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CURRENT LOCAL CITRUS COUNTY MARKET SNAPSHOT

Good afternoon,

These are the latest local statistics concerning the real estate market in Citrus County for February 2012. The statistics reflect the last month’s activity only in Citrus County.

Category

February January Change Trend___

Residential Inventory

2083

2114

-31

Decline

Residential Sales/Month

196

144

+52

Increase

Months of Inventory

10.63

14.68

-4.03 Decline

Single Family Home Price $127,799

$97,539

+$30,260 Steady

30 Yr Fixed Rate

3.98%

---

Steady

Vacant Land Inventory

1754

1773

-19

Decline

Terms: Residential includes Homes, Condos and Mobile Homes. Sources of information may vary and are deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Average sales price is for single family homes only, excludes condos and mobiles.

Overall: The Residential Inventory continues to decline. The sales rate jumped up to a healthy pace after a slow start in January. The sales of homes priced over $250,000 increased and accounted for the large uptick in the average Single Family Home Price. I have left the trend “steady” as one month does not equal a trend.

Comments: As expected February numbers were much higher than January. This pattern is a return to the seasonal ebb and flow that the Citrus real estate market has not seen since the boom began. It is another sign that the market is returning to the pre-boom normal. There is still no sign of the “shadow inventory” dragging the market down or sending the inventory level upward. We will have dodged the bullet, if we don’t see a flood of bank owned homes on the market in the next 6 months.

Outlook: Pending sales numbers support the conclusion that the market is building a solid foundation for future growth. The Months of Inventory are very close to the 6-8 months that indicates a normal market. If a 200+ sales/month pace can be maintained Citrus home prices will stabilize and even inch higher within a year. I personally feel we are on a good solid path and do not think the “shadow inventory” will appear in great strength to derail the progress. Time will tell.