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.

After starting off the year relatively aligned with recent annual statistics, sales volume numbers for April, 2013 were much stronger than they have been for the past few years. There were 116 Panama City Beach condominium units sold in April, 2013. This figure is significantly higher than the 94 condominiums sold in April, 2012. The April, 2013 numbers are also higher than the 109 condominiums sold in April, 2011. This news is surprising because the number of available buildings has fallen.

The majority of condominium prices reached a low point between 2011 and the start of 2012. However, a large number of condos actually increased in value by 20 to 30 percent during the past two years. Some analysts believe the increase was greater, but for our purposes, we are only considering true price increases. If you purchased a condo that was unfurnished during that time for $220,000, and another buyer purchased a similar condo in good condition that was fully furnished for $250,000, both buyers ended up with about the same deal. In each case, the condos sold for 15 to 30 percent less than their current sales price.