Florida Home Sales Down While Prices Seesaw Up

Florida recorded 19,729 closed sales of existing single-family homes statewide last month, a 5.3% year-over-year decline, according to data from Florida Realtors, while existing condo-townhouse sales totaled 8,115, down 2.9% over October 2022.

Last month, Florida’s median sales price for single-family existing homes was $410,000, up 2% from one year earlier, while the median price for condo-townhouse units was $321,990, up 3.9% from one year earlier.

Florida had a 3.5-month supply of single-family existing homes in October, up 29.6% year-over-year. Condo-townhouse units had a 4.6-month supply last month, up 84% over the October 2022 level.

“The typical 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbed to almost 8% during the month, and yet, new pending sales of single-family homes were up by 8.4%,” said Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. Brad O’Connor. “Part of this may be due to an increase in listings available to prospective buyers, who as we know have long been frustrated by a lack of selection. And some of it is definitely due to base effects in Southwest Florida, because that’s where some of the strongest year-over-year growth in new contracts was. At this time last year, Southwest Florida was recovering from Hurricane Ian and new pending sales in that region were much lower than usual.”

“Still, whether you look at single-family homes or townhouses and condos, inventories remain below the levels that were typical of the six or seven years leading up to the pandemic,” O’Connor added. “So supply is still limited and as a result, prices have remained fairly stable.”