Fla.’s Housing Market Continues Positive Trends Through 2Q

ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida’s housing market continued to show strong gains in 2Q 2021, with more closed sales, rising median prices and more new listings compared to 2Q 2020, according to the latest housing data from Florida Realtors®. Florida’s lockdown order due to the COVID-19 pandemic took effect April 1, 2020.

“Florida usually has a very strong spring homebuying season, but due to the pandemic, last year was clearly a major exception to the rule,” says Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. Brad O’Connor. “This year, though, we were back in business – and then some. Second quarter closed sales of existing single-family homes increased by 43.3% year-over-year (totaling 98,414), and were up nearly 16% compared to the 2Q 2019. Sales growth in the condo and townhouse resale market was even stronger, rising 117% (a total of 48,976 sales) compared to last year and up by almost 44% compared to two years ago.”

Closed sales typically occur 30 to 90 days after sales contracts are written.

The statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes in 2Q 2020 was $345,000, up 24.3% from the same time a year ago, according to data from Florida Realtors Research department in partnership with local Realtor boards/associations. The statewide median price for condo-townhouse properties during the quarter was $250,000, up 20.8% over the year-ago figure. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less.

“Florida home prices always tend to rise the most during the first half of the year, but even taking that into consideration, price growth this year has still been well in excess of recent norms,” O’Connor says. “Falling mortgage rates last year allowed buyers to make bids on higher-priced homes. The competition this created among buyers is what’s driven prices up so much.”

However, so far this year, mortgage rates – while still low – are no longer falling, he notes.

“This will have the gradual effect of pricing more prospective buyers out of the market, which will reduce the level of competition until price growth falls back to a more normal pace,” he says. “This transition will also be aided by recent increases in the number of homes being listed for resale. New listings of single-family homes in 2Q 2021 were up 24.2% vs. a year ago and over 8% compared to 2019. In the condo and townhouse category, new listings were up 27% compared to 2020 and over 15% compared to 2019.”

In 2Q 2021, the median time to a contract (the midpoint of the number of days it took for a property to receive a sales contract during that time) was nine days for single-family homes and 20 days for condo-townhouse properties.

Inventory was at a 1.1-months’ supply in the first quarter for single-family homes and at a 1.7-months’ supply for condo-townhouse properties, according to Florida Realtors.

According to Freddie Mac, the interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.0% for 2Q 2021, down from the 3.23% average recorded during the same quarter a year earlier.

To see the full statewide housing activity reports, go to the Florida Realtors Newsroom at http://floridarealtors.org/newsroom and look under Latest Releases, or download the 2Q 2021 data report PDFs under Market Data on the site.

© 2021 Florida Realtors®