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According to statistics compiled by the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors, the first three quarters of the year showed home sales in the Beaches area reflecting a nationwide slowdown.
Average home sale prices rose only in southeast Jacksonville Beach (up 25 percent); west Neptune Beach (up 20 percent); Ponte Vedra Beach east of A1A and north of Corona (up 13.6 percent); Ponte Vedra Beach west of A1A and south of Corona (up 7.5 percent); and Ponte Vedra Beach south of Ponte Vedra Boulevard including Vilano Beach (up 11 percent).
The numbers do not tell the whole story about the Beaches real estate market, according to agents.
“The Beaches are unique. The numbers are down but we have great inventory and buyers are getting great value,” said Phyllis Staines, broker associate at ReMax Coastal. She noted that there are some homes available here below $300,000 and two years ago that was not possible.
“I don’t see doom and gloom. We were spoiled for a couple of years (stick a sign in the yard and it sells). What we have now is normal and we’re not used to normal,” Staines said, explaining that the Beaches is still a desirable area unlike any other area of Jacksonville.
“Real estate is local,” Staines said, explaining that real estate trends seen nationwide and even in Jacksonville are not necessarily reflected at the Beaches. “The Beaches is a great place to live.”
Nationwide, major home builders are discounting prices to clear new home inventory and that is impacting prices on resales, according to Business Week.
But the Beaches are not feeling that impact, Staines, said, largely because there is little new residential construction except for rebuilds or some condominiums.
According to NEFAR, the condo market has slowed, with only one sector showing an increase in the number of condos sold — the southeast quadrant of Jacksonville Beach. There 52 condos sold between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30 2007 as compared to 36 sold during the same period in 2006. The average price dropped slightly, but a few other sectors of the condo market showed an increase in average sale price.
Real estate market reports prepared by househunt.com show that it is still a buyer’s market in each of the Beaches communities. A notation on housing hot spots in Ponte Vedra states that prices have “corrected to a more affordable price” and the drop in interest rates makes it a “great time to buy.”
See the Oct. 10, 2007, print edition of The Beaches Leader for a Market Report (Multiple Listing Service report of activity).