ResortQuest Real Estate

It’s no secret that the real estate market has transformed significantly over the last decade. One of the newest trends is the increase in distressed property real estate sales. Foreclosures and short sales are on the rise, and people are looking for way to take advantage of this phenomenon. From buyers who want to find a great deal to sellers who need a break, bank-related real estate sales are offering opportunities unlike those in previous years.

Information in chart from the Sales Area by Summary MLS Statistics from the Emerald Coast Association of Realtors for 01/01/09-12/31/09.

The chart above shows the percentage of distressed property sales as compared to the total number of sales in each local area. The green area represents “arms length transactions” or normal real estate sales. The red area represents REO/Foreclosures, and the purple area shows Pre-foreclosures/Short Sales. Notice that bank-related real estate sales are more prevalent in Destin and South Walton. Another interesting note is that the percentage of short sales is greater than foreclosures in all areas.

Bank-Related Real Estate by Area

Below is a brief look at the real estate market sales from 01/01/09-12/31/09 according to the Emerald Coast Association of Realtors MLS records. This shows Real Estate Owned (REO) properties and short sales for both homes and condominiums.*

Destin
Out of Destin’s 617 real estate sales during 2009, 112 were short sales and 100 were REO. Approximately 54% of the short sales were homes, 34% were condos and 12% were other property types. Interestingly, this breakdown was almost the same for REOs with 54% homes, 33% condos and 13% other.

Fort Walton Beach
There were a total of 824 real estate sales in Fort Walton Beach during 2009. Short sales made up close to 12% of these sales and REOs made up about 8%. More homes were affected by the market making up 62% of the REOs and 69% of the short sales. Condominiums followed as 31% of the REO sales and 27% of the short sales.

Beaches of South Walton
The Beaches of South Walton boasted the most sales on the Emerald Coast with 1235 sales in the area. Fifteen percent of these sales were REOs and 22% were short sales. Out of the REOs, 58% were home sales, 38% were condo sales, and 4% were other sales. For the short sales, close to 64% were home sales, approximately 32% were condo sales and the remaining sales were other property types.

Niceville
Overall, Niceville was least affected by distressed property real estate sales. Out of their 442 sales, only 26 were REOs and 49 were short sales. This equates to about 6% and 11% of Niceville’s market sales respectively. Also, since Niceville is a residential market, most of its REOs and short sales were for detached single family homes.

Crestview
Crestview’s real estate sales totaled 696, with 82 REOs and 106 short sales. This means that 8% of the sales were REOs and 15% were short sales. Again, similar to Niceville, most of these were home sales since the Crestview area is a residential community.

*Real Estate Owned (REO) is another term for a bank-owned property after a foreclosure. A short sale is when the bank agrees to accept a sales price short of the amount of the mortgage, and the homeowner sells the property for this price to avoid a foreclosure. To learn more, see our Distressed Properties Glossary of Terms.

What Can the Distressed Properties Division Do For You?

For Buyers: Information and explanations of the current market climate.

For Sellers: Find possible solutions to avoid foreclosure.

Commercial Investors: Vital Information for informed decisions.

Asset Managers: Services and resources of ResortQuest.