Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Just got an update from Toni Schemmel, our marketing director, with news of our Wall Street Journal microsite stats...
Hi,
I just wanted to send you a brief email update on some new information available at Sotheby’s International Realty! These are just a few things that differentiate us from our local competitors.
· Sothebysrealty.com is now available in German and Chinese. This brings total languages to 6 including Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, French, German and Chinese!
· The Business of Extraordinary Living microsite (wallstreetjournal.com/sothebysrealty) stats through September are available. Highlights are below.
o 920,389 times when one of the SIR listings were served up (made the search criteria) on the microsite.
o 52,308 times those users went off to view a specific SIR property on the Sothebysrealty.com site. This equates to click through rate (CTR) of 5.68%.
o The banner campaign (where ads run to drive traffic to sothebysrealty.com) had its highest monthly CTR yet in September of .37%. This is in comparison to the industry norm and WSJ norm of .1%!
o Average time spent on the microsite in September was 4 minutes and 56 seconds.
o The Address had the highest number of page views in September followed in order by Insights, Living and The Brand.
· ShopAD.net provides visitors with an exclusive place to search and shop for high-design, high-caliber home products. With over 20,000+ products featured, ShopAD.net showcases the best in furniture, lighting and carpets along with the largest collection of textiles by leading brands on the web. The Sotheby’s International Realty network has gained exclusive exposure on ShopAD.net by collaborating with Architectural Digest to be an official launch sponsor. This partnership continues to provide our network with targeted impressions through a property search tool, a link to our latest issue of RESIDE® magazine and brand web banners, all leading to sothebysrealty.com Check out this video from FOX news Coral Gables, Florida. http://www.fox4morningblend.com/tabid/3530/story/36735/Default.aspx
Hi,
I just wanted to send you a brief email update on some new information available at Sotheby’s International Realty! These are just a few things that differentiate us from our local competitors.
· Sothebysrealty.com is now available in German and Chinese. This brings total languages to 6 including Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, French, German and Chinese!
· The Business of Extraordinary Living microsite (wallstreetjournal.com/sothebysrealty) stats through September are available. Highlights are below.
o 920,389 times when one of the SIR listings were served up (made the search criteria) on the microsite.
o 52,308 times those users went off to view a specific SIR property on the Sothebysrealty.com site. This equates to click through rate (CTR) of 5.68%.
o The banner campaign (where ads run to drive traffic to sothebysrealty.com) had its highest monthly CTR yet in September of .37%. This is in comparison to the industry norm and WSJ norm of .1%!
o Average time spent on the microsite in September was 4 minutes and 56 seconds.
o The Address had the highest number of page views in September followed in order by Insights, Living and The Brand.
· ShopAD.net provides visitors with an exclusive place to search and shop for high-design, high-caliber home products. With over 20,000+ products featured, ShopAD.net showcases the best in furniture, lighting and carpets along with the largest collection of textiles by leading brands on the web. The Sotheby’s International Realty network has gained exclusive exposure on ShopAD.net by collaborating with Architectural Digest to be an official launch sponsor. This partnership continues to provide our network with targeted impressions through a property search tool, a link to our latest issue of RESIDE® magazine and brand web banners, all leading to sothebysrealty.com Check out this video from FOX news Coral Gables, Florida. http://www.fox4morningblend.com/tabid/3530/story/36735/Default.aspx
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Here's a copy of the latest news from SAR:
Oct. 14, 2009
September sales skyrocket as market approaches equilibrium Real estate expert Barbara Corcoran listed Sarasota as the number one place in the nation to buy a property in her latest "hot market" prognostication. She cited the lower property prices - 30 percent below last year at this time - combined with a recent price surge of 13 percent in the last quarter, plus Sarasota's unique "metropolitan" cultural appeal for boosting this area to the top spot. On the Oct. 6th Today Show, Corcoran said Sarasota was the top place to buy real estate in the nation today, an opinion shared by SAR and most area real estate professionals. As a confirmation of Corcoran's report, home and condo sales jumped by 35 percent in September 2009, compared to the same month last year, and 9.7 percent from the August 2009 stats in the Sarasota market. Total sales stood at 554 in September, compared to 409 total sales in September 2008. The breakdown was 399 single family homes and 155 condos sold last month. Sales in September 2009, traditionally a slow month at the end of the summer, were unexpectedly higher than in August 2009, perhaps signaling an early end for the traditional slower season as we head into a hoped for robust fall and winter. The median sale prices continued to be held down by the high number of bank-owned property sales and short sales, which accounted for half of the single-family home sales and a third of the condo sales. But the "discount rack" is beginning to thin out, and once the bargains are gone, there is the potential for price appreciation on a stronger scale. The median sale price for single family homes was $165,000 last month, up slightly from the previous month, but down 21.8 percent from a year ago. The condo median sale price was $162,500, down significantly from September 2008's $190,000 figure. The future price trend might well be upwards, as about half of the single family sales and one third of the condo sales involved short sales and foreclosures. Once these distressed properties are off the market, the normal, arm's length sales should bring the median prices to higher, true value levels.
"We certainly agree with Barbara Corcoran, and her conclusions are what we've been saying for many months," said Bill Geller, 2009 SAR President. "This is an amazing time to buy Sarasota properties at prices not seen since the early 2000s, or even earlier. But the public needs to understand - these prices won't last. Once the market reaches equilibrium, and we've exhausted the distressed property pool, we will start to see more and more multiple offers on choice homes." The $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit was one of the factors in the recent market resurgence, which produced sales in September that nearly topped the 600 level for the second time in 2009. In addition, investors seem to have returned to take advantage of the price drops. Pending sales in September have also continued to show strong levels - very near the 800 mark - as the real estate market recovers after a two-year recession. Pending sales have now exceeded the 800 level for seven out of nine months in 2009, after lingering in the 400 to 500 per month range for much of the previous two years. The statistic is a strong indicator for the next two or three months of sales, when many of these pendings will become closed sales. Pending sales are sales where an offer has been accepted during the month, but the sale has not yet closed. Even though some pending sales never close, pending sales are an indicator of current buyer activity. Most of the statistics continue to point to a market in the initial stages of recovery. Inventory levels continued to decline and are now at the lowest point since the boom ended - a good sign for a market in recovery. There are now only 3,915 active single family listings and 2,337 active condo listings, figures not seen since August 2005 and earlier when the boom first started. The "months of inventory" - the number of months it would take to sell all the available properties at the current sales rate - was down for both single family and condos. The figure is 9.8 months for single family and 15.1 months for condos. A figure of 6 months is considered to be a market in equilibrium between buyers and sellers.
Click HERE for the complete PDF version of the press release, along with two pages of statistical charts.
Sarasota Association of REALTORS®
Oct. 14, 2009
September sales skyrocket as market approaches equilibrium Real estate expert Barbara Corcoran listed Sarasota as the number one place in the nation to buy a property in her latest "hot market" prognostication. She cited the lower property prices - 30 percent below last year at this time - combined with a recent price surge of 13 percent in the last quarter, plus Sarasota's unique "metropolitan" cultural appeal for boosting this area to the top spot. On the Oct. 6th Today Show, Corcoran said Sarasota was the top place to buy real estate in the nation today, an opinion shared by SAR and most area real estate professionals. As a confirmation of Corcoran's report, home and condo sales jumped by 35 percent in September 2009, compared to the same month last year, and 9.7 percent from the August 2009 stats in the Sarasota market. Total sales stood at 554 in September, compared to 409 total sales in September 2008. The breakdown was 399 single family homes and 155 condos sold last month. Sales in September 2009, traditionally a slow month at the end of the summer, were unexpectedly higher than in August 2009, perhaps signaling an early end for the traditional slower season as we head into a hoped for robust fall and winter. The median sale prices continued to be held down by the high number of bank-owned property sales and short sales, which accounted for half of the single-family home sales and a third of the condo sales. But the "discount rack" is beginning to thin out, and once the bargains are gone, there is the potential for price appreciation on a stronger scale. The median sale price for single family homes was $165,000 last month, up slightly from the previous month, but down 21.8 percent from a year ago. The condo median sale price was $162,500, down significantly from September 2008's $190,000 figure. The future price trend might well be upwards, as about half of the single family sales and one third of the condo sales involved short sales and foreclosures. Once these distressed properties are off the market, the normal, arm's length sales should bring the median prices to higher, true value levels.
"We certainly agree with Barbara Corcoran, and her conclusions are what we've been saying for many months," said Bill Geller, 2009 SAR President. "This is an amazing time to buy Sarasota properties at prices not seen since the early 2000s, or even earlier. But the public needs to understand - these prices won't last. Once the market reaches equilibrium, and we've exhausted the distressed property pool, we will start to see more and more multiple offers on choice homes." The $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit was one of the factors in the recent market resurgence, which produced sales in September that nearly topped the 600 level for the second time in 2009. In addition, investors seem to have returned to take advantage of the price drops. Pending sales in September have also continued to show strong levels - very near the 800 mark - as the real estate market recovers after a two-year recession. Pending sales have now exceeded the 800 level for seven out of nine months in 2009, after lingering in the 400 to 500 per month range for much of the previous two years. The statistic is a strong indicator for the next two or three months of sales, when many of these pendings will become closed sales. Pending sales are sales where an offer has been accepted during the month, but the sale has not yet closed. Even though some pending sales never close, pending sales are an indicator of current buyer activity. Most of the statistics continue to point to a market in the initial stages of recovery. Inventory levels continued to decline and are now at the lowest point since the boom ended - a good sign for a market in recovery. There are now only 3,915 active single family listings and 2,337 active condo listings, figures not seen since August 2005 and earlier when the boom first started. The "months of inventory" - the number of months it would take to sell all the available properties at the current sales rate - was down for both single family and condos. The figure is 9.8 months for single family and 15.1 months for condos. A figure of 6 months is considered to be a market in equilibrium between buyers and sellers.
Click HERE for the complete PDF version of the press release, along with two pages of statistical charts.
Sarasota Association of REALTORS®
Labels: SAR NEWS
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Interesting stats for the area real estate market compiled by the Sarasota Area Realtors.
http://www.sarasotarealtors.com/files/hottopics/Aug2009Stats090915111332.pdf
Headline reads sales are up 20% over this time last year!
http://www.sarasotarealtors.com/files/hottopics/Aug2009Stats090915111332.pdf
Headline reads sales are up 20% over this time last year!
Labels: SAR stats
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Second Quarter web stats from the Sotheby's International Realty web site are available...the good news is that they are up 27% from last year!
Check out all the stats here: http://members.sothebysrealty.com/uploadedFiles/Corporate_Content/Market_My_Services/Marketing_Me/Web%20Site%20Performance%20Q2%202009.pdf
Check out all the stats here: http://members.sothebysrealty.com/uploadedFiles/Corporate_Content/Market_My_Services/Marketing_Me/Web%20Site%20Performance%20Q2%202009.pdf
Labels: Web Stats up 27% this quarter
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Click here for some welcome news about the housing market:
http://www.sarasotarealtors.com/SARMagAug09-StatsPages.pdf
http://www.sarasotarealtors.com/SARMagAug09-StatsPages.pdf
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Fannie Mae has implemented tighter restrictions for condo loans as of January 15th 2009. The new rules are designed to make condo loans a more safe investment.
The headlines of these new rules are as follows: 1) To qualify for a Fannie Mae loan, 70 percent of the sales for new or newly converted condominium projects must be sold to a purchaser as a principle residence or second home (not investor). 2) For existing condo projects, no loans will be approved if more than 15% of the total units are more than 30 days past due on their condo association fees.
As of April 1st of this year, Fannie Mae is also adding an additional fee of 0.75% of the total loan amount on certain loans secured by a condo. This fee will apply on loans that have under 25% for a down payment. It is not clear what this fee will be used for except to encourage people to put more money down.
The headlines of these new rules are as follows: 1) To qualify for a Fannie Mae loan, 70 percent of the sales for new or newly converted condominium projects must be sold to a purchaser as a principle residence or second home (not investor). 2) For existing condo projects, no loans will be approved if more than 15% of the total units are more than 30 days past due on their condo association fees.
As of April 1st of this year, Fannie Mae is also adding an additional fee of 0.75% of the total loan amount on certain loans secured by a condo. This fee will apply on loans that have under 25% for a down payment. It is not clear what this fee will be used for except to encourage people to put more money down.
Labels: Lending rules for condos change
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Tired of hearing about what's going to happen on the city owned property along Palm Ave? Seems the city commissioners are too. They scrapped the many proposals from private development firms and decided to build a parking garage on part of the property and sell the balance. Here's an article that was printed in the Herald today:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090218/ARTICLE/902180375/2055/NEWS?Title=Sarasota-chooses-garage-over-conference-center-for-Palm
Seems that the lack of funds and no clear vision of what to build there has prevented Sarasotans from enjoying what could have been something very special in that location. Too bad. I for one hope that the fight hasn't ended with this vote and that business leaders continue to pursue the conference center idea or, at the very minimum, include a retail component at the street level.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090218/ARTICLE/902180375/2055/NEWS?Title=Sarasota-chooses-garage-over-conference-center-for-Palm
Seems that the lack of funds and no clear vision of what to build there has prevented Sarasotans from enjoying what could have been something very special in that location. Too bad. I for one hope that the fight hasn't ended with this vote and that business leaders continue to pursue the conference center idea or, at the very minimum, include a retail component at the street level.
Labels: Parking Garage
