According to a report released at the end of last week, Florida’s housing market continued to grow in the third quarter of 2019.
The Florida Realtors unveiled a report which found “more closed sales, higher median prices, more pending sales and rising pending inventory” during the third quarter of 2019. In those three months, more than 78,750 single-family homes were sold across the state, up 8.1 percent from the third quarter of 2018.
“Median sales prices for both existing single-family homes and for condo-townhouse properties rose in Florida during the third quarter – continuing the ongoing trend,” said Florida Realtors President Eric Sain, a realtor and district sales manager with Illustrated Properties in Palm Beach.
“Florida’s business-friendly outlook continues to attract investment and growth, as well as new residents, which provide a strong foundation for the state’s housing market,” Sain added. “The latest report from the state’s economists show that Florida’s annual private-sector job growth rate of 2.8 percent continues to outpace the national job growth rate of 1.6 percent. Job growth, an unemployment rate of 3.2 percent in September and a growing population continue to keep Florida’s economy strong.”
During the third quarter of 2019, the median sales price for existing single-family homes in Florida stood at $265,000, up 3.9 percent from the same period in 2018. The statewide median price for condo-townhouse properties across Florida during the third quarter stood ay $190,000, up 4.1 percent from last year. Almost 29,550 condos and townhouses saw closed sales across Florida during the third quarter, up 2.2 percent from last year.
“Inventory levels – particularly among single-family homes for sale – continued to fall throughout the third quarter,” said Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. Brad O’Connor. “But so did mortgage interest rates, which provided opportunities for both prospective and current homeowners. Many current owners locked into low mortgage rates from a few years back have been waiting for a chance to buy a bigger or better home at similar rates, and that’s exactly what we saw happen throughout the summer. As a result, we saw an increase in new listings as well as closed sales across all price tiers above $200,000, with many first-time buyers getting a shot at those newly listed homes located at the more affordable end of the price spectrum.”
During the third quarter of 2019, new pending sales for existing single-family homes in Florida rose 4.4 percent while pending inventory was up 1.7 percent. In the third quarter, condo-townhouse new pending sales rose 0.5 percent while pending inventory increased 0.9 percent. Pending inventory is the number of listed properties that were under contract at the end of the month or data collection period.
Inventory was at a 3.6-months’ supply in the third quarter of 2019 for single-family homes and at a 5.3-months’ supply for condo-townhouse properties, according to the Florida Realtors.
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