Inventory is critical
April 2021 Eastern Shore Market Report for Fairhope, Daphne and Spanish Fort
The good new first:
n Home prices on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay are up 13% over this time last year.
n The number of homes sold is up almost 17% in Spanish Fort, Daphne and Fairhope,
And then there’s the other news:
n There is an extremely critical shortage of homes for sale. And the shortage continues to worsen with each passing month. For example, in early April 2020 there were 745 homes on the market here; now, there are just 210. Yes, that’s TWO HUNDRED TEN homes! We went for years and years with 1,200 homes typically for sale.
n Some buyers are being priced out of the market. Lately, the cheapest homes available -- euphemistically “handy-man” specials – will start at $180,000.
n There appears to be a whole crew of folks who are sitting on the sidelines waiting for the day when they have more to choose from and hoping that prices will retreat.
The winners here are sellers with estates or rental properties. Homeowners who want to make a hefty profit and who already have a place to land, be it a condo or a second home, are also taking advantage of this market. It’s the folks who want to move up or to downsize (and there are a lot of them) who are standing pat.
Interestingly, we can blame some of this on semiconductor
Chips -- microprocessors -- are found in everything from cars to computers to appliances. Between the pandemic, geopolitics and a little shutdown in Texas after the Freeze-magedon, a severe chip shortage developed, leading to backlogs industry wide. Just try buying a PC, a Ford F-150 or refrigerator and you’ll be introduced to Supply-Chain Economics 101.
An insightful fact from Bloomberg News: Samsung’s plant in Austin, Texas, was taken out by the freeze of Feb. 15 and only came back online at the end of March. The one plant produces 28% of the company’s entire chip supply.
In the housing industry, the chip shortage has affected new construction as builders wait for shipments of in-home appliances.
Of course, it’s not just the semiconductors in short supply. Roofing and other building materials have also become hard to find and subsequently pricy.
So without an abundance of brand-new homes to consider, buyers are keenly focused on the existing homes for sale. And now the latter, too, are in short supply.
On to the numbers
Eastern Shore:
Number of homes sold in 1st Quarter
2020 2021
521 609
Average sales price:
$319,085 $361,121
Price decrease to close
2.6% 1.81%
Spanish Fort 1st Quarter
Number of homes sold in 1st Quarter
2020 2021
122 144
Average sales price:
$299,539 $331,407
Price decrease to close
2% 1.8%
Daphne 1st Quarter
Number of homes sold in 1st Quarter
2020 2021
209 240
Average sales price:
$261,870 $289,615
Price decrease to close
2% 0.91%
Fairhope first quarter 1st Quarter
Number of homes sold in 1st Quarter
2020 2021
190 225
Average sales price:
$394,572 $456,412
Price decrease to close
3.3% 2.6%
How’s your golf game?
October 2017 Eastern Shore Market Report for Spanish Fort, Daphne and Fairhope
Last week there was a Realtor’s open house and what happened that day I hope I can carry with me for the rest of my days.
My son, Jack, is now a Realtor working for D.R. Horton, which hosted the open house.
Trays of green beans, roasted potatoes and sautéed chicken were set up in the kitchen, with some agents digging in while others looked longingly at the spread.
And there was John. He piled a salad high, then ladled chicken on top of that. I chuckled at his creation, he shrugged and we headed under the tent outside to talk.
John is an old colleague of mine. And we see each other around at the tennis courts.
John also is an avid golfer. So I knew he was the one to ask about what I had been told was now “free golf” at the Lake Forest course.
“It’s really five dollars,” John said.
“So free,” I replied and we laughed.
Son Jack joined us and picked up the thread of conversation.
“How’s your golf game?” Jack asked.
John said he’d taken lessons from a pro to tune up his swing. And then he told about another lesson entirely. I will paraphrase.
One day, said John, he’d had a chance to chat with a golfer whose skills he’d long admired.
“I asked this guy about his handicap,” John said. “And he said: ‘I don’t keep score anymore.’”
So, said John, “I’ve quit keeping score and it’s so freeing. My game is better than ever.”
In America, we keep score. We grade everything. We compete.
First in our class. Top dog. No. 1 fan.
But the darker side of this score-keeping is losing sight of the enjoyment of the task at hand, the long drive down the fairway, the wicked serve. Or work without pay, but rich in reward.
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I’m excited about my new website because it gives everyone access to so much more information. Go to MobileSuburbs.com or JanetEnglish.com and you’ll find that you can track neighborhoods, get information about sales and pending sales, and even get an instant evaluation of your home’s value.
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Here’s what’s going on in home sales in Spanish Fort, Daphne and Fairhope.
The number of homes sold on the Eastern Shore rose 15% over the 2nd quarter, but fell 1% compared to this time last year. Hmmm … what does it mean? Nothing yet.
Sales prices did just the opposite: Average price was down 2.2% over the previous quarter, but was up 5.2% compared to the 3rd quarter of 2016. Again, it doesn’t mean anything … yet.
For the Eastern Shore: There were 537 sales vs. 543 sales in the 3rd quarter of 2016. The average sales price rose to $280,216 from $266,296 a year ago. The time it took to sell fell from 142 days a year ago to 124 days. And sellers trimmed 2.21% off their prices In order to close.
Here’s the data for the individual cities on the Eastern Shore:
Fairhope: 205 homes sold with an average price of $327,510. This compares to 224 sales with an average price of $304,884 in the 3rd quarter of 2016. It took on average 119 days to sell. Sellers trimmed 2.7 % off list, on average, in order to sell, while days on market dropped from 145 this time last year to 119.
Daphne: 224 homes sold, little changed from the 222 homes sold this time last year. Average sales price rose to $239,013 from $226,980 in the 3rd quarter of 2016. Days on market dropped from 137 this time last year to 113 days. Sellers sliced 2.14% off list, on average, to sell.
Spanish Fort: 108 homes sold with an average price of $275,905, compared to 97 sales with an average price of $267,168 this time last year. It took on average 154 days to sell, a slight increase over 148 days in the 3rd quarter of 2016. The list-to-sale percentage was 1.14%
