The summer is almost over. Are you ready for the real estate market update? Home prices, and more are what we will review. The figures for July’s residential real estate market have just been released for the Port Aransas region and you may be surprised at the numbers.
Today we are going to get real and talk about specific numbers to see what is going on with the housing market here in Port Aransas. The source of the data we are using is the South Texas MLS which is the MLS used by the Corpus Christi Association of Realtors.
Before we talk about the inventory in the Port Aransas area, I’d like to point out that the numbers can be deceiving. And that is because as of the filming of this video, there are a total of 154 “attached” condominiums on the market, but almost one half of these are made up of only 4 condominium complexes with a median price point of $290,000.
The other half of the “attached” condos have a median price of $649,000. In my opinion, it’s not a fair comparison to group all of the “attached” condos into one category. It would be like comparing apples to oranges.
Overall for the Port Aransas area, inventory, including homes, detached and attached condos has only increased slightly this month.. There are currently 10.2 months of inventory, compared to 10.1 last month. But definitely up from July of 2022 when there were only 4.1 months of inventory.
Surprisingly, the median price for a property in Port Aransas as of the end of July was $855,000, which is up 55.5% from July of 2022. Are these homes overpriced? Maybe not.
Data indicates the list to sales price in July was 98.6%. Up from June of 2023 which was 97.6% and July of 2022 which was 97%.
A wise person, his or her name I don’t know, said that “The only thing more unpredictable than the real estate market is the weather – and sometimes even that's more predictable.”
Agree? I do.
The average days on market actually decreased in July. In Port Aransas, properties were on the market 59 days, with 46 days to close once under contract, with a total of 105 days.
This is less than the 142 total days on market in June of 2023, but 21 days longer than July of 2022. The increase in days on market for 2023 is not surprising since we all know the real estate market in 2022 was booming and unforeseen. As you know, experts base the 2022 boom due to the Covid pandemic and probably not a market we will see anytime soon.
Diving deep and going back to our previous conversation about comparing apples and oranges, there is a bit of difference in the days on market with the different property types.
The four condo complexes that have the median price of $290,000 are currently sitting at 118 days on market.
The other condos with the median price of $649,000 are currently sitting at 110 days and detached homes and condos are currently sitting at 103 days on market.
So what about interest rates? We can all assume that interest rates have a huge impact on the real estate market. Over the last month we’ve seen rates fluctuate with slight increases, decreases and increases again.
Today's national average for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage is 7.53% according to Bankrate, and 7.22% according to Nerdwallet. We’ve all heard interest rates would rise and that’s exactly what has happened.
You might think that all of this data, higher prices and higher interest rates would cause the real estate market to crash – those are the predictions we hear on some of the news channels and internet. But in spite of the higher prices and higher interest rates, homes are still selling.
In Port Aransas, closed sales increased by 38.7% from last month, with a total of 43 homes and condos sold, up from 34 closed homes last month. The data shows that people still want to buy real estate.
So where does the market sit right now?
Well, we do see lots of buyers out there. But they aren’t moving as fast as in the last several years because they want more for their money. Buyers want properties to be in good condition, move in ready, or for buyers of investment properties, unless it’s a fixer upper that they can get for bottom dollar, they want properties that don’t need updating or repairs. They want properties that can start generating income right away. Something to think about if you are planning to sell your home in the next few months.
