Fla.'s Housing Market: Pending Sales and Inventory, Median Prices Up in Oct. 2019

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Nov 21, 2019, 11:05 ET

ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida's housing market reported more single-family home sales, more pending sales, higher median prices and rising pending inventory in October 2019 compared to a year ago, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors®. Sales of single-family homes statewide totaled 23,440 last month, up 5.2% from October 2018.

"Current low mortgage rates are tempting potential homebuyers who have been waiting on the sidelines," said 2019 Florida Realtors President Eric Sain, a Realtor and district sales manager with Illustrated Properties in Palm Beach. "New pending sales rose 13.3% for single-family existing homes last month and new pending sales for condo-townhouse units increased 4.2%. Meanwhile, pending inventory for single-family homes in October was up 9.5% and pending inventory for condo-townhouse properties rose 3.6%."

Pending inventory is the number of listed properties that were under contract at the end of the month or data collection period.

Statewide median sales prices for both single-family homes and condo-townhouse properties in October rose year-over-year for 94 months in a row. The statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes was $263,000, up 3.6% from the previous year, according to data from Florida Realtors Research Department in partnership with local Realtor boards/associations. Last month's statewide median price for condo-townhouse units was $190,500, up 5.8% over the year-ago figure. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less.

According to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), the national median sales price for existing single-family homes in September 2019 was $275,100, up 6.1% from the previous year; the national median existing condo price was $248,600. In California, the statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes in September was $605,680; in Massachusetts, it was $410,000; in Maryland, it was $305,000; and in New York, it was $280,000.

Looking at Florida's condo-townhouse market in October, statewide closed sales totaled 9,226, relatively the same level (down 0.5%) as a year ago. Closed sales may occur from 30- to 90-plus days after sales contracts are written.

"Closed sales of single-family homes were up year-over-year in 20 of Florida's 22 metropolitan statistical areas in October, although the statewide increase of 5.2% is a little inflated on account of it being the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Michael," said Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. Brad O'Connor. "Because Michael severely disrupted housing markets throughout the Panhandle last October, the Panhandle markets saw very large year-over-year changes in closed sales in this October's figures. The Panhandle region as a whole saw an increase of 34.5% in closed sales of single-family homes, while the rest of the state recorded an increase of only 2.9%.

"In the condo-townhouse category, closed sales were up by 30.4% in the Panhandle, but this was not enough to put statewide year-over-year growth in positive territory. Statewide, sales in this category were down a half a percent."

According to Freddie Mac, the interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.69% in October 2019, down from the 4.83% averaged during the same month a year earlier.

To see the full statewide housing activity reports, go to Florida Realtors Media Center at http://media.floridarealtors.org/ and look under Latest Releases or download the October 2019 data report PDFs under Market Data at: http://media.floridarealtors.org/market-data.

Florida Realtors® serves as the voice for real estate in Florida. It provides programs, services, continuing education, research and legislative representation to its 187,000 members in 51 boards/associations. Florida Realtors® Media Center website is available at http://media.floridarealtors.org.

SOURCE Florida Realtors