• 249 homes were sold in January versus 346 in December – A 28% decrease from December-however an 8% increase over January 2009.
• Average home declined in January with the average price declining to $144,736 versus $158,090 in December- an 8% decrease. Average sales price for 2009 was $157,935.00.
• The time it takes to sell a home dropped 8 days to 83 days in January versus 91 in December- a 7% decrease.  Average time for 2009 was 93.2.
• Supply of available inventory rose sharply in January. At the end of January there was a 20.38 months supply of homes, in December it was 14.86 – a 27% increase. Average supply for 2009 was 14.25 months.

“As expected January home sales were off significantly from December. The seasonal drop from December to January has become a regular occurrence on the Gulf Coast. However, this year’s drop was less than last years and January, 2010 sales were 8% higher than January, 2009. January, 2010 sales mark the 4^th consecutive month that home sales were higher than the previous year. Our research indicates the last time this happened was during the Katrina era. With the homebuyer tax credit expiring on April 30^th, the market over the near term would seem to have room for growth. February closed sales could be affected by the extreme weather conditions of late December and early January. The average home price declined in December with the follow through closings of first time homebuyers. Sellers are still averaging close to 95% of their list price, which indicates less expensive homes are selling. With the new existing homeowner tax credit in place we expect the average sales price to move higher in 2010. In November of 2009 83% of the homes sold were under $200,000, in January it was down to 78%. If that trend continues we could finally be seeing some move ups in the market. Available inventory was a mixed bag in January; we’re up to a 20.38-month supply of homes, which is a direct correlation to the lower number of sales in January. The good news there is we reduced the number of listings in the system by almost 300 homes. We are still holding with the idea that sales will start soft in 2010 and build forward.” Tommy Praytor, President, Praytor Realty, Co., Inc.