Short Sales: From Thousands To Hundreds To Now Just Nine

Short sales in Tallahassee are nearly extinct, which seems hard to believe after the thousands of them that we have seen.

Take a look at the nine remaining short sales in the Tallahassee real estate market.

Short Sales In Tallahassee

Short Sales

7 Properties

The Decline Of Short Sales In Tallahassee

I have been selling real estate in Tallahassee since 1991, and I can tell you the phrase "short sale" was not something that I had heard until fifteen years later.

The following real estate graph shows the rise and fall of short sales in the Tallahassee MLS:

The Rise And Fall Of Short Sales In Tallahassee

In the graph above, we plot the monthly average number of short sales sold in Tallahassee in dark blue (measured on the left vertical axis), and the average value of those sold in green (measured on the right vertical axis).

The actual first short sale reported in the Tallahassee MLS occurred in April of 2009, prior to that we had no designation for a short sale because they were something that just did not occur often enough to bother measuring them. Remember, prior to the crash of the housing market, it was very unlikely that a bank would allow a homeowner to sell their home if the proceeds was not adequate to pay the existing liens on the home.

Distressed Property - Understanding How We Got In So Deep

Tallahassee traditionally has maintained a very small niche of distressed properties (foreclosures, pre-foreclosures, bank owned properties (REO), and short sales  ... see full definition of distressed property here). I believe that our consistent rate of appreciation (historically) has usually allowed troubled homeowners to sell their home and collect the equity that has grown in the home.

The rapid expansion of the housing market commencing around 2002 and terminating in 2006 caused values to shoot far higher than what was sustainable in a slow-growing Leon County, and once the market collapsed, we experienced depreciation for the first time (in my career) in Tallahassee.

When home values decline, so too does the equity required to ensure troubled homeowners can sell their homes and satisfy existing liens. An alarmingly high number of homeowners at the bottom of the housing market owed more on their homes than their homes were worth, through either buying before homes depreciated or refinancing during the boom of the market. Either way, if they needed to move or if they were hit with an unexpected financial burden, a short sale became the best solution for all parties.

Why Short Sales Will Finally "Go Away"

There might continue to be a need for short sales for the next few months (or even years), but equity is returning to the Tallahassee real estate market, and that means foreclosures will be far more typical than will short sales.

The value in Tallahassee properties continues to rise every day (we forecast a 10% growth in home values for 2017, and it appears that figure might be conservative).

If you have wanted to sell your home but have been concerned the value still wasn't there, you might be in for a pleasant surprise.

You can get a rough estimate of value for your home below, or you can contact us anytime to get an expert opinion of value.

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