(DSNews.com) – One in four real estate professionals polled by Clear Capital said the BP oil spill has brought home sales to a halt and is pushing already depressed property values.
The southern coastal area of Alabama, which along with the Florida Panhandle reported the greatest concentration of physical property damage from the spill, has seen an estimated 5-15 percent decline in home values, with market inventories rising as sales have all but come to a standstill, Clear Capital said. In Mobile, Alabama, the number of home sales fell 25 percent in June from one year ago.
Clear Capital reports that further east, as far as Panama City, Florida, inventories are on the rise as result of tar balls washing ashore. Similar to Mobile, Panama City saw a 32.5 percent decline in sale volume in June compared to the previous year’s numbers, reflecting the hesitation buyers have in locking themselves into a potentially affected area. Prior to the spill, the Panama City area had observed a 10.7 percent increase in sales for the month of April 2010 compared to the previous year.