According to the January review of residential property market by the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors, the number of single-family houses listed for sale in this region continues to increase, and prices keep dropping.
The median price of such properties was $360,000 in January 2023, which is 2.9% less than a month earlier. After the peak value of $399,900 in July 2022, house prices reduced by 9.9%. The median price, however, is still 5.3% higher than a year before.
Diana Galavis, President of the Association, names seasonality as the reason for the January sales slump. In her opinion, the growing number of listings brings the region’s market closer to stability.
The number of closed sales dropped to 1,074 in January, which is a whopping 39.3% less than in December 2022, when 1,649 deals were closed. Last January, this indicator equaled 1,768. Pending sales increased by 29% compared to December, reaching 1,698 deals. There were 2,083 pending sales a year ago.
The number of single-family houses listed for sale increased by 2.6% in January compared to December and by 162.2% compared to a year ago, when only 1,911 properties were in the market. The time in the market, meanwhile, increased to an average of 55 days, which is 14.6% greater than in December. A year ago, a house spent 21 days in the market on average. The current situation enables buyers to select a future home in a more relaxed manner.
The choice of properties has also increased. There were 2,650 new listings in January, which is 34% more than 1,977 listings in December.
The price reduction increased the region’s Housing Affordability Index, which is calculated based on whether a typical family makes enough money to receive a mortgage on a typical house at the current interest rates, median income, and median house prices (the greater the Index, the easier it is for people to purchase a home). Last October, this indicator dropped to a historic low of 67. It increased to 73 in December and to 76, in January 2023. The situation cannot be called a “buyer’s market”, however, until this number is greater than 100.