As the spring selling season begins to rev up, both active listings and active inventory across Northeast Florida trended upwards in March.
“Real estate is ‘marching’ on and up with a spring in its step,” said 2023 Northeast Florida Association of Realtors President Diana Galavis, referring to the traditional start of the housing market’s busiest time of the year. “Active listings and active inventory both trended up as expected for the spring selling season. We see sellers putting homes on the market as the opportunity for a higher sales price is in reach.”
In March, the median sales price for single-family homes in the six-county region inched up 0.7% from February to $363,990. During that same time frame, new listings jumped up 32.5% to 3,202, and active inventory in the region rose 6.2% to 4,725 homes, a 2.2-months’ supply. And the median days on the market for March dropped 20.8% since February to 40 days.
“Median sales price and price per square foot is up after dropping slightly in previous months. This is due to the overall lower months’ supply of inventory,” Galavis explained.
Many year-over-year statistics indicated that, perhaps, the crazy market increases that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath are continuing to correct themselves.
The March 2023 median sales price fell 2.2% from March 2022. Closed sales dropped 18.0% from a year earlier and the closed-over-list price, which was 29.4% higher in March 2023 than the month before, plummeted 70.3% from where it was in March 2022. Meanwhile, at 40 days, the median days on the market skyrocketed 185.7%, from a year ago, while new listings rose 22.4% and active inventory increased 166%.
And in March 2023, the Home Affordability Index remained stable at 75, showing no change since February and a 15% drop from March 2022 when it registered 89.
The Housing Affordability Index measures housing affordability for the region. In other words, it measures whether a typical family earns enough to qualify for a mortgage on a typical home, based on current interest rates, median income and median home prices. A higher number means greater affordability. An index value of 100 means that the average family has exactly enough income to qualify for a mortgage.
In St. Johns County, March 2023 median prices rose 8.8% to a median price of $555,000 for single-family homes. The median days on the market were 36, a 25% drop from the month before. Month-to-month, closed sales rose 33.3% to 452, pending sales climbed 26.6% to 533, and new listings increased nearly by half, 49% to 815. Active inventory rose to 1,285 homes, an increase of 11.3% from February 2023, and 2.8-month supply. The affordability index fell 7.5% to 49, demonstrating that St. Johns County became less affordable and remains the most expensive area to live in the region.
