Florida Sees Home Prices and Inventory Rise in First Quarter

ORLANDO, FL—The Florida housing market posted mixed results in the first quarter with sales of single-family homes flat, but prices up nearly 10%, due in large part to the continued low inventory levels, particularly in the affordable priced segment of the market.

The Florida Realtors trade group reports that sales of single-family homes in the first quarter of 2018 fell slightly by 0.9% with a statewide total of 60,204 transactions. The median statewide single-family home price at the end of the first quarter was $248,000, up 9.7% from the first quarter of 2017, according to data from the Florida Realtors Research department in partnership with local Realtor boards/associations.

“During the first three months of 2018, median sales prices for both existing single-family homes and for condo-townhouse properties rose in Florida, continuing a trend that we’ve been seeing for quite a while,” said 2018 Florida Realtors president Christine Hansen, broker-owner with Century 21 Hansen Realty in Fort Lauderdale. “Despite tight inventory levels, new listings for single-family homes over the three-month-period rose 1.1%year-over-year, while new condo-townhouse listings rose 2.9%.”

A bright spot for the market is that inventory at the end of the first quarter was at a 3.8-months’ supply for single-family homes and at a 5.9-months’ supply for condo-townhouse properties.

Florida’s condo-townhouse market registered closed sales of 27,088 during the first quarter, an increase of 2.8% as compared to the same period a year ago. Florida Realtors reports the sales data reflected fewer short sales and rising traditional sales in the first three months of 2018 for both single-family and condominium properties.

Short sales for both condo-townhouse properties declined 37.8%, while short sales for single-family homes dropped 46.3%. Meanwhile, traditional sales for condo-townhouse units rose 5.6% and traditional sales for single-family homes increased 3.8% year-over-year.

The short supply of for-sale homes in Florida is particularly impacting buyers looking for affordably priced homes, according to Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. Brad O’Connor. “At the more affordable end of the pricing spectrum, Florida’s strong employment growth and the long-awaited emergence of the millennial buyer have increasingly driven demand—but there also remains a sizable contingent of investors in this segment who are looking to capitalize on high rents,” O’Connor said. “It’s the lack of both existing and new inventory in these price ranges that is really limiting this segment’s potential and keeping sales growth down.”

He noted that in many cities around the state, Realtors are seeing strong evidence that some buyers who are frustrated in their search for a single-family home, are “giving up and opting to buy condos or townhouses instead.”

He added that buyers looking for higher-priced single-family homes in Florida are having a much less stressful search, due primarily to less competition and a plentiful supply of available new construction and resale inventory.