Fla.'s Housing Market: New Listings Up, Prices Ease in August

ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Florida’s housing market reported increased new listings, easing median sales prices and improved inventory levels (active listings) in August 2024 compared to a year ago, according to Florida Realtors^®‘ latest housing data.

“As home prices moderate and inventory levels improve, it should help increase new listings and offer more choices for potential homebuyers,” said 2024 Florida Realtors^® President Gia Arvin, broker-owner with Matchmaker Realty in Gainesville. “Lower mortgage interest rates will also help boost buying power and ease affordability issues.”

Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. Brad O’Connor said, “In August, Florida’s single-family home market was fairly calm. Closed sales declined by 1.1% year-over-year, and as has been the case for most of the year, they have tracked pretty close to last year’s totals. Year to date through August, closed sales of single-family homes are down 1.7%.”

Closed sales of existing single-family homes statewide totaled 22,675, which is down 1.1% year-over-year, while existing condo-townhouse sales totaled 7,898, down 14.9% over August 2023, according to data from Florida Realtors Research Department in partnership with local Realtor boards/associations. Closed sales may occur from 30- to 90-plus days after sales contracts are written.

The statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes in August was $411,638, down slightly (up 0.8%) from a year ago, while the statewide median price for condo-townhouse units was $310,000, down 4.3% from August 2023. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less.

“New listings of single-family homes in August were up by 2.3% compared to a year ago, which is the smallest year-over-year increase we’ve seen for new listings of single-family homes this year,” O’Connor said. “Overall for the year, we are still up by nearly 14% in this category, but we should probably expect smaller year-over-year increases for the remainder of the year should the current pattern hold. Meanwhile, new condo-townhouse listings were up 1.8% year-over-year.

“Notice that new listings throughout this year have tracked more closely with the pre-pandemic years of 2018 and 2019 than they have with last year’s counts. But at the end of last year, new listings – which underperformed most of the year – improved to similar levels of what we were seeing in late 2018 and 2019. So, it would not be surprising to see this year’s new listings toward the tail end of this year end up in the same neighborhood.”

On the supply side of the market, single-family existing homes were at a 4.5-months’ supply in August 2024, while condo-townhouse properties were at a 7.2-months’ supply.

To see the full statewide housing activity reports, go to the Florida Realtors Newsroom and look under Latest Releases or download the August 2024 data report PDFs under Market Data.

Florida Realtors^® serves as the voice for real estate in Florida. It provides programs, services, continuing education, research and legislative representation to 238,000 members in 51 boards/associations. Florida Realtors® Newsroom website is available at http://floridarealtors.org/newsroom.

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