Welcome to Another Review of Market Activity in the 30A, Destin, and Miramar Beach/Sandestin Areas.
Inventory, or lack thereof, continues to be the story on the Emerald Coast in general. Unlike the “roaring” mid-2000s, it seems buyer’s purpose these days is to actually keep and enjoy their beach homes and are holding onto them. What a concept!
As a result, sales volume continues to drop in many neighborhoods and broadly, especially the higher-end 30A communities like Watersound Beach, Rosemary Beach, and Watercolor. Year-over-year, sales volume dropped 17.2% on 30A East while inventory fell 9.02%. Sales volume fell 3% on 30A West while inventory jumped 16.17%, the only area with an increase. Sales volume was down 16.02% in Sandestin/Miramar Beach with inventory down 16.76%. In the Destin market, sales fell 2.6% with inventory down 14.53%.
To add more fuel to the fire, pending sales are also lower so this doesn’t bode well for next month’s closing numbers. The median sale price is down across the 30A region and up slightly in Destin and Sandestin/Miramar Beach. New listings and current active listings are also less than robust so I can see no reason sales volume will jump anytime soon with such low buying options, but we should keep an eye on prices to see if fewer opportunities to purchase great homes push pricing up with more competition for the fewer properties available. That said, reading between the lines and what I see daily is that buyers are focused on the newer or renovated product, and that limits inventory to real-world buyers even more so. I would say as a buyer the real opportunity is to find more dated properties (we have more of them) with a floor plan you like, then renovate if dealing with a reasonable seller not looking for renovated pricing. It happens, believe me, and those properties sit.
Below you’ll find more detail in your favorite areas and planned communities.
As always, our goal in sharing this data with you is to create a better understanding of trends, local and the broader economy, affecting our unique housing market. We hope you find it to be a valuable resource, and we look forward to working with you to meet your real estate needs now and in the future. If you have any questions about the 30A, Destin, Miramar Beach/Sandestin market, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at 850-376-3269. We love talking real estate!
