 | | | HOW'S THE REAL ESTATE MARKET IN YOUR AREA? | | |
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By Christine Dugas, USA TODAY Even though area home sales don't seem to have bottomed out yet, Tallahassee enjoys some advantages that should help it climb back up. Unlike cities on Florida's coasts, it hasn't seen many house-flipping investors. And Tallahassee doesn't rely much on tourists who buy vacation homes only to unload them once economic times get tough. "People that purchase homes in Tallahassee are what I call end-users," says Patti Ketcham, president of the Tallahassee Board of Realtors. "They are buying for their own use. They are buying to live there." In part, that's because Tallahassee is both the state capital and home to Florida State University, Tallahassee Community College and Florida A&M University. Those stable sources of employment help insulate the economy, notes Julie Harrington, director of the Center for Economic Forecasting and Analysis at Florida State University. Still, higher gas prices and a weaker national economy have unnerved many would-be buyers. "Even though home prices are low, nobody wants to test the market," Ketcham says. "The good news is that people who have disposable income and have the courage to buy now are making deals of a lifetime." Though the city hasn't suffered as much from foreclosures as other parts of the state have, some neighborhoods have been hit. Construction of rental condos and town homes in a few neighborhoods about three years ago eventually led to some foreclosures in those areas, says Stacie Spears, a local real estate agent. Overall, the downturn in the housing market has left Tallahassee with a much larger supply of homes for sale than usual. "We've got to let some of that inventory get absorbed before we get a little more stable," Ketcham says. "But you don't know when we've hit bottom until you're already on the way back up." The most expensive | By Dave Terry, Dave Terry Photography |
Ertl Homes, a luxury-home builder, is selling this single-story home, built in 2004 on a sprawling 41-acre estate. Price: $2.695 million
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 4 full baths, 1 half-bath
Size: 6,034 square feet
Features: Front porch, study, family room, exercise room, fireplace, guest suite, mud room, three-car garage, covered veranda, pond. Median-price home This two-story house, built in 1942, is on the market. Price: $205,900
Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 1 full bath
Size: 1,200 square feet
Features: Fireplace, partially finished third bedroom and play area upstairs, sunroom, one-car garage. Coming next week: Honolulu |
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