By MEGAN V. WINSLOW, Daily News Staff Writer
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Megan V. Winslow
(enlarge photo)
211 Tangier Ave.: Listed for $10.95 million, 478 days on the market. View more PB homes on market
Palm Beach has enjoyed a hearty share of eye-popping home sales figures this year, including closings of $77.5 million and $95 million.
And according to a fall 2008 residential market report from Brown Harris Stevens, those heavyweight figures have thrust the average price for Palm Beach single-family homes up 80 percent between April and September compared with the same period last year.
But like other luxury home markets across the country, Palm Beach has also seen an increase in the average number of days single-family homes sit on the market. The Brown Harris Stevens report indicates an 8 percent increase from 171 to 184 days between April and September compared with last year.
That's well above the average number of days on market for single-family homes within luxury ZIP codes across the country. According to a Nov. 16 report from the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing in Dallas, the average among 31 major U.S. metro areas is 137 days. That's up from 120 in September and about 110 in January.
Like those local record sales, the high Palm Beach average could be attributed to a few outliers.
According to Multiple Listing Service reports, one Banyan Road home has been on the market for more than 370 days. A Tangier Avenue home, priced at $10.95 million, has been on the market for more than 470 days. And one North Ocean Boulevard home listed for $9.85 million has sat idle for more than 660 days.
Gregory Heym, chief economist for Brown Harris Stevens' parent company Terra Holdings, prepared the local fall report. He said a higher average for days on market in Palm Beach is not surprising in the current economy.
"I think it's a modest increase considering everything that's gone on in the last year," Heym said. "I think it's certainly something to watch. I think you look at that and see the number of sales is down as well (and) you certainly see that there are signs of activity slowing in the market."
Compared with the April-through-September period last year, the number of single-family homes on the market decreased 17 percent from 72 properties to 60, according to the Brown Harris Stevens report.
But island broker Jeffrey A. Cloninger believes the Palm Beach real estate market is still robust — and he doesn't put much weight in days-on-market figures.
While a buyer should be wary of a home that has sat idle for long periods, days on market doesn't always paint an accurate picture, Cloninger said.
Some owners request that an agent not show their home for months so they can enjoy the local season. And with second or third homes, affluent sellers often don't need to unload a property right away and can afford to wait until they get their price, Cloninger said.
"They figure they'd rather take two years to sell a property and sell it at the price they desire than sell it in six months and take a haircut," Cloninger said.
It's also possible that a seemingly new property isn't new at all.
MLS listings can expire, and then the real estate agent or broker will re-enter the property. Doing so causes the days on market number to drop back to zero.
"It's kind of like asking a lady how old she is," Cloninger said. "Is what she says going to match up with the DMV record? Days on market is not a scientific number, because it can be manipulated."
Brown Harris Stevens Executive Vice President Ava Van de Water believes the best way to gauge the health of the local market is through median price.
Heym's report shows a 7 percent increase in median price from $3.25 million in 2007 to $3.47 million in 2008 for Palm Beach single-family homes.
The Luxury Housing Report puts the nationwide average median price this month at near $1.16 million. Ten months ago, that number was $1.18 million.
"A 7 percent increase is very, very good in this market," Van de Water said.
While Cloninger said it's never been a better time to be a buyer — especially in Palm Beach, where property has historically held its value — Heym believes it could take time before buyers creep out of a money-holding pattern and perhaps scoop up some of the properties languishing on the market.
"Like any other market, (Palm Beach is) dealing with a lot of the same uncertainty that's hitting most of the country right now, with everything that's gone on with the economy," Heym said. "I think that, so far, Palm Beach has fared better than most. And I think we'll learn a lot over the next couple of months."
source:
http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/biz/content/business/2008/11/22/DOM1123.html
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