As an economic indicator, these transaction totals for residential real estate sales is, well, scary:

Year                              Total Home Sales Value
July 2006                           $33.4 m

July 2007                             26.1 m

July 2008                             22.9 m

July 2009                             17.1 m

July 2010                              12.8 m

These numbers even for the last two years put the residential real estate industry here in the tri-lakes area in a depression, not a slump.  During this time period, the average price fell from $178k to $162k.    The list price to sale price differential fell from 97% to 94% and the days on the market increased from 109 to 133.

At 76Realty.com, we study these numbers so that we can help buyers and sellers spot trends, to take advantage of imperfections in the market.  Our purpose is to help our clients understand the risks and rewards of owning residential and commercial real estate.  76Realty.com is the leading real estate company in the tri-lakes area and we would be happy to answer any questions about homes or land for sale in the area, including Ozark, Nixa Stone and Taney Counties.

Nearly five years ago, entrepreneuer and http://76realty.com owner/broker Mike Cooper commissioned me to lead the web development project that you’re looking at now.

Cooper’s intention was to bring best of breed technology to the consumer. At the time Geographic Information Systems (GIS) web integration was in its infancy.

It was clear that integrating geo-location data into web applications promised Internet users would have greater access to real world data.

The project involved a team of local and overseas participants. It required the work of web developers, engineers and business professionals.

Since the project’s conception much has changed. Both Google, Yahoo and a host of web companies have invested millions of dollars into developing real estate technology.

And though seemingly hundreds of companies have now integrated mapping into their display of Multi-List-Service (MLS) data, few made new contributions to the way real estate is displayed on the Internet.

A few months ago, 76Realty.com broker Mike Cooper asked for my assistance to revamp and assist in marketing the website we created together many years ago.

As the website was ported to new servers and a new engineering team was deployed to create a new site - we discovered something. The 76realty.com website remained best of breed. After a month working with a team in California (we choose to employ domestic engineering talent this time) we realized that most of the hard work had already been accomplished.

Our competitors never advanced the offering, in fact, our competitors never really caught up. We decided to stop the project and help our customers understand the tools and give them an opportunity to make requests before we move to the next phase of developing best of breed tools for our customers.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be discussing and demonstrating our unique custom search technology. While most companies now provide access to the MLS listings, there aren’t any companies in the area that integrate data not found in the standard listings.

We’re still the only company in the Branson Real Estate market that offers the offender database overlay with real estate listings. This may be unpopular to some, but, we believe that an informed buyer is a satisfied buyer.

We’ll be tracking segments of the real estate market and evaluate market trends. Feel free to contact us with concerns or information you think is valuable as you navigate the real estate market.

There are unique properties and tools on this website that aren’t available anywhere else online. In fact, we have listings that aren’t in the MLS and aren’t available anywhere else on the web.

We have services available on this website that other real estate brokers and agents use to evaluate and understand the market.

Whether you’re planning on buying now or just want to see whats on the market, We’re here to help by web or phone. All feedback is appreciated, 76realty.com is the Branson Area Real Estate investors choice and we want to keep it that way

Beautifully maintained& updated 1852 sq. ft. 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath home directly on Tablerock Lake! Boat slip (additional K) behind the home. Features include large view deck, hardwood floors, stone mantle fireplace, large family room with oversize lake view windows, spacious kitchen w/hickory cabinets, large dining area w/skylights & fireplace, jetted tubl mature trees and custom paint throughout. You’ll love the relaxing lake front atmosphere that this home offers. Home addition & remodel completed in 2006. Great condition - MUST SEE!!!!

There’s a new carrier at the Branson Airport. Frontier Airlines will begin nonstop services from Branson MO to Denver CO on April 20th.

Stone County Assessor Brad Hudson reminds property owners and businesses that they must report personal property owned or held as of January 1st to the assessor’s office by March 1st.

And something I am sure a lot of people don’t want to hear is about another storm. However, A Winter Storm Watch is in effect for the Ozarks from tonight into Tuesday morning with the potential for significant snow accumulation.

76Realty.com sells residential and commercial in the Branson Tri-Lakes area. Give us a call if you are buying or selling.

Its been an interesting year for the Branson area real estate market.  Take a look at how many homes have been sold from January 1st, 2006 to November 30th, 2006 compared to January 1st, 2007 to November 30th, 2007.

Has our market been affected by the higher interest rates and lack of buyers.  See the figures below, you may be suprised.

In 2006: 1537 Homes Sold, an average of 107 Days on the Market, and an average sales price of $166,985.00

In 2007: 1286 Homes Sold, an average of 112 Days on the Market (DOM) at an average sales price of $182,814.00

Information is based on a price range of homes between $19,999 to $1,000,000.00

Tri-Lakes Board of Realtor’s recorded total sales price volume: $235,281,634.00 in 2007, but in 2006 the total sales volume was at $256,656,641.00

Wondering where all this money is coming from?

 2007 Sales:1286/ 2006 Sales: 1537 (Broken down below)

Conventional 894 ‘07 981 ‘06

Cash 308 ‘07 410′06

FHA Financing: 48′07 40 ‘06

Owner Financing: 11′07 18′06

VA loans: 9′07 7′06

Other: 17′ 07 39 ‘06

Comparing the information gathered, there over a $21,375,000 decrease in real estate sales for the Tri-Lakes Area from 2006 to 2007!!

The first quarter of 2007 has been fabulous in the Branson area with average home sale price rising from $165k in 2006 to $188k in 2007, a 14% increase in average sale price from the first quarter of 2006. While at the same time, the number of home sales reported by the tri-lakes mls dropped from 300 sales in 2006 to 252 home sales in 2007, a 16% decrease in the number of transactions. More expensive homes and fewer deals indicate a market that is giving mixed signals of its health. Obviously, higher sales prices for homes sold indicate a strong market. However, a drop in the number of home sales reported of 16% is alarming at best.

One contributing factor was the winter here in the Branson area was the worst we have seen in years with large portions of the area shut down or crippled for weeks because of an ice storm and power outages. Colder than normal temperatures and more snow help the global warming outlook, but they certainly don’t foster greater economic development, including home buying activity. We will see if this first quarter trend continues through the year or was simply a season or weather related phenomenom. Stay tuned for the next market report. At 76Realty.com, we deliver real estate news that is factual without sugarcoating it. We report so you can have the information you need to make good real estate investing decisions. We encourage comments and responses to any of our reports.

According to data collected from the Tri-Lakes mls system, the average home sold in 2006 for $167,167, a cool 5.2% increase from the same period last year of $158,934. The actual number of homes sold in the Branson area in 2006 was 1563, 6.2% fewer than the 1667 homes sold in the same period last year. So, with the average sale price increasing but the number homes sold decreasing, how does that portend the future? Branson is a relatively small but dynamic market with greater fluctuations in housing inventory and sales than most other markets. The Branson area is like Las Vegas about 20 years ago as a developing tourist destination. The constantly increasing population and visitors drive changes that the infrastructure including housing and land development cannot keep up with at times. At other times the real estate market gets ahead of the growth requirements as all the economic forces are not locked in unison.

Overall, the growth of inventory and average home value indicate fantastic real estate investment opportunities in an area that has no end to development in its future. Branson and its surrounding areas continue to outperform most other markets in the country. During 2006, many markets experienced big deflation in their real estate values as interest rates deflated the real estate bubble in most areas around the country. Branson homes appreciating by 5.2% is huge in the face of horrendous circumstances. Gas prices, interest rates, and terrorism cannot slow the Branson real estate market down. Year after year, the hottest tourist area for the middle of the country continues to drive forward with steady and rapid growth.

The average price of condos sold in the trilakes area in 2006 is $114,540 with a total of 426 condo sales this year. This compares favorably to 424 condos sold in the same time period last year at an average selling price of $113,565. Noteworthy, the average number of days on the market to sell a condo last year was 132, but was only 103 days this year, a significant improvement in marketing time for condos. Overall, these numbers indicate a strong market for condos this year, in spite of higher interest rates and gas prices. While the number of sales is essentially flat, the average price is up slightly and the days on market is down significantly from last year, a good sign for the condo market.

America’s most desirable entertainment destination is still getting more expensive as the average home price that sold in the Branson area increased from $154,664 from 1/1/05 to 10/23/05 to 163,809 in the same period in 2006, a 5.9% jump average sale price. This increase follows a 9.9% increase during the prior year.

The following data reflect the average sale price for homes sold in the Branson area from January 1 to October 23, in each year, from 2002 to 2006. These figures represent only those transactions which were recorded by the tri-lakes mls, including primarily Stone & Taney Co.

Number of home sales reported in Branson area:

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

n/a 1079 1273 1409 1392

Average sale price per home sold in Branson area:

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

$121k $120k $141k $155k $164k

Growth rate of average sale price of Branson area home:

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

n/a (0.8%) 17.5% 9.9% 5.8%

After a two year double digit runup of average home prices in Branson, the market is slowing down. Higher interest rates and higher gas prices may have contributed to the soft landing we are experiencing now in home prices.

The average 4 year growth rate is a strong 8.5% in average home sale price. As the most popular drive to entertainment destination, Branson is positioned for long term growth. Fuel prices affect the economy around Branson, and the higher fuel prices last summer dampened the robust economy around Branson.

Many builders do not list their properties with the mls system and as a result, the data here do not include many homes that were sold by owner but would have boosted the average sale price. Many recent developments are higher end and will be driven average sale prices higher as these newer homes are sold in the secondary market. When the original buyers start selling their custom houses through realtors in Branson, it will drive values higher.

A boardroom argument prompted me to make an evaluation of Stone and Taney County value. The dispute was - Taney County or Stone County which is a better buy? This of course is a complex argument with compelling data on both sides of the issue. I??�m leaving this one to the realtors.

What could be answered was which County has the most value per resident? To figure out the answer we took the total valuation of Missouri quantified by tax valuation. According to tax assessors Missouri is worth $82,398,577,911 - not bad for a small chunk of the Louisiana Purchase. We applied the following information into our formula to gain the conclusions below.

2005 County Tax Valuation

Taney - $741,872,740

Stone - $408.031,704

2000 Census Data

Taney - 39,703 Residents

Stone - 28,658 Residents

Dividing total county valuation by the number of residents we found Taney County to be the 10th highest valued per resident and Stone to be 22nd highest per resident out of 114 Missouri Counties.