Florida’s home sales dropped during March but prices continued to rise, according to new data from Florida Realtors.
Last month ended with 26,161 closed sales of existing single-family homes, down 15% year-over-year, while the 11,188 condo-townhouse sales were 23.5% below the level set one year earlier. The end of March was also the conclusion of the first quarter of the year and statewide Q1 existing single-family home sales totaled 59,554, down 22% year-over-year, while statewide existing condo-townhouse sales totaled 24,931, a 30.5% decline from the same quarter one year ago.
But while sales were on the downturn, prices were on the upswing. The statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes in March was $405,000, a 2.1% rise from the previous year, while the statewide median price for condo-townhouse units was $320,000, up 3.9% year-over-year.
“Buyers in Florida remain challenged by mortgage rates above 6% and economic pressures like inflation,” observed 2023 Florida Realtors President G. Mike McGraw, a broker-associate with RE/MAX Central Realty in Orlando. “However, more active listings mean buyers have a bigger selection of homes and more options, which could help moderate the pace of rising prices and ease affordability issues.”
As for the housing supply, inventory rose in both March and the first quarter, with single-family existing homes were at a 2.7-months’ supply and condo-townhouse inventory was at a 3.4-months’ supply for both timeframes.
“Florida continues to be a hot spot for residential purchases by buyers from both in state and out of state, and buyers are finding significantly more inventory available than last year,” added Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. Brad O’Connor. “That said, inventory does remain well below pre-pandemic levels in most Florida market areas [and] new listings continue to be somewhat weak compared to recent years, which is helping keep prices stable but also putting a cap on how much additional inventory we could potentially see in the coming months.”
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