The Top Lister of the month is Jennifer Todd with $385,000 in listings sold. Jennifer’s specialty is new home construction and evaluating vacant land, but selling five lots in the month of January is impressive even for her!  All five of the homesites are in The Estates in the King & Bear – two were sold to a builder and three to individual buyers. Congratulations Jennifer!

The Top Sales Agent is Suzy Evans with over $350,000 in buyer sales. Suzy sold two new homes in January – one in World Golf Village’s premiere active adult community, The Cascades, and the other for KB Homes in Samara Lakes. You might remember Suzy from our last top’s blog on year-end awards. Suzy was our Top Sales Agent and Top Producer for all of 2011!

Our Top Producer for January is Jock Ochiltree with close to $700,000 in closings. Jock also sold a homesite in Waterbury in World Golf Village’s King & Bear and had a total of four closings in January! Jock is our resident golf expert and would be happy to share his expertise on Jacksonville golf course communities with you.

I thought I would start 2012 by sharing my favorite quote and an optimistic attitude that we will continue to see stabilization and improvement in the real estate market. The main reason I predict continued improvement is the tightening of inventory.

The numbers are drastic enough to tell the story. At the end of 2010 there were 14,510 active properties for sale compared to 9,902 properties available at the end of 2011. That is a 32% decline in inventory. The “months supply of inventory” dropped from 10.6 months supply at the end of 2010 to 6.7 months supply at the end of 2011. A 5 to 6 months supply indicates a balanced market. The inventory declined the most (45%) in the under $150,000 price range but declined by 41% in the $500,000 to $999,999 price range.

A more practical example of the decline in inventory is how often my agents tell me stories about a customer liking a home and calling back a few days later to move forward with a purchase only to find out the home is under contract.

I know there is a lot of pent up demand of people that would like to sell their homes. The normal progression should be tightening of inventory, causing prices to rise, causing more sellers to list their homes. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out during 2012.

The pending sales from the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors Market Stats are up 24.5% in December 2011 compared to December 2010. We averaged 1,468 pending sales per month in 2011 compared to 1,375 per month in 2010 for a 7% increase. There were 1,471 pending sales in December 2011. The price range with the strongest increase in sales was $500,000- $999,999.

There were 16,550 closings in 2011 compared to 16,214 in 2010 for a 2% increase. Davidson Realty finished 2011 with a 20% increase in our closings compared to 2010.

The median sales price in 2011 averaged $127,900 which was down 6% from the $135,900 median sales price average in 2010. The average sales price in 2011 was $168,887 which was down less than 1% from the $170,906 average in 2010.

Metro Market Trends Report on 2011 Real Estate Activity for St. Johns County indicates there were 1,419 pre-foreclosure filings (Lis Pendens) in 2011 which was a 37% decline. Actual foreclosures were down by 40%. I keep getting conflicting information about foreclosures but this information is factual and very good news.

Please feel free to give me a call if you have questions about the real estate market. I love to hear from you and always enjoy hearing your thoughts. Since I am starting the year with optimism, I am staffing up to meet the increased demand we will see in 2012. If you know of any great agents looking for a new opportunity or anyone interested in a career in real estate, please let me know. Happy New Year!

In December, Davidson Realty agent Maxine Levy took us on a video tour of Samara Lakes, a charming neighborhood a stone’s throw away from World Golf Village. Now, it’s time to take a look inside one of the gorgeous waterfront homes this community has to offer. Maxine not only sells Samara Lakes, she also lives there, so who better to show us around!

We took a sneak peak into a beautiful 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom home that’s being offered for $199,900. This home is truly immaculate from its stunning wooden and ceramic floors to the 9 foot ceilings and crown molding throughout. In the video tour, Maxine points out a few of the special characteristics of this home. The open floor plan is perfect for family get-togethers. The breathtaking views from your extended screened lanai or private patio will be perfect for a cup of coffee in the morning. And, if you don’t feel like waking up just yet, how about drinking that cup of coffee in bed watching the sun rise through your bay windows?

This home is located on a cul-de-sac right down the road from the Samara Lakes private amenity center which features a zero entry pool, children’s play area, lap pool, summer kitchen, covered cabana space, playground, and more. Single-family homes in Samara Lakes range from $80,000 resale to new homes up to the high $200,000s. Not to mention, it’s located in the St. Johns County School District – the number one school district in Florida for 4 years now!

We hope you enjoyed the tour of this exceptional home. For more information please contact Maxine Levy at 904-940-5000 or MLevy@DavidsonRealtyInc.Com.

Prior to joining Davidson, Eric was a Director at Georgia MLS (Atlanta) and later added being a Licensed Mortgage Broker to his list of life experiences that have now led him to his new endeavor as a Licensed Realtor. His background also includes several years as an Automotive Finance Consultant to many area Credit Unions in the metroplex of Dallas.

Eric relocated to St. Augustine in 2002, and he and his family have been church members of Turning Point at Calvary in St. Augustine since October of 2006. His passions and hobbies include spending time with his family and friends at the beach, kickboxing and helping at church. Being a former High School, Collegiate and Semi-Pro football player, Eric’s a major fan of the sport and a die-hard supporter of the Dallas Cowboys and the Jacksonville Jaguars.

President of Davidson Realty Sherry Davidson started the evening with a reminder that our company goal written in 2005 still holds true in 2012 – “That the Davidson Companies are the best that we can be. We don’t want to be the biggest real estate company, but we aim to be the best in our geographic area in customer service. We want every person that calls our development or realty office to be treated with respect. We hope their experience with Davidson leaves them thinking we are professional, honest, caring and helpful. And we hope they refer someone they know to call Davidson!”

Then Sherry presented the 2011 awards! Thank you to Beverly Morse, Elsie Evans, Shirley Barber, Matt Davidson, Ted Tyndall, and Jock Ochiltree for their 5 years of service with the Davidson Companies. Mirtha Barzaga and Sharon King took home the “Values People First Awards” for always supporting, congratulating, problem solving, and motivating with a smile on their faces.

The “Step up to the Plate” Award was given to Ed Gil for learning even better ways to serve our agents and employees with short sales. He rolled with the punches and came out swinging! And, of course, what would we do without his jokes every Tuesday in our sales meeting?!?

Elsie Evans with Davidson Property Management congratulated Margherite Myers as the Rental Team Agent of the Year in Volume and Mirtha Barzaga for Rental Team Agent of the Year in Transactions.

Our Rookie of the Year Award went to the very deserving Maxine Levy! No one has worked harder or had a better attitude than Maxine. Her character is exactly what our core values are about and she makes us laugh!

Congratulations to all of our agents that received Production Awards – Jennifer Todd, Doug Duggan, and Margherite Myers with $2 million closed and $2 million sold. Michelle Gonzalez, Jock Ochiltree, and Ted Tyndall with $3 million closed and $3 million sold. Lynn Whitley with $3 million closed and $4 million sold.  Ana Speziale with $4 million closed and $3 million sold. Pauline and Woody Cake with $5 million closed and $6 million sold. Dottie Lay with $6 million closed and $6 million sold.

Mirtha Barzaga had $5 million closed and $6 million sold and was also our Listing Agent of the Year – selling more of her listings than any other agent this year!

Suzy Evans took home two huge awards – Closing Agent of the Year and Sales Agent of the Year! She had $7 million closed and almost $8 million sold. Way to Go, Suzy!

And, our final award of the night was our President’s Award. Every year, one agent is selected who had an outstanding year and no one can argue that Lynn Whitley is the most deserving this year! She transformed her business and herself in 2011. She more than doubled her closings from 2010 to 2011, while losing almost 50 pounds. Congratulations Lynn!

Thank you to Arthur Crofton from Lite 96.1 WEJZ for attending our awards banquet and giving out all our awards!