Destin Florida Real Estate Market Summary 2008

The Destin Florida real estate market had a rocky road in 2008.  There are some glimmers of hope, but continued signs of price declines.  In summary:

1.  In Destin, the “% Sold/List” (Sold to List Price Ratio) dropped from 90% to an average of 84% by the end of the year.  The ratio bounced around a lot during the last 12 months, but the drop to 84% may or may not be part of a trend.  We’ll look at this in coming months.

2. The average sale price for Destin real estate dropped from $520,000 to $406,000 in the past year. Again, this figure may not necessarily be a trend, as the average sold price was as high as $637,000 in June.

3.  The median sale price dropped in Destin from $350,000 to $263,000.  Note the “median” statistic may be more indicative of market trend than “average”, because “median” indicates that one-half of the sales were higher and one-half were lower. An “average” may be skewed higher due to some more expensive home sales that affected the the resulting figure.

4.  The MLS (Multiple Listing Statistic) report indicates 230 days average market time for Destin houses, condos and townhomes.  This figure is inaccurate, it is low. It only tracks the last listing period of the sold home.  If a property were listed multiple times and failed to sell during those times, that is not reflected in the figure.  Many Destin homes were listed more than once until they finally sold, and even “re-listed” by the same real estate agent.

5.  The “Months Inventory” figure is my favorite.  Months inventory indicates how many months it would take to sell all the improved properties in the Destin real estate market at the current rate of sales.  Note the year started at 68 months inventory, or almost 6 years!  It ended at 48 months inventory, or 4 years!  This figure is low, because our Emerald Coast Association of Realtors tracking only looks at the last, successful listing period.  Additionally, the months inventory statistic has bounced around a bit.  In basic terms, a 4 year inventory means there are a lot of properties for sale, and they are not selling very fast.

6.  Finally, the inventory of Destin homes for the year started at 3475.  By December, the inventory had dropped to 3225.  The inventory reduction has been consistent for the last four months. That may good news for sellers.  Typically, however, inventory increases in January when sellers decide to put their properties on the market after the holiday season.