There was good news and not-good news out of Florida’s housing market, with an increase in active listings during May that was seesawed with a decline in closed sales.
According to new data from Florida Realtors, the state recorded a total of 26,396 closed sales of existing single-family homes in May, down 8.5% year-over-year. There was also a total of 11,392 existing condo-townhouse sales, down 14.1% from one year earlier.
The May statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes was $419,900, nearly identical to the $420,000 from 12 months earlier, while the $325,000 statewide median price for condo-townhouse units was a slight 0.9% higher than the $322,000 of May 2022.
As for inventory, the existing single-family homes sector has a 2.7-month supply (versus 1.4-months one year earlier) and the condo-townhouse sector was at a 3.6-month supply (compared to 1.5 months in May 2022). But while active listings were higher than a year before – up 46.7% for existing single-family homes and up 72.4% for condos-townhomes – both sectors saw significant drops in new listings – a 22.2% decline for the existing single-family homes and a 16.2% slide for the condo-townhomes.
“While communities across Florida are seeing increases in active listings, the state’s supply of for-sale single-family homes and for-sale condo-townhouse properties remain far below what is normally considered to be a balanced market – which is six months,” said 2023 Florida Realtors President G. Mike McGraw, a broker-associate with RE/MAX Central Realty in Orlando. “It appears that the pace of rising prices has slowed. That’s welcome news for first-time buyers, however, persistently high mortgage-rate levels remain challenging.”
Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. Brad O’Connor maintained a pragmatic outlook by stressing that the “monthly number of closed sales of existing single-family homes in Florida – and throughout the rest of the U.S., for that matter – has eroded ever since mortgage rates started going up a little more than a year ago. We should expect to see year-over-year figures like this for the next few months, since we are going to be comparing this year’s numbers to numbers last year that were in decline over the course of the year. In terms of this year, there’s nothing on the immediate horizon that indicates the rate of sales is going to worsen significantly, but there’s not a lot of news out there that gives us confidence that they will improve significantly either. For the most part, the housing market seems to be waiting for a pullback in interest rates, and the latest statements and actions from the Federal Reserve seem to indicate that is still several months away.”
;
