Deltona-Daytona-Ormond housing market earns top 10 ranking for this surprising reason
DAYTONA BEACH − A new national ranking lists Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach as the ninth-slowest metro area in the country to sell a house. The ranking by CreditNews.com comes as a surprise to P.W. Mabry, president of the Daytona Beach Area Association of Realtors. "We're selling properties like crazy right now," said Mabry, an agent with Re/Max Signature in Ormond Beach. "Our numbers (volume of homes sold) are going up." How did they come up with the ranking? New York-based CreditNews.com based its ranking of the nation's 10 fastest and 10 slowest metro areas to sell a house on data from real estate website Zillow.com, which found that it took a median of 39 days for a listing to be put under contract to be sold in the "Deltona" metro area in January. "When referring to 'Deltona,' we meant the entire metro area, encompassing Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach," confirmed Dan Runkevicius, chief editor for CreditNews.com in an email. "The data was sourced from Zillow’s 'for-sale inventory' data set.' Housing inventory was then adjusted to account for the size of the metro population." Florida Realtors Association data showed the "median time to contract" for existing single-family homes in Volusia County in January was actually 41 days, according to a copy of the report provided to The Daytona Beach News-Journal by the West Volusia Association of Realtors. The Daytona Beach Area Association of Realtors reported that the median time to contract for properties listed by its members was 53 days. The statewide median time to contract in January was 43 days, according to the Florida Realtors Association. Nationally, the median time to contract for homes to be put under contract was 36 days in January, according to the National Association of Realtors. It's based on a 'Zestimate' Mabry said he takes data provided by Zillow with a grain of salt. "(Real estate) brokers must click on a button that allows Zillow to get their information," he said. "I know for a fact that not all brokers click on that button." "Zillow also has in small print on its reports that when they give you an appraisal value for a property that they call it a 'Zestimate.' That's so they can't be sued (if the information is incorrect)," said Mabry. "It's their personal opinion." "We have people tell us all the time that 'Zillow says my house should sell for a half-million dollars,' but that's not necessarily the case," he added. "Their 'Zestimates' are only within 5% of the actual sale price of a home about half of the time." John Adams, president of Adams, Cameron & Co. Realtors in Daytona Beach, also expressed skepticism regarding Zillow's latest ranking for the Deltona metro area. "Zillow has a very good statistics team and generally produces good results, however, in this case, I can't agree," said Adams. Adams, Cameron has 300 agents in eight offices in Volusia and Flagler counties, the most of any real estate brokerage in the combined two-county area. Local market back to pre-pandemic levels? Florida Realtors Association data for the Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach area, which encompasses the combined Volusia County-Flagler County area, showed that the median time to contract for homes locally rose to 33 days in 2023, up from 13 days and 11 days in 2022 and 2021, respectively. Despite the increase, the median time to contract remained lower than in 2019 (41 days), the year before the COVID-19 pandemic-fueled real estate boom in Florida began. "I like the (Florida Realtors) view over time, because it is more objective," said Adams. What CreditNews had to say about its rankings The report by CreditNews.com stated that its study "reveals a major shift in best-selling markets since the onset of Covid. None of the top fastest-selling metros pre-COVID remain on the list today, and vice versa. "Part of the reason behind this realignment is different inventory levels across the nation − which, we found, has a strong connection with how fast listings sell." What do the latest local housing numbers say? According to countywide data provided by the West Volusia Association of Realtors, Realtors in Volusia County sold 509 homes in January, up 3% from 494 a year ago. The median sale price rose to $350,000, up 4.8% from $333,990 in January 2023. The inventory of active listings climbed 21.8% year-over-year to 2,384, compared with 1,957 a year ago. Still, the month's supply for Volusia, meaning how long in theory it would take to deplete the inventory if no new listings are added, remained tight at 3.3 months, compared with 2.5 a year ago. The statewide month's supply in January was 3.8, according to Florida Realtors. According to the National Association of Realtors, that means the local real estate market remains tilted somewhat in favor of sellers. "Historically, six months of supply is associated with moderate price appreciation, and a lower level of month's supply tends to push prices up more rapidly," the NAR website states. Who else made the fastest and slowest lists? According to CreditNews.com, the 10 fastest metro areas to sell a house in January, along with the median days on market, were as follows: 1. Hartford, Connecticut (8 days); 2. tie between Rochester and Syracuse, New York, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (9 days); 5. tie between Richmond, Virginia, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and New Haven, Connecticut (11 days); 8. tie between Boston and Worcester, Massachusetts, and Columbus, Ohio (12 days). Jacksonville was the other Florida metro area, along with Deltona to make the 10 slowest metro areas list: 1. Austin, Texas (66 days); 2. McAllen, Texas (53 days); 3. Poughkeepsie, New York (51 days); 4. San Antonio, Texas (49 days); 5. New Orleans, Louisiana (48 days); 6. Jacksonville, Florida (42 days); 7. tie between Cape Coral, Florida, and Colorado Springs, Colorado (41 days); 9. Deltona, Florida (39 days); 10. New York, New York (37 days). Why do some homes take longer to sell? While some homes locally sell within days of being listed, others can go months without receiving an offer, often resulting in a lowering of the asking price. "When homes sit on the market, there can be a lot of reasons," said Mabry. "In some cases, it could be a property that requires extensive repairs or updating. Being over-priced is almost always the No. 1 reason. You have sellers out there trying to get top dollar for their home, in some cases against the advice of their Realtor."
A look at Daytona's Boot Hill Saloon
When Bike Week roars into Daytona Beach for its annual 10-day run starting March 1, one of the must-do experiences is a visit to the venerable Boot Hill Saloon on Main Street, among the landmark watering holes forever tied to the event. Longtime fans of the bar, however, don't need a special occasion to make the pilgrimage to the establishment that marked its 50th anniversary in 2023. “I've been coming here about 30 years,” said Coleman Leonard, 71, a retired cabinet maker from Edgewater, who rode his Harley- Davidson Street Glide to Boot Hill for a quiet beer on a recent afternoon more than two weeks before Bike Week's opening day. “It's the history of the place,” he said as a vintage Deep Purple song, “Child In Time,” wafted from the speakers above his head. “It's always here, always a good time.” Here's a look at the Boot Hill's history and its appeal to the Bike Week crowd: As Bike Week evolves, Boot Hill remains 'authentic' Among the afternoon crowd on the bar's front deck, Tom Prusaski, 61, said that has been patronizing Boot Hill since the mid-1980s, a time when Bike Week was more like the “wild, wild west,” compared with the corporate sponsorships and tourism promotion that characterizes the event nowadays. “This was a hardcore biker bar,” said Prusaski, a retired auto mechanic, who traveled from Grant in Brevard County for a Boot Hill visit during Speedweek. “They didn't sell T-shirts in the Boot Hill in the 1980s and it wasn't always pretty, either.” Although Bike Week and the Boot Hill have lost some rough edges over the years, the bar still offers a genuine biker experience, Prusaski said. “This bar and the Iron Horse (in Ormond Beach) are two of the older bars that are still pretty authentic,” he said. “Things have definitely gotten more commercialized, but we always come here when we can.” Boot Hill shifts into high gear for Bike Week At the inside merchandise counter, around the corner from the bar, there's a new assortment of Bike Week T-shirts on display, part of an inventory of merchandise that also includes doo-rags, ballcaps and other trinkets. Many of the items offer a nod to the Boot Hill's famed slogan that “you're better off here than across the street” at the Pinewood Cemetery. During Bike Week, the bar also will host a lineup of dozens of bands on multiple indoor and outdoor stages throughout the 10-day event. The marquee out front touts the “Boot Hill Saloon and Museum,” but evidence of the latter is hard to find unless you consider a bra once worn by serial killer Aileen Wuornos a historical artifact. It's displayed behind the bar, where dozens of less famous under-garments also hang ceremoniously from the rafters. Almost every inch of wall space is cluttered with ancient business cards and faded snapshots that document the bar's history. So maybe it is a museum? For its fans, Boot Hill offers family connection Beyond the T-shirts and the bands and the beers, Boot Hill has endured because it offers a family connection, said Patti Raimondi, who handles merchandise at the bar. “People feel like they're home,” she said. “They have that comfortable feeling and that's pretty much it. You just feel like you're with friends and family. Great food, great friends, great fun. What else is there?” For more information on the Boot Hill and its upcoming Bike Week events, visit boothillsaloon.com or the bar's Facebook page, facebook.com/boothillsaloon
Opening day set for Costco at One Daytona. What to expect from membership club.
The huge Costco store nearing completion at One Daytona now has an official opening date: Feb. 22. An official with the One Daytona entertainment/retail complex across the street from Daytona International Speedway confirmed the opening date. The official referred all further inquiries to One Daytona President Roxanne Ribakoff who is on vacation this week and unavailable for comment. The News-Journal could not reach Costco officials for comment. Here's what to know about the project: It's going to be massive The 161,774-square-foot Costco will be One Daytona's largest tenant when it opens. Bass Pro Shoppes currently holds that distinction at 67,068 square feet. The CMX Daytona 12 Luxury Theatres directly east of Costco is 50,000 square feet. The Daytona Beach Costco will also be bigger than the nearby membership wholesale club stores of its two biggest rivals: The Sam's Club store that opened in 2019 across town at Tomoka Town Center is 140,000 square feet. The BJ's Wholesale store that opened in 2013 in Port Orange is 85,000 square feet. It will include a members-only gas station The Costco at One Daytona will also feature a 24-pump members-only gas station and a tire store with five loading bays. Costco is known for its competitively low gas prices, which could spur other area gas stations to keep their prices low as well, similar to what's happening with Buc-ee's and the Sam's Club gas station across the street next to the Interstate 95/LPGA Boulevard interchange. It will sport a unique Daytona-specific exterior design The new Costco store will feature an exterior look that is unlike any of its other stores: a checkerboard design similar to Victory Lane at the Speedway. "It's a nod to the rich history of motorsports racing at the Speedway," said Ribakoff in an interview with The Daytona Beach News-Journal in September 2023. It will create hundreds of jobs David Sherwood, a spokesman for Costco, told The News-Journal in September that the chain's stores typically employ "somewhere in the range of 500 people." He added that he did know the specific number planned for its Daytona Beach location. What's the cost to join? A personal "Gold Star" membership to Costco is $60 year (not counting sales tax) and includes two cards. The chain also offers "Executive" memberships for $120 a year. Like its competitors, the higher-level membership comes with perks beyond what basic members receive. In comparison, Sam's Club offers basic "Club" memberships for $50 a year and "Plus" memberships for $110 a year. BJ's charges $55 a year for basic "Club" level memberships and $110 a year for "Club+" memberships.
Categories
Recent Posts
