For the second straight month, sales of existing houses by Realtors were down in the Volusia/Flagler area.

Realtors in the two-county area sold 647 houses in January, down 5.3 percent from January 2018, which followed a 6.2 percent year-to-year decline in December.

What wasn’t down was the median price, where half sold for more and half for less. In January, it was at $215,000, up a sharp 15 percent from the previous year while the median price was at $211,000 in December, up 7.11 percent.

Sales were solid in 2018 at 11,869, up 3.7 percent, but the median price was at $209,900, up 10.5 percent from 2017.

All of this begs the question have prices gone up too much and left too many people behind, unable to afford a mortgage?

While a two-month decline is concerning, it’s not time to sound the warning siren yet. You really need a few months of data to get a complete picture.

Also, you have to mix in what is happening with new home construction, which, according to the Volusia County Department of Economic Development was up sharply in 2018 with permits issued for 2,758 units, up a whopping 39 percent from 1,981 units in 2017. We haven’t seen any numbers for 2019, yet, so that’s another reason not to slam on the brakes.

Still, there is one other trend and one statement to consider. Multi-family rental housing is on the upswing in Volusia County with an apartment complex almost finished in Daytona Beach and two others starting in Daytona and Port Orange. Also, Orlando-based Unicorp just submitted plans for Tomoka Village, a gated, multifamily development and clubhouse on 31 acres on Williamson Boulevard, just south of Strickland Range Road.

Also, there was Minto Communities backing out of its contract to buy the land for the second half of Latitude Margaritaville from Consolidated-Tomoka Land Co. With the trend in home prices and increased impact fees, Minto officials are looking for someway to cut back on cost. My guess is they’re talking to CTLC about a lower price for the land.

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Speaking of Unicorp, the company acquired a 9.9-acre site from CTLC for $3.3 million at the northeast corner of LPGA and Williamson boulevards. Unicorp intends to develop a grocery-anchored project and, no, the company hasn’t said what the grocer will be, but, when you look at the company’s portfolio of properties and current projects, the only grocer that pops out at you is Trader Joe’s.

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Port Orange is a city of about 60,000 residents and yet not one Taco Bell (although it was part of the food court at Target when it first opened). That could come to an end soon with Taco Bell going into the closed Pollo Tropical building. Also, a new restaurant is apparently going into Ocean Walk Shoppes in the former Santora’s Pizza spot, but I haven‘t been able to track down what it is, yet.

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Not much to report on the commercial real estate scene. Sears sold its Volusia Mall property to an entity call Transform Saleco LLC for $5.9 million, but don’t get excited. It was just part of Sears’ bankruptcy. Still it’s interesting to see what the property is worth. One other deal was Meritage Homes buying a lot of lots at Coastal Woods in New Smyrna Beach from Geosam Capital for about $3 million.

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On a final note, some new stuff going up on the drawing board include Denver-based NexCore Group proposing a 150-unit senior center with 66 independent living, 60 assisted living and 24 memory care units in one building at the southeast corner of Williamson Boulevard and Oak Water Lane in Port Orange. Also, a multi-tenant commercial building may be built on the 18-acre site. A developer wants to complete Mustang Pointe Aerodrome at Biscayne Boulevard and Brunswick Lane at the DeLand airport, which includes adding three buildings to the existing three hangar/office/warehouses. Also, plans were submitted to for a 50,000-square-foot building for White Sign Co. at 919 Old DeLand Road in DeBary.

Managing Editor Cecil G. Brumley has been tracking business and the economy in Volusia County for more than 22 years. Contact him at cbrumley@hometownnewsol.com (no hyphen) or follow him on Twitter @cecilbrumley.