News that effects the Ocala Marion County area real estate market

Ocala weather August 2009

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Ocala weather in August is pretty much the same every day. Never below 90 and never above 95 in the day. Never below 70 at night and more like the mid 70’s. It’s humid all the time and there is a possibility of a thunderstorm almost every afternoon.

We are having a very uneventful hurricane season so far this year. Let’s hope it stays that way. In case you haven’t read my weather reports before this one, Ocala is probably the safest place in all of Florida for hurricanes. That’s not to say Ocala will never get one but that it’s unlikely.

As I always say, don’t let the heat and humidity bother you, it’s a very small price to pay for no winter.

Ocala Florida weather for July 09

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The weather in June here in Ocala was wet. The past few years we basically had a drought during the wet season. It’s not that it didn’t rain in past years, it was just drier than it should have been. This year we are back to normal. By normal I mean showers in the afternoon on a very regular basis. I had to drain my swimming pool twice to keep it from over flowing.

July will probably be much the same as June. Highs in the 90’s, lows at night in the mid 70’s and plenty humid. Interestingly there seems to be little or no tropical storm activity out there so far this year.

As I always say, the heat and humidity of Florida summers is a very small price to pay for no winter.

Ocala Real Estate Market Report June 09

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Sales in June were 305 homes in Marion County. That’s a large increase over January at 142, February at 188, March at 220, April at 229 7 May at 259. This is a steady upward trend. Total listings also keep steadily going down which is great news.

We saw a huge increase in sales during June. This is all a result of lower prices. Buyers realize that prices are near bottom and interest rates are at historical lows with no where to go but up. Sellers realize that price is what sells a house in this market and that over priced homes just get over looked.

I don’t see prices going back up for a long time but the increase in sales combined with the decrease in listings is a very welcome sign.

Although I’m very optimistic about the increase is sales it should be noted that Foreclosures and Short sales accounted for 135 of the 319 sales in June. That’s 40%. Short sales being 37 sold and foreclosures a whopping 98 sales.

Ocala Weather June 2009

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Before getting to the weather in June here in Ocala let’s look back at May. May was one of the rainiest months of May on record. That’s a good thing because May is usually very dry and the Ocala area has had a drought.

June is the beginning of the wet season. In the afternoon winds from the Atlantic collide with winds off the Gulf causing instability in the atmosphere resulting in thunderstorms.

The humidity also returns to Ocala in June. The temperatures are in the low 90’s almost every day and the night time gets down to only the mid 70’s. There is no doubt about it the air is very humid.

June is also the beginning of hurricane season in Florida. Although the ocean water really isn’t warm enough yet to really get hurricanes going. Ocala, being in the middle of the state is one of the least hurricane prone areas in all of Florida.

Ocala real estate market report for May 2009

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Sales in May were 259 homes in Marion County. That’s a large increase over January at 142, February at 188, March at 220 and April at 229. This is a steady upward trend. Total listings are finally below 6,000 which is great news.

Of course the main reason for this increase in sales is that prices have gone down here in Marion county. The median home price fell 16% in 2008. More so in areas hard hit by foreclosures like The Shores, Marion Oaks, Rainbow Park, Rolling Hills and several others.

I’m seeing a huge increase in hits to my web site. I’m getting between 50 and 75 visitors a day. I think people are realizing that we are near the bottom of the market and now is the time to jump in and get a deal

Updated Ocala weather update

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Since I wrote about the crazy rains we have been experiencing I’ve had some other thoughts. When I was looking to move to Florida 5 years ago I came to Ocala because it had never suffered a direct hit from a hurricane.

In the dry season Florida is prone to wild fires. Although wildfires can happen any where, the worst of them seem to happen either south or east of Marion county. I find this odd seeing so much of the eastern part of Marion county is the Ocala national forest .

Now that much of the eastern part of central Florida is experiencing historic flooding, the Ocala area seems to be once again getting off easy.

There are no guarantees in life, but as far as weather related problems go,  the Ocala area seems to be one of the safest parts of Florida.

Ocala weather update

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We are having the weirdest weather here in Ocala. It has been raining for almost a week. The weather report claims we had about 7 inches and I believe it. I had to empty my swimming pool twice this week!

What’s so odd about rain in the spring you might ask? It’s supposed to be the dry season, which begins in October and doesn’t end until the first of June. Ocala has had as much rain this week as a tropical storm would deliver. Areas east of Marion County towards Daytona have had it even worse with severe flooding.

The funny thing is that until this rain we had no precipitation at all for about a month. It was a drought and everyone was worried about forest fires. There are basically 2 types of rain events in Florida. The afternoon thunderstorms caused by winds off the Atlantic colliding with winds from the Gulf, which only last an hour or two, and tropical storms. Weather like this is very odd.

Ocala real estate sales report for April 2009

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Sales in April were 229 homes in Marion County. That’s a large increase over January at 142, February at 188 and about the same as March which was 220. Total listings also dropped below 6,000 which is great news.I am seeing a huge increase in buyer activity. I’m getting between 50 and 75 visitors a day to my web site and several contacts from buyers every week. That’s the good news. The bad news is that this increase in buyer interest is because home prices have dropped so much. The median home price in Marion County fell 16% in 2008 and more in certain areas.

In my opinion we are at or near the bottom of the market. I don’t expect prices to go up any time soon because there is still way too much inventory, 5900 +/- homes in relation to the number of monthly sales. We have about 30 months of inventory. A buyers market is defined as anything over 6 months of inventory. I think prices will remain fairly flat for the next several years or appreciate at the historical average of 5% or so. The days of 20% appreciation are over and won’t come back in most people’s life times.

There’s a new insurance company in town.

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Well not really a new insurance company. More like an established insurance company moving into a new market. AAA which is best know for rescuing stranded motorists and for car insurance is entering the home owners insurance market here in Florida. The big deal is that other major insurers are leaving the property insurance market here in Florida. Big insurance companies only want to collect premiums and they really don’t want the risk that comes along with Florida hurricanes.
The Ocala area doesn’t have the insurance costs of south Florida because Ocala isn’t in the path of hurricanes. Hurricanes generally either hit south Florida, go up the Atlantic coast or into the Gulf of Mexico. So there is less risk and lower insurance costs here in Ocala.
I think this could be a great idea in AAA’s part. A lot of people want to get their car and home owners insurance from the same company. This could be a great way to get market share in a very large state.

Ocala weather May 09

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Flowering Date Palm

Flowering Date Palm

May in Ocala is a time of transition. The dry air of the spring and winter is leaving and the humidity of the summer is just around the corner. The temperatures are in the high 80’s to even the low 90’s. There is some but not a lot on humidity in the air. The night time temps are in the mid 60’s to low 70’s. The late afternoons and evenings require some air conditioning. If you do your own yard work it’s best to get outdoor projects over by the end of the month. May is also the end of the dry seaon. The dry season starts in October and ends in May.