More single-family homes are being listed in Northeast Florida, which may be a solid indication that this summer’s housing market will be fruitful for both buyers and sellers.
Specifically, the six-county region registered 3,750 new single-family listings, a 54.3% increase from a year ago and a 4.8% hike from last month. Add to this inventory in Northeast Florida, which steadily rose to 6,490 homes, a 63.7% increase from April 2023 and a 9.9% hike from March 2024. Also, closed sales fell 5.8% to 1,843, and pending sales decreased 26.7% to 1,465. All together this is evidence that buyers may now have a better selection to choose from than they have seen in a long time.
On the sellers’ side, prices are also continuing to rise, but the rate of increase is slowing. Single family homes on the First Coast inched up 2.7% to a median sales price of $399,990. Northeast Florida’s Home Affordability Index continued to dip down to 64 in April.
The Home 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.
This index measures affordability factors for all homebuyers making a 20% downpayment. An index of 100 is defined as the point where a median-income family has the exact amount of income needed to purchase a median-priced existing home. An index value over 100 means that the family has more than enough income, while a value below 100 means that a family doesn’t have enough income to qualify for a mortgage loan.
“The Northeast Florida market continued to strengthen in April versus March, with listing inventory up almost 10%, and about 5% of those as new listings. This indicates more sellers are returning to the market,” said NEFAR 2024 President Rory Dubin. “This is concurrent with modest increases in the median sales process and the average price per foot of homes sold. With 3.5 months of inventory, the region is returning to a more balanced market between buyers and sellers.”
The median price per square foot for single-family homes in Northeast Florida was $215, a 2.9% increase over March 2024, when the median price was $209.
Mandatory changes in the selling process are on the horizon, and in a few short months prospective buyers will be asked to sign buyers’ sales agreements with their agents.
“It is critical with many changes occurring in the real estate transaction that sellers and buyers rely on members of the Northeast Florida Realtors Association to help them navigate a changing and complex sales process,” Dubin said, noting he recently returned from a five-day National Association of Realtors legislative conference in Washington, D.C.
“Many of the attorneys and legislators I spoke with during my time in D.C. stated that buying a home is an important and complex transaction, one where they rely on Realtors to assist them in their home, property, or land acquisition transactions,” he said.
In St. Johns County, April’s median prices climbed 11.4% to $600,000 for single-family homes. The median days on the market rose 25.7% to 44. Month-to-month, closed sales dropped 4.9% to 485, pending sales dropped 20.9% to 409, and new listings increased .2% to 990. Active inventory climbed 5.3% to 2,010 homes, a 4.1-month supply. The Home Affordability Index fell, 14.3% to 42, indicating that it is still very expensive to live in St. Johns County.
In Duval County, the April’s median price of single-family housing was $345,500, a negligible drop from $346,00 the month before. The median number of days on the market in April rose to 31, a 24% increase from March 2024. Month-to-month closed sales fell 2.5% to 964, pending sales fell 31.6% to 704, and new listings increased 1.5% to 1,840 homes. Active inventory for the county climbed 10.6% to 2,904 homes, a 3-month supply. In April, the Home Affordability Index remained the same at 75.
