At the end of 2012, my yearly review showed how condominium prices reached a low point between 2011 and the start of 2012. This bottom point was coupled with an increase in value by 20 to 30 percent during 2011 and 2012 for the most popular buildings. Now the overall market is recovering, but at a slower pace. For some buildings and floor plans, we have no inventory. Most of the available inventory has asking prices that are at least 10% higher than they were a year ago. Short sales and foreclosures are still coming on the market but at a much slower pace and at higher prices.

Condo sales volume in Panama City Beach is starting off the year fairly inline with recent year statistics, which is demonstrated by the graph seen below. This is interesting because inventory in a number of buildings and floor plans is rapidly shrinking. It appears that some buildings are selling quickly while others are not seeing many transactions, thereby leading to overall sales volumes that are average. The second graph below shows the historical average quarterly price per square foot of all two bedroom gulf-front condominiums.

When I am examining condo sales, I have been looking at all condos that were sold in Panama City Beach. These sales reliably paint an accurate picture of the overall market. However, the pattern did not hold true this month.

While many of the attractively priced condos have been disappearing from the Panama City Beach area, condo sales increased from 91 in August 2012 to 109 in August 2013. An examination of individual sales revealed that many of the sales were condos that are not located directly on the gulf front. Prices for inventory on the gulf have continued to rise, so we are now seeing more of the properties that are not on the gulf front are starting to absorb.

In my market update for September, I was expecting absorption to decline with the price increases we have been seeing. The last two months have shown no sign of that occurring. In 2013, there were 64 condos sold in September and 73 in October. In 2012, there were 57 condos sold in September and 47 in October. So far, 2013 has produced 23 more condo sales than there were during the same time period of 2012. While I expect sales volumes to fall as prices increase, the market is clearly not there yet.