With roughly 1000 active home listings between Spanish Fort, Daphne and Fairhope, the Eastern Shore real estate inventory is excellent! This is the time to buy in this charming area, and your local agent Barbara S. Reeves is the one to assist you!

In November, 26 homes sold in Daphne for an average price of $173,103 or $84.29/ square foot. At 134 average days on the market, Daphne homes are among the slowest moving. There are 46 homes pending sale with an average of $235,226 or $93.81/ square foot.

Spanish Fort, with 140 homes on the market, saw just 5 homes sold in November, with the average sales price of $246,880 or $113.81/ square foot. Sixteen homes are pending sale with an average price of $276,700 or $118.82/ square foot. 

Down the highway in Fairhope, there are 411 homes active on the market, averaging $448,646 ($186.96/ sq foot). These homes have been on the market an an average of 176 days. Those 13 homes which sold in November did so after 92 days on the market. The average sales price of $182,115 ($94.07/ sq foot) is much lower than the average list price, not uncommon in the current housing environment.

Compared with June home sales in Daphne, July showed a significant decrease in the number of transactions. 27 homes sold in July 2009, compared with 38 in June. Average sales price decreased from $236,074 to $204,421, while the average price per square foot went from $98.15 to $92.43/sq ft. Fortunately, the average time on the market decreased from 145 days to 118.  There are 51 Daphne homes with pending contracts, averaging $103.28 per square foot.

In Spanish Fort, a mere 12 sales in June dropped to 9 in July. The average sales price decreased from  $305,800 to $277,989. Price per square foot, however, made a modest gain. The sales that averaged $106.16 in June climbed to $107.82 in July! Days on the market increased by only 7 days from 89 to 134 in July.

Down the highway in Fairhope, 15 transactions in June grew to 19 in July. Average sales price retreated to March numbers at $249,136. This translates to a price per foot of $103.19. The good news in Fairhope is that the days on the market for July home sales has receded to 149 from June’s 178.  While this is still longer than anyone would like to see, it is a vast improvement over the Spring.  Fairhope has 40 pending contracts, averaging $122.15/ square foot. The active home listings average $456,282 and $172.77 per square foot.  Barbara Reeves, REALTOR, is an expert in these communities and is able to assist you in taking advantage of this market to find your dream home. Visit her at http://www.barbarasellsdaphne.com.

Daphne

It is no surprise that there were fewer homes sold in Daphne in 2008 compared with 2007. The average price per square foot of living space dropped by 5.6% and the average sales price is down by 5%. Compare these figures with the rest of the U.S. According to Case-Shiller’s 20-city index in November, prices dropped 18.2% on an annual basis.  Going back to the high price point in July 2006, homes in these 20 cities have lost up to 25% of their value. Phoenix, San Francisco and Las Vegas have each lost more than 30% in the last year.  The bright side is that with both home prices and interest rates low, renters and others who have been on the fence, can finally buy a home with a lower mortgage payment than they previously dreamed of. BarbaraSellsDaphne.com has all the listings in Baldwin and Mobile Counties for your viewing. Or give Barbara a call on the Click to Talk button!  

October 2008 MLS data for Daphne AL shows 445 homes on the market with an average sales price of $310,231 which is unchanged from Sepember. The median price of $230,000 is down about 4% over the same time period. The median is the point where there are the same number of prices lower than higher. These homes have been on the market an average of 137 days.

In October, 21 homes sold in Daphne with an average sales price of $224,521, down 6% from last month. The median sales price of $215,000 represents a 13% increase. These homes spent 179 days on the market, which is a slowdown over September’s 123 days average.

The number of homes that are currently under contract in Daphne is 40. The average sales price of $2247,004 represents an 8% recovery, after a 10% drop from August. The median price point, however, is down 10% at $201,750. Homes under contract were on the market for an average of 121 days, a little shorter than in Sept.

Mobile makes top 50 list for best places to ‘live and play’

Mobile joins the likes of Seattle, San Francisco and Chattanooga, Tenn., in the September issue of National Geographic Adventure magazine as one of the "50 next great towns" in which to live and play. Magazine editors said their annual choices "aren’t just on prime relocation spots now, but smart choices for the future." National Geographic asked the Mobile Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau for its recommendation of interesting, offbeat local destinations, according to bureau President Leon Maisel. Editors made their choices after visiting the various locales. In Mobile, tours of the local river delta system were a major draw, Maisel said.

Mobile was the only Alabama site among the magazine’s 50 choices. Most of the areas were in the western part of the United States. Tourist spending is big business in Mobile, according to the Convention & Visitors Bureau, which put 2007 tourism spending at $888.6 million in Mobile, which welcomed an estimated 2.6 million visitors. Other Mobile highlights in the top-50 list included the outdoor patio at Café 615 on Dauphin Street and the Kate Shepard House bed and breakfast.

The Mobile area has been in the pages of other National Geographic publications, including an article earlier this year in National Geographic Traveler that focused on the Eastern Shore on Mobile Bay.

The Daphne Alabama commission gave the proposed Central Park subdivision a favorable recommendation at a recent meeting, as reported at Baldwin County Now. The multi-use parcel on Alabama Highway 181 is 50-acres and will include a variety of different buildings; the proposed development plan for this area of Daphne Alabama includes senior-citizen homes and apartments, dry cleaners, doctor’s offices, and cafes. The purpose of having such an extensive multi-use plan is to offer the retiring “baby boomers” convenience and accessibility in a safe community environment.

Developers are hoping to assuage some opposition to the purposed plan coming from nearby TimberCreek residents by committing to main their quality of life standards; there will be a 50-foot buffer wall to contain noises and other disturbances associated with supermarkets.

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