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Condo Market Report 2013

Condo Market Report 2013

Dear Condo Owners and Buyers:
As a real estate broker specializing in the beachfront condo towers along the MS Gulf Coast,  I am excited to bring you some good news about the market for 2013.  The numbers look great!  All the important data points are much stronger with a market moving from a buyers market to a sellers market as prices are up, inventory is down.
If you are thinking of selling today, my strategy for marketing real estate today is all about digital marketing as over 90% of buyers are looking online, per National Association of Realtors.  My digital marketing campaigns include using Google ads, optimization and social networking.
For buyers in the market, my website,  MississippiGulfCoastRealEstate.com  continues to offer easy to use advanced search capabilities like searching just your building or specific types of waterfront properties like beach, bayou and bay.  Its the most update information available on the web.
This year, I have advanced my 24 years experience and education in real estate sales and marketing with the addition of a MS Appraisal license completing 2 years of additional education.  So, if you need assistance with an appraisal, I can help you out.
I hope you find my Broker Insights informative and beneficial.  Should you need an agent, please be confident that I can handle the job for you and trust that I will represent your best interest. If you know someone who needs an agent, I appreciate your referrals and you would know your family, friend or colleague is in good hands.  Do you have specific questions?  Just call or email so that we can discuss your needs.
All the best,
Beth Mandal Tyson, REALTOR
Principal Broker

Condo Market Report 2013 – Broker  Insights

Beachfront High Rise Condo Report period ending October 31, 2013
Scope of the report:
My analysis is limited to the 5 high rise condominiums along Beach Blvd in  Biloxi and Gulfport.
They include Sienna On The Coast, Legacy Towers, Beau View, Ocean Club and Seabreeze. The report spans the dates of:

January through October 31 for 2012 and 2013.
Wow, What An Increase!
It was the best year in beach front condo sale on the MS Gulf Coast since 2007.  There was a 70% increase in the # of units sold between Jan and Oct 31, 2013 over the same period in 2012.
The average selling price per square foot increased by 19%.  There is currently only a 10 month supply of units on the market.


When determining the actual number of units sold and the average square footage price this year, data was obtained from the MS Gulf Coast MLS system and non mls sales.  It was important to include the non mls sales data for 2013 because these sales represent a large part of the business this year. The non mls units are investor owned units that were purchased in bulk out of foreclosure, bankruptcy or were developer held units.  They did not report the sales in our MLS system.   Data from non MLS sales was obtained through talking with brokers, agents and property managers.
FYI…Mississippi is a privacy state.
The price that you sell a property for is not recorded since the sale of real estate is not taxed in our state.  So, unlike other states, where all the details of the various transactions are recorded in the public record that just doesn’t exist here in Mississippi.  If the sale isn’t handled by a MLS brokerage and recorded in the MLS data then its very difficult to verify purchase prices.  It also makes appraising properties in Mississippi much more challenging.
Note:  Data for the following charts were taken only from the documented MLS sales as information on non mls sales was not available.

Condo Market Report 2013 – Top Selling Season

As demonstrated in the chart below, the top selling season is between May and September.

Time it takes to sell has been cut by 5.5%.
Units are selling faster with the average days on the market cut from 164 days in 2012 to 155 days in 2012.

Cash dominates the condo transactions.
The trend in cash transaction continued with over 70% of all sales being cash transaction.  This is up from 58% in 2012.  Financing condominiums has been very difficult to say the least.  This year though we see lenders beginning to open up lending to include non-balloon, 10% down,  30 year fixed rate loans with competitive rates for both primary homeowners and 2nd homeowners.

Condo Market Report 2013 – HOA  Fee News

Sienna On The Coast
2013 – Reduced HOA fees by 8%
2014 – Voted to reduce by another 5%

Legacy Towers
2013 – no increase
2014 – no increase

Beau View
2013 saw an increase in HOA fees and a special assessment
2014 Voted to maintain the current fees.

Ocean Club
2013 – Increase
2014 – Determination will not be made until January 2014

Seabreeze
2013 – no increase
2014 – no increase