Not much of a difference happened in terms of properties sold in Lakeland Florida for July 2008. The amount of units sold decreased slightly to 142 in July 2008 from the previous month of 149 homes sold. The average sold price for July was $165,063 in Lakeland, which is a decrease of 7% from the previous month. The time it took a home to sell was an average of 166 days.

Take a look at my spreadsheet below. I’ve separated the report by zip code instead of school zones; it gives you a more accurate report in my opinion. The data for this report was obtained from the Mid-Florida Regional MLS, it is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. This report does not include “For Sale By Owner”. The average sold price in Lakeland Florida for the month of July 2008 was $165,063 and as you can see only 4 zip codes reached above average sales price (highlighted) for the month of July.

Lakeland’s current inventory reached 2,336 of residential homes in active and 245 homes in pending status.

Distressed properties are homes in pre-foreclosure, foreclosure, bank owned, as well as short sales – Of the 142 homes sold last month, 34 homes were sold with an average sales price of $108,256. Only 3 homes were sold the previous year, due to Short Sales and/or Foreclosures. We are always hearing the news about foreclosures, so let’s take a look what currently takes place in Lakeland. There are currently 422 homes facing foreclosure, are bank owned or sellers trying to go through the long and tedious short sale process. However, 84 homes are in pending status waiting to close. What are the average prices for these types of homes? The average price currently listed is $163,746. The priciest home currently on the market here in Lakeland is listed for $649,900 and the lowest priced home is $29,000.

With well over 2,000 homes on the market in Lakeland alone, what does it take to sell your home? Pricing is the most significant factor to get your home sold. Buyers interested in your Lakeland home will search your neighborhood until they find the best priced home. Look around yourself in your neighborhood, which homes have sold recently and which homes are still on the market? Chances are homes priced well above are still lingering around and will be there for many more months. You definitely don’t want to chase the market with lowering the price every 30 days.

Check out the graph here, there is still a big gap of the average list price vs. the average sold price for the year 2008. To lower the inventory on hand, the gap must approach towards the average sold price. August starting out promising with the gap closing in, hopefully it will continue so the supply will drop and demand will increase.

Let’s take a look at last month sold report for the surrounding cities in Polk County:

Winter Haven – 63 properties sold – average sold price $155,073 – average $89.91 per sq.ft.

Bartow – 14 properties sold – average sold price $118,679 – average $68.88 per sq.ft.

Mulberry – 12 properties sold – average sold price $130,800 – average $70.38 per sq.ft.

Auburndale – 11 properties sold – average sold price $137,755 – average $82.85 per sq.ft.

Polk City – 1 property sold – sold price $154,900 – $75.49 per sq.ft.

If you are interested in a specific area or neighborhood, feel free to contact me at petra@petranorris.com

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Welcome to Lakeland Florida Monthly Market Report July 2008

Petra Norris – CDV TransAtlantic, Inc. – Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker –

PO Box 92050 – Lakeland, FL 33804-2050 – Telephone (863) 619-6918

This blog is solely my point of view