged sellers market. Price continue to go up seemingly every month. Well priced homes in move in condition are not staying on the market long. It’s still nothing crazy. I am not seeing a lot of multiple offers yet. There is still a pretty decent number of homes to choose from if you have a reasonable budget. Ocala still looks affordable compared to South Florida and most of the rest of the country.
The end of May was very wet with rain most days. The humidity seemed to return a week or so early as well.
June is hot and humid. You could say that the weather for the rest of the summer which extends into mid October is very predictable. Hot with temperature in the day around 90. Nights in the mid to high 70’s. Humid every day with a chance of thunderstorms.
Hurricane season begins in June but doesn’t really get going until August when the ocean temperatures heat up.
| CLOSED SALES | 620 |
|---|---|
| MEDIAN SOLD PRICE | $158,000 |
| AVERAGE SOLD PRICE | $186,682 |
| MEDIAN % ORIGINAL LIST PRICE | 96.5 % |
| MEDIAN TIME TO CONTRACT | 41 days |
| MEDIAN TIME TO SALE | 82 days |
| NEW PENDING SALES | 815 |
| NEW LISTINGS | 844 |
| ACTIVE LISTINGS | 2493 |
| MONTHS SUPPLY OF INVENTORY | 4.6 months |
April was a good month for sales. The 620 sold units was up from 541 in 2017 which is a 14.6% increase. The median home price is up 7.8% over the same month last year. Inventory is down and the time from when a listing is taken until it gets an offer is down as well. We are in a sellers market and that is not going to change in the foreseeable future.