Manatee County Home Sales Up 43%

By Louise Bolger – Sun Staff Writer – February 3, 2010

Contrary to what is happening in the rest of the country, South Florida real estate is making a major comeback.

Manatee County Single-Family Home Sales

Manatee County real estate companies sold 43 percent more single family homes in December of 2009 than December of 2008 according to the Florida Association of Realtors.

You can’t even credit the first time buyer tax credit for the increase since the original expiration date was Nov. 30, and it was not extended until early November which was too late for sales that were set to close in December and January.

In addition, median sales prices also went up by about 5 percent to $167,400, with most of the sales activity under $200,000.

Complete Story

Contrary to what is happening in the rest of the country, South Florida real estate is making a major comeback. Manatee County real estate companies sold 43 percent more single family homes in December of 2009 than December of 2008 according to the Florida Association of Realtors. You can’t even credit the first time buyer tax credit for the increase since the original expiration date was Nov. 30, and it was not extended until early November which was too late for sales that were set to close in December and January.

In addition, median sales prices also went up by about 5 percent to $167,400, with most of the sales activity under $200,000.

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Housing News Sends Stocks Higher

By Steve Shaeffer – Forbes.com – February 2, 20010, 12:45 PM EST

Aside from some wobbles around the opening bell, Wall Street rallied Tuesday to extend Monday’s gains.

The biggest news came out of the housing space, where a key indicator for home sales offered an encouraging sign and a builder posted its first profit in nearly three years.

Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said that while the home-buyer tax credit has produced some swings in contract activity, the underlying trend over the past year has been one of improvement, a view reinforced by fourth-quarter results from D.R. Horton ( DHI – news – people ).

Shares of the home builder jumped 10.9% after it reported its first quarterly profit since 2007. (See “D.R. Horton Builds A Profit.”) D.R. Horton said new orders and completed sales increased significantly in the quarter.

Complete Story

Aside from some wobbles around the opening bell, Wall Street rallied Tuesday to extend Monday’s gains. The biggest news came out of the housing space, where a key indicator for home sales offered an encouraging sign and a builder posted its first profit in nearly three years.

The National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index, which measures signed contracts and is considered a strong predictor of sales in coming months, inched up 1% in December to 96.6. Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said that while the home-buyer tax credit has produced some swings in contract activity, the underlying trend over the past year has been one of improvement, a view reinforced by fourth-quarter results from D.R. Horton ( DHI – news – people ).