May 2018 Tampa Real Estate Stats Statistics about home sales, inventory, luxury market

 

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Andrew Duncan, #1 RE/MAX Agent in Florida, together with Robert Johnson, President of The Duncan Duo team, Mike Yates of Atlantic Mortgage, and Aaron Davie from Florida Agency Network, Hillsborough Title and Strategic Title, talk about May stats and how the real estate market in Tampa is doing.

Currently, there is 2.1 months of inventory which is a drastic seller's market. What it means is that homes are selling fast. There are not as many options as there used to be. There are bidding wars. There are more buyers than there are sellers.
 
According to GTAR, 3,670 home sales is the most number of home sales in a month that has been recorded for more than a decade. It beat last May's 3524 home sales which was the 2nd best month last year. May of 2018 has been the best month we have seen in a long time. May's sales is up from 2900 in April and has an average sale price of $265k.

Homes in the mid to upper average price points are selling fast. Buyers need to be prepared as there are not a lot of options for buyers as there used to be. This can also be seen trickling down to the higher end market, too, as there are more sales than there are inventory.    

Tampa is still considered one of the most affordable housing market.

To get more Tampa Bay Real Estate news and advice from Tampa Bay's #1 Realtor, tune in to The Duncan Duo Real Estate Show on 970 WFLA - Tampa Bay every Sunday at 10 am.

Getting to Know the New President of The Duncan Duo Team

Robert Johnson was recently promoted to president of the Duncan Duo Team, and today he’s joining me to answer questions about himself and his background.

Robert has been in real estate for almost eight years. Prior to joining the team, he didn’t have much experience. In fact, he says that he only had one sale.

Growing up in Tampa, Robert's family has been in the area for generations. Now married with three kids, his family has grown with his real estate career. His first son was actually born the same month he started with the Duncan Duo Team. In the years since he started, we have had the opportunity to get to know his family.

Of course, we already knew some of them since they work with us as well. His mother is a transaction coordinator and his cousin is the No. 1 agent in the company. He has even had friends work with us. He tells us that, although it was weird in the beginning, working with friends and family helped him thrive. Since they were able to blend together well, they have done great things through the years.

When Robert started eight years ago, he was a buyer's agent. He then became the No. 1 buyer's agent before becoming the No. 1 listing agent. From there, he was promoted to run the entire listing division team. Robert has done nearly every job in the company.

And now, after all his hard work and skill development, he has been promoted to president. Through the years, we have grown and so has Robert's success. In his first year, he only had 18 closed sales. Since then, he has had a year with 124 of them.

Through the eight years that Robert has been with us, The Duncan Duo Team has grown, much like his success.

When Robert first started with the company, there were only five people in a tiny office space. Through the years, however, it has grown, much like his success—In his first year he only did 18 sales, since then, however, he has had a year with 124 closings.

Personally, Robert, who went to Gaither High School and USF, says that he loves real estate. He enjoys water sports, baseball, Star Wars, and Disney. But mostly, he loves anything that involves his family.

If you have any additional questions for the man we now refer to as “El Presidente” or for me, please feel free to reach out to us. And, as always, if you are looking at buying or selling in the Tampa area, please call or email. We look forward to speaking with you soon.

Advice About How Sellers Can Handle Bidding Wars

I’m joined today by Robert Johnson, the president of our company, to help me discuss something that a lot of home sellers in the market are unprepared for—how to handle bidding wars. This is one of the biggest challenges in the market right now.

It’s no secret that we have low inventory. A lot of homes in the mid-level price range are seeing fiercely waged bidding wars. Many sellers aren’t ready to deal with this, since often these bidding wars lead to their home selling quicker than they expected.

What do sellers need to know about handling bidding wars and how to process all the offers being thrown at them?

No matter what advice real estate agents give, it will always be the client’s call. Even though some think that a bidding war is a great problem to have, you still need to understand how to navigate that situation and how to trust your team to help you select the best offer. On that note, it’s important to remember that, sometimes, the best offer isn’t always the best price; it might be the one with the best terms that fit your end goal.

No matter what advice real estate agent’s give, it will always be the client’s call.

As agents, one of the things we do to help clients make a good decision is to look for the highest and best among the offers received, and to give the offers a chance to come back with their absolute best shot, given the seller’s needs. There are always risks involved with this ‘highest and best’ approach, so discuss these with your agent.

I’ve seen agents make the mistake of sitting in the driver’s seat of the transaction. The seller needs to be involved because a lot of times, the buyer and their agent assume the highest and best offer is just a matter of price or of how quickly they can get to close. The seller might want a longer closing, or to lease the property back—you really never know.

In instances where there are 40 or more offers, a seller can’t be expected to have a conversation with every one of those agents. Sometimes those agents will get angry about not hearing a response to a question they asked, but we can’t do their jobs for them; we just have to present everything to our client and let them decide what they want to do.

That said, for this to work, sellers should be honest with their agent about their goal, whether it be about money, time, or connections.

If you’re thinking about selling your home, reach out to us. One of the great agents on our team will give you the best advice on how to accomplish your real estate goals.