For December, Lyn Sappington (4th from left) took top sales honors with $1.6 million in transactions for the month. Lyn is known for selling homes throughout Northeast Florida – from Amelia to Palm Coast. Jock Ochitree (not pictured) was our top producer with $1.4 million in closings. His specialty is homes in golf course communities. Pauline Cake (far left with real estate partner/husband Woody Cake) – who specializes in selling The Neighborhoods of World Golf Village - won top lister with just under $400,000 in listings sold. An honorable mention goes to Mirtha Barzaga, who had seven transactions during the month!

For the 4th quarter, Lyn Sappington was our top sales agent and our top producer! She had $3.3 million in sales and $1.5 million in closings. Suzy Evans (3rd from left) was our top lister with a total of $1.4 million listings sold.  She also had another $700,000 in buyer sales for a total fourth quarter result of $2.1 million. Suzy’s extensive mortgage experience helps her sell homes throughout Northeast Florida – including the beaches.

Each of Davidson Realty, Inc.’s top agents for December and the 4th quarter of 2009 holds Certified Distressed Property Expert designations. The CDPE designation is achieved through extensive training in the options, solutions and effective methods for assisting homeowners dealing with financial hardship and avoiding foreclosure.

Davidson Realty also recognized Cindy Vaughn as “Employee for the Quarter”.  I am particularly tickled with this recognition because Cindy is a close personal friend and a genuinely great lady! She expanded her role as Accounting Manager at Davidson Realty to help its real estate professionals in the negotiation of short sales with the banks and loss mitigation representatives. In her new role, she has been patient, but firm. And she never, never, never gives up! I am proud of Cindy – and all of our other top producers! Congratulations to all!

The pending sales in October are up 79% over last year, but that is misleading unless you put into context what the market was like last October. If you remember, the country was experiencing a financial market meltdown. The pending sales are good and improving every month. August pending sales were 1, 479, September was 1,535 and October was 1,729. That is a terrific trend.

The prices of homes in Northeast Florida seem to be stabilizing. The median sales price for August, September, and October were $149,900, $145,000, and $146,000. The average prices for the same months were $179,411, $175,108 and $179,205. The year to date average sales price is down about 20% from last year.

The inventory of homes available continues to decline, which is a good sign. The supply of inventory available is 11.5 months down from 12.5 months in September.

The number of closings for homes in St. Augustine in the 32092 zip code was up slightly from September; however the price per square foot was down slightly. I believe we will continue to see some ups and downs for several months to come, but it appears that overall the trends are positive.

The tax credit is similar to the Cash for Clunkers program for the car industry except instead of a $4,500 trade-in allowance, you will pay $8,000 less in taxes to the IRS or get an $8,000 federal income tax refund if you do not owe any income tax.

The $8,000 tax credit is available to anyone buying their fist home or anyone that hasn’t owned a home in three years. To qualify for the credit, you have to close on your new home by November 30, 2009. There is talk in Congress of extending the credit into 2010; however, until Congress passes new legislation, no one knows if it will be extended.

The tax credit is equal to 10 percent of the cost of the home, up to a maximum $8,000 credit. There are income limitations to qualify for the full credit. If your adjusted gross income is less than $75,000 for an individual or $150,000 if filing jointly, you will qualify for the full credit. The tax credit does not have to be repaid if you live in your home for at least three years.

If you are considering purchasing a single family home, a townhome, or a condominium, get busy and close on your home before November 30th to benefit from this terrific credit.