INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Last year was a banner year for real estate on the barrier island, with many agencies reporting their best sales in years, and 2012 is off to an even stronger start.
“The year began with a bang,” say Buzz MacWilliam, owner of Alex Mac William Real Estate. “Our sales numbers in the first two months were up 41 percent year-over-year. We closed 44 sales last year compared to 62 this year. We are selling a house a day, which is pretty good.”
MacWilliam’s dollar volume has more than doubled.
“Our total for January and February of 2011 was $8.6 million. This year it is more than $19 million.”
“Sales have been very strong so far this year,” says The Moorings Realty Sales Co. Broker Marsha Sherry. “We had 60 percent more traffic in our office in January this year compared to last year. That is great because you have to have them looking before they can buy.”
Sherry says she and her staff have 16 condo sales closed or pending this year compared to only five closed at this point last year. Single-family home contracts have more than doubled.
“Our agents are very, very busy. They are working seven a days a week, coming in early and going home late.
“I saw a client the other night who told me she came into our office and didn’t know what was happening because there were so many people milling around. The lobby was full and there were clients in every office. Those are very good things!”
“I am busier than a one-armed paper hanger,” says Premier Estate Properties Broker Associate Kay Brown, who represented both buyers and sellers in two multi-million dollar closing in the last week of February.
“I am working 12-hour days,” says Cindy O’ Dare, another Premier Estate Properties Broker Associate.
Sorensen Real Estate had a record year in 2011, handling more than $300 million in transactions.
That was a signal accomplishment and everyone at the company was thrilled, but it left Managing Partner Dale Sorensen Jr. a bit nervous about whether the brokerage could match that kind of growth in 2012.
Turns out he had nothing to worry about.
During the first two months of this year, Sorensen’s sales are up more than 18 percent from last year’s record breaking pace.
“The end of 2011 was very strong for us and our agents have carried that momentum over to 2012,” says Sorensen. “The inventories have been slowly absorbed over the past three years and there is a lot of positive energy surrounding our market.”
“I think people are starting to believe this truly believe this is the bottom,” says Sherry. “They feel there is a little positive news, maybe a little more consumer confidence. With the economy beginning to recover there seem to be more people in town. One restaurant owner told me they just had their best February.”
“We have been busy,” says Billero & Billero Real Estate Broker Gene Billero, whose business was up 19 percent, year over year, in January and February. “Things are moving along. Our economy went down first in the whole state. So we are going to come back first. This is one of the best places to live in Florida and we have the best deals and best values.”
“It simply has to do with pent-up demand,” says MacWilliam.
Realtors report the increase in sales is broad-based, covering most market segments.
“The high end of the market has really picked up for us over the past month,” says Sorensen. “We have put several waterfront properties under contract in the last couple of weeks, which is very encouraging.”
First-time homebuyers, investors paying cash for properties they plan to rent out, and young adults, often children of Vero residents, are snapping up the REOs, according to Billero.
“We are seeing a lot of children coming back after college,” he says. “A lot of young people between the ages of 22 and 27 see this as a way to get into the market.”
“We are selling a little bit of everything, from a $40,000 condo in town to a $4 million home on the island,” says MacWilliam. “For some reason, lifestyle communities seem to lag the market. Last year, when sales were increasing elsewhere, Grand Harbor had a typical year. This year their sales are up dramatically.”
Prices are beginning to creep up too, according to several broker and available statistical information. Brokers who sense some upward price movement are backed up Trulia.com, a widely used source of local real estate information.
According to the website, between December 2011 and February 2012, the median price of a home sold in Vero Beach was up 3.8 percent. Price per square foot rose 5.7 percent.
The 32963 area did even better during the same time period, with median price going up 14.3 percent and the price per square foot increasing 13.7 percent.
“I am not seeing a big upswing yet,” says Sherry. “But there is finally a little sense of urgency in purchasing. Buyers who have waited because they thought there was plenty of time are finding the property they want is gone when they go back and put in an offer.
“Prices may not be appreciating that much yet, but buyers are appreciating the prices, and that is driving sales.”
